Saturday, October 6, 2012
"And what is love anyway but the unattainable, the reaching out toward an illusion?"
Our Friday discussion in which people asked, Is Johnny's revenge not all about him? and How serious is his love? addresses some important questions, both about the characters' psychology and about whether the novel works at face value. What is revenge about? Does the novel do enough to immerse you in its world that you can buy the existence of the Great Love described in its initial pages? Is the vague and generic description of the two lovers an asset or a detriment: would it be more persuasive if we knew what they liked to talk about or what their families had been like? Does the account of the love between Johnny and Dorothy suffer by comparison with other loves in the story?
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I think the novel gives the reader just enough to comprehend the love of Johnny and Dorothy, but I also don't think the novel gives you enough to care about Dorothy. I mean, when I was reading it, I felt sympathetic for Johnny's plight, but until "Reunion," I didn't really think about her involvement in the story (other than the fact that her death caused Johnny to lose his mind). I guess at some level, this plays into our discussion about whether or not Johnny is self-absorbed. Like I said in class, though, there has to be some self-absorption on the part of Johnny; otherwise, there would be no story. Let's also not forget that the story is structured so that Johnny is omnipresent in each "rendezvous." So, perhaps, as a reader, we naturally feel like Johnny is really taking revenge for his ego, and not Dorothy, because he is always present on our minds.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note, after we had discussed the idea that this narrative flies in the face of logic, I had a thought. The police officer who is on the trail of Johnny is named MacLain Cameron. The narrator makes it a point to mention this, implying that his name is illogical, or at least is unconventional. I thought that this was pretty symbolic of the time and logic issues we talked about.
I don't feel that the love story suffers, this may be because I am a hopeless romantic but i felt the way in which Woolrich described the young couple was effective in establishing a true, intimate love. My favorite part of the description of Johnny and Dorothy’s love was actually in their physical descriptions. Both are described, physically, in rather dull ways, save Dorothy’s loveliness, but when it came of their eyes, or, rather, their eyes for each other, well, there was something special in them. “He had special eyes for her just as she had for him” (P.5) This part really caught my attention because it announces a connection, an intimacy that can sometimes be forgotten, overlooked, or remarkable fact when reading about other peoples love. As with most life experiences, love means different things to different people but I feel that the love shared between Johnny and Dorothy is authentic and powerful. The fact that Woolrich was able to convince me of that with one sentence is remarkable. This emphasis on eyes for one another also plays a role in Dorothy’s death scene, as Johnny no longer “knows” her. Once that light, that love was extinguished from her eyes she was as indistinguishable to him as he was to the rest of the bystanders who had not known her from the person standing next to them. This tragic loss of love and recognition is just as much a testament to the depth of the young couples love as the description of how “great” their love was and, perhaps, it proves even more effective due to its intense raw and intimate nature. I do agree that Johnny is taking revenge for something more than just his love. However, I feel it is more because he is so traumatized that he has a complete break with everything that is real. He suffers a serious psychological blow and, while his ego may have a role in his urges, I think above all Johnny is a very sick individual whose mental state should have been immediately evaluated and taken care of after losing Dorothy.
ReplyDeleteI think the novel was effective in giving the right amount of exposure of the relationship that Johnny and Dorothy shared. When it comes to reasons why people seek revenge, there is a level of self-absorption that comes into play, for sure. I feel like revenge only occurs if self-injury occurs. It is common for people to feel like a part of themselves dies when someone they've grown up with dies, whether it be a parent, friend, sibling, or in this case, a lover. It is only natural for people to attain their sense of identity in conjunction with those they are constantly surrounded by, especially in their adolescence when one really strives to establish who they are. The novel makes it clear that Johnny and Dorothy grew up together and that they ultimately planned to spend the rest of their lives together. Following the death of Dorothy, it can be argued that Johnny's entire sense of self was obliterated along with the only reason for being he has ever known. It's almost like he adopts a nihilistic view of life where people are no longer people, but pawns in a sick and deluded game that Johnny chooses to spend the rest of his life playing.
ReplyDeleteI do believe Woolrich captured the relationship to his best ability because of his description of Dorothy and Johnny's love in the intro of the story. The two had known each other since they were 7 and 8, so naturally, they had truly been in love. Johnny did have a feeling of resentment towards Dorothy's "murderers," and by killing the women they loved, he felt a sort of accomplishment. The people he harmed had nothing to do with the death of Dorothy, though, but he wasn't going to take his anger out on anyone but them. I could tell that from the way Johnny reacted, he had really loved Dorothy. I think the loss of his loved one really caused Johnny a great deal of psychological pain, as expressed through the murders. I loved Woolrich's description of their relationship, and anything more would have been gratuitous.
ReplyDeleteSee, my issue is, I just think Johnny is insane. He goes through all this effort to not only punish the men who had some hand in the death of his lover, but also the women in their lives. If it was just a typical revenge tale, I could believe him going for the men, to save Dorothy's honor and avenge her death. However, he goes to some great lengths to punish these women, pushing his behavior to psychotic. If he was so in love with Dorothy, how could he do those things that would rather dishonor her memory? More specifically, I'm referring to those stories in which he would woe the women he meant to punish. If Dorothy could see what her love was doing, there is no possible way she would approve and Johnny should know that. Yes, she probably wouldn't approve of a straight revenge story and Johnny just killing the men, but I'm sure she could come around to that. However, this leads me to believe that Johnny gets enjoyment out of what he's doing, it's he life's blood now. Every year, I could see him counting down the days to May 31st so he could punish some person. If that's not the attitude of someone psychotic, then I don't know what is. Therefore, I do have trouble believing their love story in the opening pages. I've come to see Johnny as a character of insanity and I have trouble feeling anything genuine toward him. Maybe if Woolrich tried to strengthen their love throughout the novel and maybe supplied some flashbacks here or there, but judging from the opening pages alone, I don't trust that love story.
ReplyDeleteI like what Cameron said about Johnny and basically feel the same way. There's something weird going on with Johnny that I don't think anyone can really pinpoint- but the narrator seems to understand. I say that because the narration related to Johnny in a way- it was distanced from emotion (in my opinion). Maybe the lack of description of him and Dorothy is a reflection of Johnny- I'm not sure in what way, but it's eerie.
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