That being said, I will begin the process of laying out my impressions of Lee regardless of what I know about his future, which is probably the fairest way to treat him as a character. My initial impression is that he is an insufferable little dipshit, part of which can be written off to the fact that he's a fifteen-year old boy. More on that later -- I'll argue with myself in a couple of paragraphs.
My first, and probably strongest, argument for why Lee pisses me off is that he's a complete jerk to his mom. Some of his greatest hits from the last couple night's reading include
- "I'm your son. You have to do what I want" (35).
- "[My brothers] are in the service to get away from you" (35).
- "You just go to work like any other day" (6).
Not to mention all the times Marguerite acknowledges that he yells at her for food, although, annoyingly, she often qualifies it with the phrase "like any other boy." Probably this is her trying to save face on behalf of her son in the court she is apparently testifying to -- perhaps Warren himself? Furthermore, with this repeated line, DeLillo dares us to stop for a moment and consider as 2016-readers the extent to which Lee isn't like any other boy (but we're not going to do that, because that ruins our suspension of prior knowledge).
His other grating qualities are a little bit harder to pin down. I'm inclined to question his reasons for his endorsement of communism. I believe that part of the reason is that he's impoverished, and something about a criticism of capitalism would resonate with him. But, also, in 1950s America, a communist was THE MOST hated thing you could be. And Lee revels in being hated. When he's in Robert Sproal's house, he's emboldened by the knowledge that "a parent" is listening to him discuss Marxist rhetoric, raising his voice. He seems to enjoy the role of the steadfast, persecuted outsider -- because he lacks another identity or because he's been forced into that role, I'm not sure. But he's a button-pusher.
Right now, I see Lee as an irritating kid. He's latched onto communism because he's attracted to both the ideas and the way it makes him feel about himself. In some ways, he's behaving like the typical angsty teenager (though I'd be liable for some ... negative reinforcement ... if I pulled the same lines with my mom). But that doesn't mean I have to like him.
Well that is a lot of hate for Lee. It's probably justified, especially considering what he ends up doing later in his life but at the moment it seems a little overkill. I actually feel a little bit of sympathy for the kid, he seems to have had a rough upbringing and I think his "angsty teenager"-ness is a result of that rather than him just doing it to be annoying.
ReplyDeleteLee is *definitely* a "button-pusher"--we'll see this quality on display in "In Atsugi," detailing his time as a Marine in Japan. And one effect of this characteristic is that his fictionally rendered character pushes readers' buttons much as he pushes buttons in his own life. And this doesn't at all have to depend on knowing what he'll grow up to do: there's plenty to recoil at in these early chapters.
ReplyDeleteThis is a strange novel to read, in terms of plot--as with all history, the "end" is already known, and the plot moves inexorably toward this single enormous crime. We can't fully engage this character as if we don't know he's *the* Lee Harvey Oswald (and Lee is already being subtly implicated in the Everett plot, to remind us). I do want to focus on DeLillo's fictional rendition of young Lee on its own terms, to see how he's drawing this enigmatic and self-contradictory character. But we're also always looking through the lens of 11/22/63, and even in these early chapters we can glimpse shades of the later, notorious LHO (like, how his proud and defiant beat-up face in the opening scene of "In New Orleans" reminds me of Lee in police custody on 11/22).
Lee clearly has major issues beyond his treatment of his mother, but this was an interesting and probably rarer obvservation on his character. The lines you've given could easily come out of some spoiled primary schooler, especially with their shortsightedness. With her qualification "like any other boy", it's possible that she actually believes that this is the case; she's could be just trying rationalize the behavior of her son, and feel better for dealing with him.
ReplyDeleteCommunism is really a game changer in Lee's life. Although dyslexic, he pushes through books on philosophical topics that are hard to understand for many adults, and he does that still as a teenager. Not only does it allow him to revel in the hate he gets from others, it also justifies his own goals since he recognizes that he is smarter than those who have not read the communist texts. He becomes well-read on one subject, which does not make him as well educated as he thinks, instead leaving him open to be influenced by more well-rounded individuals who see a bigger picture.
ReplyDeleteMan, I do wonder if anything can make him more sympathetic to you, including the brig stuff... I think my problem is that I really want to argue for Lee but I just can't bring myself to do it. He is an asshole, but I don't hate him enough to just want to slam the book closed every time he's the center of attention. I don't think he knows how not to be an asshole, which is a lot easier for me to accept with some distance. I too would hate him if I ever met him I think
ReplyDeleteI also started out the book hating him, but at this point, I pity him more than anything. He thinks he's so deep and so smart when really he's just whiny and stubborn. It's sad because it's so obvious how everybody around him sees him and it's the stark opposite of what he thinks his impact is.
ReplyDelete