The Beetle Leg Madame Ounelli (1)

8/9/2019 The Beetle Leg Madame Ounelli (1)

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Professor Karoui-ElounelliAmerican MetactionAgreg22013-2014

The Beetle Leg

-John Hawkes-

I. Introduction :

The Beetle Leg incarnates the tendency of literary self-criticism that

manifests itself through the play of parody !he target of parody is one of

the formulaic narrati"e traditions# and it is limited to the American conte$t

% the &estern no"el'!he term formulaic refers to the (ind of narrati"e

ction in &hich little space is gi"en to inno"ation as there are con"entions

that tend to )e repeated # allo&ing the reader to predict the plotline *elf-

re+e$i"e ction relies on the ironic game that can only )e discerned if one

is familiar &ith the archetype that is the target of parody !he myth of the

frontier e$perience is the target of criticism !he most consistent target of

parody in The Beetle Leg is the &estern no"el in its con"entions and

ideological content as it tended to confuse the myth of the frontier &ith

the historical content

!here is a common theoretical )ac(ground to postmodern &ritings &hich

consists in the assumption that originality is a myth !his is the spirit of

crisis that ,ohn arth attri)utes to the no"el genre from the moment of its

emergence .nterte$tuality is ine"ita)le

.n /a&(es no"el all the characters are +at and this reinforces the anti-

realistic tendency of this (ind of ction !his has to do &ith uestioning the

"ery possi)ility of representation !he life-li(e content is undermined and


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e"en &hen here is something life-li(e it is framed )y a dream-li(e mood

!his playfulness destroys the con"entional process of cultural portrayal

!his is meant to remind the reader of the inadeuacy of language and that

style is a matter of in"ention

*atire allo&s postmodern metaction to preser"e a lin( &ith the &orld

outside literature !he satirical dimension is reached through parody

*atire is achie"ed through the de"ices that allo& the postmodern narrati"e

to resist the con"entions of realism

!he postmodern narrati"e opens &ith the (ind of details that &ould

mislead the reader to e$pect an ordinary story through the accumulation

of con"entional eects !hen# it destroys these claims through self-irony

Authorship and readership are gi"en eual importance in this (ind of

ction !here is an inescapa)le gap )et&een the te$t and the authors

intention oting is too serious to )e sheltered from parody

.. The Major Diferences between Modernism and

Postmodernism: A similar use of fragmentation )ut the implications are dierent .n

modernist literature# the use of fragmentation does not pre"ent the

reader from reconstructing the plotline .n Postmodern &ritings# &e

are al&ays pre"ented from reaching that stage A dierent use of psychoanalysis5 Modernist &ritings display a

dogmatic )elief in psychoanalysis &hile postmodern &ritings tend to

ha"e a critical use of it


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.n modernist &ritings literary con"entions are maintained &hile they

are totally destroyed in postmodern narrati"es

III. The Sherif !he opening section is framed )y the rst-person narrator %the

sheri' that announces the familiar in the &estern narrati"e !he

gure of the sheri in the con"entional &estern stands for la& and

order !his is meant to encourage our e$pectations of the typical

&estern plot as &e get introduced to the constant threat incarnated

)y the forces of the &ilderness as opposed to the forces of la& and

order6 this is a la&less country7 !he comic a)surdities are

emphasi8ed through the fact that the tas( of (eeping order consists

in spying on the to&nspeople rather than protecting them !his

comic a)surdity gradually destroys the relia)ility of the narrator as

he associates his e$istence &ith the en"ironment of the 9ail !hus#

the )oundaries )et&een the la& (eeper and the outla& are )lurred

!he *heri also creates confusion )et&een the 9ail as an institution

of punishment and the )rothel %the saloon' that incarnates moral

transgressions !he *heris "oyeurism sho&s his per"ersityIV. The Lampson Brothers

!he sheri is caught in an unhealthy o)session &ith peoples se$ual

li"es !his suggests a (ind of moral per"ersity that destroys his

con"entional role as the guardian of order !he sheri introduces the

:ampson rothers as totally dierent from the rest of the

community /e in"ites our e$pectation of the typical co&)oy hero

/o&e"er# this insistence on their e$ceptionality remains only


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ar)itrary as they appear comic !his is used to remind the readers of

