In “The Girl” Butch one of the leading characters throughout the passage is seen as the god of all men. The still anonymous “baby” as he refers to her as makes her love for him very noticeable throughout the book. The author however made a deep change from chapter nineteen to chapter twenty three as seen here where the narrator says “then he came over to the bed and kissed me and said it was sweet” she also included, “ It was a lovely life he gave me”. It seemed that the character Butch was the change she needed in her life, the one to cause a revolution from the life the narrator was so new to. Butch however changed the role of being a hardworking charming man to a coward as seen in chapter twenty three. The transition happened as the narrator believed to be carrying the love of her life’s child. Confused as she confesses to her friend and coworker from the Village Clara that she had missed a month. Clara, old fashioned filled with life regret for not owning a cent to eat from, expresses her worries, trying to comfort her friend she insists on abortion being the right choice. She repeatedly say’s “we got to get some money, if you got a kid you got to get rid of it”. But the narrator using flashbacks to her own mother's words determined that, that was not the right choice, and although she didn’t know whether to tell Butch or not him leaving her was no option. As she enters the Tavern to speak to Butch, she scared blurts out about the kid. Upset and roaring with rage he agrees with Clara by telling the narrator, “Get rid of it. I could do it myself with a pair of scissors, there’s nothing to it”. He soon became the irresponsible and foolish man that the narrator could not see as the man she wanted to marry some day as she said in the countryside. However this section left me wondering why the author would create a small change with the character Butch to irresponsible as the main scene of the robbery was about to happen. With the group of men including Ganz, Hoinck, Butch and the narrator looking through the alleyways and secret roads to get away. I wondered what change could this have meant? Wouldn’t a man tough enough to be able to rob a big bank be tough enough to start a new life as well? Or would it also be a form of foreshadow of downhill on the characters life?
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ReplyDeleteI found this post to be astoundingly incisive and interesting, to the point that it bred in me an inescapable yearning to read this book myself. Your diction is astute, your turn of phrase enticing, and your writing accessible to a range of potential readers.
ReplyDeleteYou point out that writer Meridel Le Sueur anoints Butch as the "God of all men", implying that he serves as a commentary on societal categorization of gender roles. This is, I presume, manifested in his romanticism towards the narrator and his masculine anger.
Additionally, you mark his shift in character in its chronology (specifically, by chapter), one punctuated by (and perhaps predicated on) the discovery of the narrator's pregnancy.
You go on to illustrate the profound and transformative effects of this revelation: the "foolishness" that he now exhibits, the lack of ownership and sense of responsibility over his life. I was enthralled.
Finally, you ponder the implications of this character's metamorphosis, one you ironically note as "a small change", by asking a series of insightful questions, the most perceptive of which being "wouldn’t a man tough enough to be able to rob a big bank be tough enough to start a new life as well?".
It was a query that, upon close consideration, reveals not only your shrewd understanding of the novel's themes, but the author's ambivalent attitude towards this character.
I found myself reading your blog response about the girl more than three times. I find myself confused every time i read it and every time I did I wanted to read it more and more. And i get more interesting in the book. What i really liked about your blog is how you wrote it in chronological order. You started with chapter nineteen and wrote through chapter twenty three. Explaining about how Butch changed from being a nice guy and turning into a jerk. I have a few questions about the blog. How did he make her life better and in what way? Now that she is pregnant he wants her to get an abortion. I honestly agree with her mom that its a very bad choice to have one. In my experience I have seen people get abortions and making the choice to get one. And after they are not happy and its a permanent scar. Its never easy. But this blog makes me want to read the book its very interesting.
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