The Convenience of Lee's Persona

 

    Lee is an interesting character with a unique persona throughout the novel. He has a certain specific self image that influence his actions, motives, and precautions. He wants to be seen as special, as someone who knows their stuff. He's narcissistic and arrogant. All these traits combined with his interest in communism, the Soviet Union, and Cuba cause him to compile a history and background that perfectly portrays him as a communist. While he does this because he's simply interested in communism and because he wants Soviet and Cuban citizenships, his actions would be beneficial for other reasons down the line. It's interesting because this type of person is so difficult to come by as American citizens don't usually do these things. Lee stands out because he went all out. He spread communist propaganda, started the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and most importantly actually defected to the Soviet Union. These actions and many others are vital for the plot of Libra and it's what gets Lee pulled into it in the first place.

    Win Everett. Arguably the head of the entire conspiracy. He took it upon himself to compile together the false misleading past of the plot's patsy. Him along with the other conspirators eventually fell upon Lee Harvey Oswald, and they eventually decided that he would be the "killer" of JFK. Win Everett was obsessed with modifying and fabricating documents, and he was shown throughout the novel doing it as if it was a crafts project. "Once he had a handwriting sample, Win would scratch onto those miniature pages enough trails, false trails, swarming life, lingering mystery, enough real and fabricated people to occupy investigators for months to come. He unscrewed the top of the Elmer's Glue-All." He found pride in scrapping together legitimate looking records with the materials he had. He spent days sitting in his basement using basic arts and crafts supplies such as Elmer's glue to create the background that he was proud of. However, to do so he still needed some samples that connected to Lee, such as his signature. T-Jay Mackey went to search his stuff so that he could bring a copy of the signature back to Win. He ended up finding it, along with many more vital discoveries. "Lee H. Oswald was real all right. What Mackey learned about him in a brief tour of his apartment made Everett feel displaced. It produced a sensation of the eeriest panic, gave him a glimpse of the fiction he'd been devising, a fiction living prematurely in the world." What Mackey found was hoards of fabricated documents, fake names, fake passports, and address books. All of which supported the "false" trail that Everett was trying to lead investigators onto. Win spent ages meticulously crafting Lee's artificial history and he ended up discovering that the history was a reality. The eerie panic in the quote above is likely from Win's surprise at this whole ordeal. It's quite unlikely for an American man such as Oswald to exist in the world. He had an extreme interest in communism and also found pride in false documents and names. Above all else he had the desire to defect to the Soviet Union, which simply didn't happen at the time. It was all there, ready "prematurely" for the benefit of the conspiracy.

    The rare specimen that Lee was ended up being extremely helpful in the context of the entire conspiracy. Yes, Win Everett felt displaced in regards to Lee's background and the creation of false documents and names, but that's simply because Win found pride in his craft. Even he can't deny the usefulness of Lee's work. One may think that it simply saves the conspirators time because the documents are already done, however it does provide other benefits. In terms of leading investigators to believe Lee had a Soviet background, that much is 100% valid. Records do show Lee's connections to communism and that puts investigators right on the trail they're being lead on. "There was socialist literature strewn about. Speeches by Fidel Castro. A booklet with a Castro quotation on the cover: 'The Revolution Must Be a School of Unfettered Thought.'" The conspirators' original intention was to find a random person and forcefully connect their "past" to Castro and Cuba, so that the US would finally take action against them. Yet the next thing they know they find literature and speeches from Castro himself, as well as documentation on Lee being the leader of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans. In terms of Lee's false names, they're still false and could be discovered by investigators, but the fact that he used fake names just helps support the persona that will inevitably be constructed around Lee. The validity of Lee's communist ties is undeniable and it's extremely lucky that they found him, since he fits the position of patsy too perfectly.

Delillo, Don Libra. Penguin Group, 1991.

Dana's Gradual Immersion into the Past

 

    Throughout the novel Kindred, Dana and Kevin get sent to the 19th century Antebellum Maryland on a plantation. They eventually figured out that Dana was being sent back to save Rufus and she could only go back when she faced death. At first, Dana merely wished to fulfill her purpose. She didn't think her life was connected to those on the plantation apart from her blood relatives. In her perspective, she was an external spectator who had no place in the time. She would simply observe the lives of those around her and do whatever she could to survive until she could be returned to her real life, where she truly belonged. However, as time went on and her trips took longer, she became increasingly integrated in the society and lives of those on the Weylin Plantation. At times she became more involved without realizing it and at other times she was aware that the plantation was a true part of her life, an experience that will stay with her until the day she dies.

