Where does one begin in summarizing "The Moviegoer"? Making conservative use of the book's 242 pages, author Walker Percy crafts an essentially plotless story into a study of Big Questions. No mere coming-of-age character study, "The Moviegoer" rewards patient readers with a (relatively) happy ending, a forum for endless discussion (though some may consider that a negative), and a solid entry in the Existential Angst sub-genre of literature.
In true fashion for the genre, "The Moviegoer" is very ambiguous, raising more questions than it cares to answer (the plot, such as it is, is driven by the narrator's quote-unquote "search"--and as to what the search is for, your guess is as good as mine). This approach gives Percy more creative freedom to rely on imagery, and vague characters with vague intentions come and go throughout the novel, as unknowable to the reader as any stranger on the street. We readers know only what the narrator, a pushing-30 stockbroker named Binx Bolling, knows, and even then Walter Percy denies us most of that, too.
This is where "The Moviegoer" also becomes infuriating. Relying more on the New Orleans locales (where most of the novel takes place) to tell the story than our humble narrator, "The Moviegoer" traces one man's making sense of his own by-design senseless world. We know that high childhood expectations and a tragic tour of duty in Korea helped shape Binx into the womanizing lost soul he is today, but Percy keeps us at a distance. Analysis is a tough job made tougher when it comes to the ambiguity of "The Moviegoer".
A good book, methinks, but an imperfect one, for sure.
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I really like the way you write and think. I was infuriated as well with the vague characters and conversation. This is what troubled me so much with how to understand Binx. I had such difficulty analyzing what exactly he was searching for.
ReplyDeleteMr. Sequel, it’s good to know that the original was worth a second. While I enjoyed your diction and writing style, I found that your post was not quite an analysis. I personally thought that the ambiguity of the novel left the reader with a juicer, shall we say?, chunk of meat to sink their teeth into. With all do respect, I do believe that the dust jacket gave a sufficient summary of the novel, and I am disappointed that you didn’t have more to say. You are clearly well read and bright as I’ve taken note of your comments in class, so I just wish that you had gone in depth more with your thoughts. What about The Moviegoer did you find imperfect? I also don’t think it is the novel’s responsibility to answer the questions it raises. There is a quote on the dust jacket (on my copy anyway) that reads: “Percy touches the rim of so many human mysteries,” and I think that is the point. Percy is, as his aunt finally realizes, “not one of her heros but a very ordinary fellow,” just like us, the average reader. I don’t think it is Percy’s intent to solve the answers of the universe, but merely to catalogue and recount a single ordinary man’s quest to find his own answer. I’m looking forward to hearing from you next time.
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