Friday, November 18, 2016

In Their Last Breaths

The last words that Rölf Kaufman ever wrote graced his suicide note:

Like the good Reverend King
I too “have a dream,”
but when I wake up
I forget it and
remember I’m running late for work.

Likewise, Nicholas Scoby left his debut poem on his note for Gunnar:

i step into the void
bravely,
aaa
aa
a
a
ahhhhh

Dexter Waverly also left a poem for Gunnar before committing suicide:

Abandoning all concern
my larynx bobs,
enlightenment is a bitch.

The tone of these poems is completely different from what we would recognize as a standard note. Those who are happy with what they've accomplished in their lives, such as Scoby and Waverly (who in his last action helped South Africa), meet death with pride. The elder Kaufman finally reveals a transformation from his previous ideals, whereas throughout his life he followed and continued with pride the "Uncle Tom" style of living of his ancestors, here he reveals that not all was as it seemed. To the reader, he was always a perpetuation of the white superiority structure, literally beating down his own son in response to Gunnar supporting his friends and his African-American community. Now, that entire narrative is called into question as Rölf is stuck in the rat-race and is unable to pursue his dreams, but it is still ambiguous as to what those dreams were. Maybe he really supports the African-American heritage of his children more than we originally thought?

Personally, I was expecting from a poetic suicide note something more like Langston Hughes's Suicide's Note:

The calm,
Cool face of the river
Asked me for a kiss.

The completely different tone the Beatty gives to the suicide of his characters reflects the message that Gunnar is sending; committing suicide is standing up for your beliefs and proving your worth by going out with honor. As he said, it is not the Western idea of suicide of giving up on life because they couldn't be successful, and as proof we have the case of Nick Scoby, by all measures and extremely successful man. His reasons for suicide are much more similar to those we normally associate with the act; he couldn't handle the pressure that his fame brought upon him. In that sense, depression drives him and the speaker in Hughes's poem towards suicide as a release, following the Western idea of suicide. Gunnar goes against that, and influenced by Japanese culture instead offers suicide as a final protest, more like the honorable seppuku rather than the sinful suicide. For example, the self-immolation of Buddhist monks as a protest is in a similar vein as Gunnar's mass suicide for African Americans. The humor of the situation stems from Gunnar being thrust into an authoritative position as a leader of the community without his consultation, particularly impressive considering his origins (which were also similar in tone to those of Invisible Man's narrator). Even then, he doesn't attempt to indoctrinate anyone, only saying what he believes about himself, but still becomes a trusted figure to African-Americans. The relatively safe humor of the novel turns very dark towards the end, driving home the dangerous truths behind Gunnar's personal philosophy. 

6 comments:

  1. Do you think that the Elder Kaufman felt shame that he had been allowing racism to continue throughout his life? Or do you think that this poem that he wrote came as a relief and an epiphany? It could have been a fleeting moment of happiness before tragically choking on a firing pin of a gun. Do you think Gunnar can forgive his father after reading this suicide poem?

    ReplyDelete
  2. nice post overall, i just wanted to touch on the father's suicide note. Going off noah's comment, i also found the note left by Gunnar's dad to be very intriguing and different than what i would have expected. I feel like it relates to the idea of wearing the mask and suppressing his true feelings. This note adds another aspect to the novel which is how in order to feel safe and apart of society sometimes one must "wear the mask." I am not sure if Gunnar would forgive him, because though he might be able to understand why his father acted like he did, in Gunnar's perspective it could still be betraying the black community.

    ReplyDelete
  3. great post, I hadn't really thought too much about the contrast between Gunnar and Scoby's suicide but now that you bring it up it's a really interesting point. It's interesting to consider how each of these different characters all had their own motivations to commit suicide, and yet they all related back to the same thing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think it's also interesting to think of Rolf as a new Dr. Bledsoe type character in this book. He knew how to play the power system to be safe but he was still trapped within it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think that it's very interesting that while Gunnar sees this as a "Japanese" style suicide, the only Japanese character in the book is seemingly vehemontly against the idea of his suicide, if not only for their child. Just food for thought, but the way that I see it, we shouldn't just agree with Gunnar because he says it. He is leaving a child without a father, after all!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Although they all have a different feel and vibe there's still this common thread of bravery and doing something meaningful. They all seem to have a feeling of going somewhere better versus a feeling of needed to leave the life they're living. I think it makes sense that they all display this common thread, but I so still find it interesting.

    ReplyDelete