    One moment where Dana is involving herself in the lives of Weylin's slaves is when she teaches Nigel to read. There are many complex factors of this seemingly simple interaction that mean a lot of things for Dana and her life with her ancestors. First of all, it's the first time Dana willingly does something that can put her in danger. "'You scared?' he asked. 'Yes. But that doesn’t matter. I’ll teach you.'"(Butler 103). Beforehand, Dana simply did everything she could do to survive. She knew exactly how dangerous it was for her, a black person with no papers, on the run or even on the plantation. She stayed as far away as she could from any situation that could bring her harm. This was due to instinct and fear. She experienced the whipping of Alice's father for herself and was scared the same could happen to her. Despite all this justified self preservation, she proceeds to secretly teach Nigel to read even with the danger of being caught. She understood perfectly well that if she was caught, she would definitely be whipped by Tom Weylin. This does end up happening, and it's what sends her back to present time. This is significant because she's taking her first steps towards doing whatever she can to help the lives of slaves on the plantation. By doing so, she is unknowingly involving herself more than ever before. She lives in the same beds as the slaves, she secretly helps the life of one, and she suffers the consequence of being caught in the act. 

    The subsequent event that makes Dana realize that she is moving away from being an observer is when she and Kevin watch the slave children play at a slave sale. Before this, she acknowledged that she was a mere observer who took on the role of an actor. She knew that she never immersed herself into the role and she dropped the act as soon as she returned home. Her and Kevin both lived this truth, but it was even truer for Kevin since at the time he was barely integrated or accustomed to life in the 18th century. However, this changed when Dana watched the children of the field hands play a rather disturbing game. They were acting out a slave sale, with each of the children taking on different roles. Master, slaves, buyer, the whole dehumanizing deal. The thing that disgusted Dana was the fact that the kids were extremely casual with it and saw the ordeal as normal. This was obviously because they were just kids who weren't thinking about what they were doing, but that fact is what disturbed and enlightened Dana. She realized that the children as well as her and Kevin were becoming desensitized to slavery. "It’s nineteen seventy-six shielding and cushioning eighteen nineteen for me. But now and then, like with the kids’ game, I can’t maintain the distance. I’m drawn all the way into eighteen nineteen, and I don’t know what to do. I ought to be doing something though. I know that"(Butler 106). The outrage from these realizations shortens the distance between what she sees as her real life and her act on the plantation. The outrage makes her want to do what she can to help the lives of the slaves, which further immerses her. Just like Dana says, every now and then she goes through an experience that blends her life with the Weylin slaves. This goes on until she is fully immersed physically and mentally. Then finally, she is technically separated from that life but she is still mentally and physically affected for the rest of her life.

Butler, Octavia E. Kindred. Boston, Beacon Press, June 1979. 

Jes Grew's Eternal Text has been found

 

    Since the beginning of Mumbo Jumbo and even before, Jes Grew has been attempting to find its "text". The reader isn't told much of what this text is, yet I interpret it as the medium that Jes Grew can use to thrive. A level of legitimacy that prevents it from being suppressed. It needs to be written down in history as something everyone must take seriously, not just those "catching" it and engaging in it. Once its text is found the cycle is broken. The cycle of resurfacing then being shut down by those against it (Atonists) would be over and Jes Grew would live in our hearts and our society permanently. Will the text ever be found? Will the cycle merely continue eternally? Will we have small outbreaks few and far between? I don't think so. Jes Grew has finally found it's text in modern times, and that text is social media as a whole. 

    Jes Grew is all about culture. It's about groups expressing themselves in the way that they want to. It's about freedom and imagination. All of these traits describe social media. Open, easily accesible platforms where users can channel their creativity. The difference between Jes Grew with and without social media is its reach. It's limited in how far it can spread. In the outbreak that happened in Mumbo Jumbo it was restricted to the United States. On the contrary, social media is available for most people, and it's available all over the world. From personal experience I've seen its influence abroad, similar culture and "trends" making its way across continents. This makes it extremely difficult for any group to shut it down as it is always everywhere. "They will try to depress Jes Grew but it will only spring back and prosper."(Reed 204). With Social Media it's so much easier for new outbreaks to emerge. Information is spread to thousands of people in seconds. Even as one instance of Jes Grew fades away or is shut down, social media is already spreading five more. Because of how social media is so beneficial for Jes Grew and supports it so well, it goes beyond the criteria needed for a text. This is the text Jes Grew needs. It's the medium Jes Grew uses to spread so well. It might not be what PaPa LaBas and other members of the Kathedral foresaw for Jes Grew, social media allows Jes Grew to reach new heights.