the articial process that creates stories !here is no )asis for their

distinction neither morally nor mentallyV. The Red Dei!s

!hey function as a distorted "ersion of the nati"es Anachronism

implies a critical attitude to&ards the con"entional &estern no"el

!he traditional &estern relied on myth ma(ing in its depiction of that

historical phase !he parodic no"el )rings to the surface the &hole

process of myth ma(ing and stereotyping .! functions thus li(e a

critical te$t !he potential of e"il is suggested in an a)surd and

ar)itrary &ay as ;ade stresses the fact that they are harmless &hich

is again an ironic su)"ersion of the con"entional &estern narrati"e

that depicts the nati"e tri)es as part of the &ilderness &hile the

&hite pioneers sym)oli8e ci"ili8ation !his critical comment

uestions the articial process through &hich the nati"e tri)es are

often depicted in the con"entional &estern narrati"e The Beetle Leg

demysties the imperialist "ision that informs the portrayal of the

nati"e gures !heir emergence encourages us to e$pect that

traditional scene of confrontation )et&een the forces of the

&ilderness and the representati"es of ci"ili8ation"otice

!he no"el is thus a critiue not only of the literary form )ut

also of the mythology that is represented as a historical fact !he past as history is something &e ha"e access to only

through te$ts E"en historical narrati"es came into )eing through

interpretation


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!he rules of narrati"ity are eually present in the human

discourses

.n ction# nothing is natural# e"erything is articial .n postmodern metaction# the myth of originality is

a)andoned

VI. The #reat S!ide .t is presented as the source of a constant threat

.t is &hat gi"es Mulges death a pseudo-epic uality .t announces the dead Mulge as a central gure

!he third person "oice is also an accomplice in turning

him into a myth /is relia)ility is undermined 9ust li(e the

*heris credi)ility !he dam incarnates a constant threat .ts an area of

imminent apocalypse

o psychological impact is produced )y this accident on

the +at charaters .ts the temporal reference in relation to &hich the

characters concei"e of their li"es as its a decisi"e dateVII. The Settin$

!he )orderline location is con"entionally a sym)ol of t&o opposing &orlds5

the &ilderness and ci"ili8ation .t is an illustration of one of the earliest

forms of the imperialist ideology that associates the nati"es &ith chaos

and sa"agery .n parody# this implicit message is made e$plicit Mistletoe is

an apocalyptic area that reinforces the apocalyptic image of the frontier


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space !he only area that incarnates a form of life is the 9ail !his is to )e

interpreted as an ironic denial of the "ery possi)ility of progress

VIII. Mu!$e

Mulge is the "ery center of signicance according to the characters

perception .t is than(s to his death that Mistletoe has )ecome a tourist

attraction /e is magnied )y the &hole community of Mistletoe &ithout

pro"iding the reader &ith clues clarifying the reasons &hy he should

)ecome so omnipresent !his is also part of the game of myth-ma(ing /is

&edding and his death constitute t&o decisi"e moments or e"ents in the

life of Mistletoe !his mythical uality remains highly a)surd .n his case#

the accidental death of an ordinary &or(er has )een turned into a mythical

e"ent /e emerges as a heroic gure &ithout a logical reason or

e$planation !his is used to highlight the ar)itrary nature of myths

reminding us thus that ction is al&ays articial !he a)surdity of the

fetish % Mulges ra8or that has )een transformed into a touristic

attraction' is meant to remind the reader of the fetishism in the American

culture that in"ented the myth of the frontier and turned it into a

commodity Mulge is associated &ith the heroic god-li(e gures of the past

I%. Lu&e Lampson: The 'nti(hero:

