While I was reading the life of Lee as a child, his personality just creeped me out. Within “In the Bronx” he seemed fairly normal to me. It seemed like just a weird quirk a small child could have to be fascinated with the sounds of trains and the feeling of riding them. But, as he started to grow older I started to get a weird creepy feeling from him. The way that Robert Sproul describes him after seeing him with blood on himself from one of his usual fights is what really started the feeling for me.
“He seemed to be grinning. It was just like Lee to grin when it made no sense, assuming it was a grin and not some squint-eyed tic or something. You couldn’t always tell with him.” (33)
This sorta begins to paints Lee as a person who likes having control of things like how people think. We get more of this controlling nature as we progress through “In New Orleans.” Once he buys the gun, we get a very weird insight into the thoughts of his mind.
“The reverie of stillness, perfection of desire, perfection of control, her pale legs slightly parted, arms at her sides, eyes closed. He makes the picture of her come and go. It is what he knows about her, how he controls her, alone at night, watching her motionless on the bed, above the rain-slick streets.” (47)
He feels like he has power over this girl. The way he describes her also feels very eerie to me. All of the details are more innocent, but there is just so much attention to her appearance that it feels odd. This isn’t the only time he’s described a girl like this. He also described Robert Sproul’s sister in the same creepy fashion.
“She was just the right height. Not to tall. Her liked her air of restraint, the way she moved the pieces on the board, almost bashfully, giving no hint of the winning or losing involved. It made him feel animated and rash, a chess genius with dirty fingernails.” (39)
He likes her because she makes him feel like he’s a genius with power. This power aspect seems to be one of the main things forming within Lee. I’m curious to see how it develops within the book.
Although Lee does give me these creepy vibes, I also think that the narrator is not trying to shape him towards being exclusively creepy. There’s lots of evidence that he’s a product of his environment. With his childhood in the book, we can humanize Lee a bit more and start to consider that his family background along with getting bullied for little things having an yankee accent (33) could have steered him towards the path of assassinating JFK like he did. However, with how all this information is presented in a straightforward manner, I think we’re left to piece together how we feel about Lee. What do you all think? Is our opinion of Lee being shaped by the narrator or are we being left to decide what we think for ourselves?
I think that DeLillo is mostly trying to explain Lee as being a product of his environment, which is why there is an abundance of details regarding his childhood and early living situations. While the result of these situations isn't the prettiest sight, DeLillo makes sure to give us background insight as to why Lee turns out how he does.
ReplyDeleteBoth, I think, regarding your question at the end. DeLillo offers good evidence for a story that would be perfectly reasonable if all the events happened and it come to light in the public. But whether this touches you enough to sway you towards beLEEving in the conspiracy or not is up to your own interpretation.
ReplyDeleteBoth, I think, regarding your question at the end. DeLillo offers good evidence for a story that would be perfectly reasonable if all the events happened and it come to light in the public. But whether this touches you enough to sway you towards beLEEving in the conspiracy or not is up to your own interpretation.
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