    Wait, social media allows culture to spread without backlash? Social media can be a pretty hateful place where ideas are denounced left and right. How can it be the perfect text for Jes Grew if outbreaks are constantly shut down? Shouldn't a text have a concrete hold on Jes Grew in the sense that it preserves one outbreak forever, and not rapidly introducing new ones repeatedly? While it's definitely true that social media is filled with those who oppose certain ideas, the beauty of social media is that Jes Grew can resurface in so many different ways, even if one outbreak is shut down. Some outbreaks are bigger and longer than others, yet now there's always some form of Jes Grew present in the world. It may not be perfect, forever holding Jes Grew with stability, yet it is wondrous. "We will make our own future Text. A future generation of young artists will accomplish this."(Reed 204). PaPa LaBas expected a generation to cultivate the Text, and I think he would have seen the outcome as more beautiful than he anticipated. While the methods in which Atonists can combat Jes Grew has increased, social media is a suitable Text with its own benefits.

Reed, Ishmael, Mumbo Jumbo. Scribner, 1972.

Coalhouse Walker's Personal Endeavor: Was he sending a message?

Coalhouse Walker's Personal Endeavor: Was he sending a message?

 

Coalhouse Walker's raids on multiple fire stations definitely brought people together against the atrocious acts committed against colored people. However, was Coalhouse intentionally raising his voice against oppression? Did he purposefully bring together freedom fighters or was he after his own personal justice? In the eyes of his supporters was Coalhouse Walker standing for his people's rights or was he merely a convenient cause to stand behind? Both sides carry substantial evidence, but I think that my belief outshines any refutals. 

The first argument is that in essence Coalhouse Walker's actions brought up the conversation of civil rights. After hearing the story and seeing the vandalism committed to his car, people would begin to rally behind him. "But now the authorities were embarrassed. The Ford stood as tangible proof of the black man's grievance"(Doctorow 237). The fact that Coalhouse is justified with his complaints gives people who relate to him a cause to unite with. Countless colored people have been mistreated in this way, so seeing the vandalized car as proof lights a flame in the hearts of revolutionaries. The current norm is that black people can be mistreated by whites with no consequence. Police officers turn a blind eye and even colored law firms have no way to help. By exposing this unfairness to likeminded people all around the nation, it makes them want to revolt. "The newspaper editors and police officials believed it was in the interest of the public welfare not to print the letter. An isolated crazed killer was one problem. An insurrection was another"(Doctorow 212). Countless voices being raised would cause problems for the dominant whites, and they know it. If such voices all rebelled at once, they would threaten to destroy the system that is pitted against those of color. In this way, Coalhouse Walkers actions and demands can be seen as sending a message to people to fight against oppression and a message to authorities that their system is being threatened. 

The second argument is that Coalhouse simply wanted his car returned and justice for himself and his late fiance. The whole matter was deeply personal to him as he was mistreated, his car was vandalized, and his pride was broken. Coalhouse Walker is known to be a proud and stubborn man. The Fire Chief and his men disgraced him, and he relentlessly sought out justice through many different means. "I want my automobile returned to me in its original condition"(Doctorow 212). He never claims that injustice against colored people as a whole must be dealt with. He merely restates the same demands over and over again. If he truly wished to send a message to the world then he wouldn't have left it to the press and the authorities' discretion whether his message is sent or not. He would've went out into the public and let his protests against the corrupt system be heard, Emma Goldman style. This argument claims that because he didn't focus on allowing the "message" to reach as many as possible, he never had these protests against the grand white elite to begin with. Sure, he can hold some resentments towards the way the world works, but he doesn't want to be a public figure standing against it. All he ever wanted was his car and his justice. 

These two claims both have evidence to back them up, and supporters of either side could passionately debate on it all day. I believe that Coalhouse's intentions were mostly to earn justice for himself, but partly to rouse the public as well. I also think that it's very possible that he simply gave up on life after he lost his prized possession and his beloved fiance, so his only purpose in life was to mindlessly pursue this personal endeavor. "They recognized [Coalhouse's] decision as suicide"(Doctorow 295). Once his car was returned to him he lost all purpose once more. If his purpose was to truly to bring about an uprising, he wouldn't have accepted death so easily. Be that as it may, I do believe no matter his intentions, he would bring about conversation of insurgency against the system that leaves colored people at the bottom, no matter how successful or wealthy. He brought about change, and if his true purpose was to fight for the cause then he would've become a symbol for civil rights.    

Doctorow, E. L. Ragtime. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007.