:u(es ritualistic action does not produce any constructi"e result /e

attempts to commemorate his )rothers pseudo-epic death )y so&ing


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seeds on a regular )asis &hile the )rothers corpse couldnt e"en )e

retrie"ed !he futility of his actions is stressed /e is depicted as a +at

character &hose actions are meaningless and futile /e is a comic

character /is clo&nish ualities are meant to undermine his epic uality .t

su)"erts the essential eect of the archetype :u(e assumes a pseudo-

mysterious uality &hen entering the saloon for instance as he seems to

despise the cro&d and no)ody manages to see his face !here is a false

sense of mystery

%. )ap Leech:/e incarnates the nati"e practice of &itchcraft /e is characteri8ed

)y his am)iguous ethnic identity !he concept of identity does not

hold anymore as its not sta)le or e"en relia)le /e is focused upon

in section


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)y the &ay he and his &ife react &hen their childs life is seriously

threatened after )eing )itten )y a sna(e !hey dont adopt the e$pected

rational reaction &hich reinforced the dream-li(e uality !he readers

e$pectations of the typical &estern plotline are encouraged only to )e

defeated

%II. *arr+ Bohn/e is the ironic dou)le of >ran(stein

%III. The Theme o, the -aste!and:

!his theme contri)utes to the su)"ersion of the con"entional frontier

space .t not only includes the human &orld )ut also the cultural &orld

since e"en nature is a cultural artifact .t highlights the apocalyptic image

of the &orld !he fact that insects are a predominant source of imagery

plays a ma9or role in announcing the image of the frontier space as a

&asteland !he repeated reference to mosuitoes suggests this state of

decomposition !he fact that mosuitoes (eep mo"ing in and out

contri)utes to the comic eect and su)"erts the ideal of mo)ility that the

traditional &estern no"el cele)rates ;e get the impression that they are

in"ading the to&n and "ictimi8ing the characters !he characters remain

)lind )oth to the apocalyptic and to the comic dimension &hich reinforces

their clo&nish nature !here is also an association )et&een the apocalyptic

nature of the setting and the dam as =amper percei"es nothing )ut

nothingness and the a)solute a)sence of any form of life

%IV. De,ormit+


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?eformity is used to reinforce the surreal eect and to further undermine

any life-li(e uality in the characters portraits .t also contri)utes to the

su)"ersion of the archetypal &estern narrati"e ?eformity is associated

&ith the characters physical portrait =ap :eech for instance sym)oli8es

this idea :u(es lady-si8e )oots reinforce this impression of deformity and

undermine the heroic gure of the co&)oy ?eformity reinforces the eect

of an o"er&helming ruin /a&(es also uses )odily parts throughout the

no"el as a sym)ol of deformity that reinforces the dream-li(e uality

%V. )haracteriation

All the characters are +at and not meant to )e life-li(e !hey are denied

any psychic comple$ity as they are meant to con"ey the postmodern

critical uestioning of all the pre"ious no"elistic con"ention !heir

deformity is meant to ser"e the anti-realistic eect in matters related to

characteri8ation !he characters rather emerge as death-li(e as part of an

apocalyptic space of total decay !he +atness of the characters implies a

critiue of the con"ention of character portrayal

@. Mobi!it+:

;hen &e (eep in mind that the thematic center of the con"entional

&estern narrati"e is the idea of mo)ility and progress of ci"ili8ation

through the actual physical progress of the characters# the repeated

reference to the characters feet in a metonymic &ay echoes that sym)olic

structure )ut only in an ironic &ay !he 9ail reinforces this idea as the

prisoners cannot possi)ly mo"e any&here


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%VII. M+th(ma&in$:

!his is one of the tools through &hich the con"ention of the plot is

challenged .ndians &ho are associated &ith a potential threat for e$ample

do not sho& any threatening attitude !he con"entional &estern &as not

recei"ed )y readers as ction )ut rather as an attempt at historici8ing that

particular phase of American history !he eetle :eg constantly challenges

the frontier myth .t totally destroys the epic uality of the frontier story

!he ctional &orld is go"erned )y a dream-li(e logic that the historical

reader cannot share !here is an insistence on the fact that the myth of

the &hite mans ci"ili8ing mission tends to )e confused or mista(en for

history )y the audience &ho usually ta(e it for the actual history of the

&est&ard e$pansion

@... The Dam:

!he idea of mo"ement is per"ersely attri)uted to the am)itious pro9ect

that has )ecome a source of destruction and potential ruin !he

construction of the dam is associated &ith an apocalyptic dimension

!here is an ironic comment on the ma9or ideological messages of the

traditional &estern story .t consists of percei"ing in the progress of &hite

American culture# a sym)ol of the progress of ci"ili8ation


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The Beetle Leg Madame Ounelli (1)