Jack Burden's colorful insults as well as vocabulary and train of thought allow the reader to see various characters as well as events from a very realistic perspective. It was obvious from the beginning of chapter one that Jack was a rather harsh critic when it came to analyzing people. Whether he was calling Tiny Duffy a "sebaceous fat ass" versus simply fat, or taking a cruel stab at Willie's tie and mommy's boy presence, Jack's descriptions can be seen as anything but dull. Burden is able to come up with the most unique and odd yet also extremity offensive insults within himself- which also portrays his character. As he explained Sugar Boy in the very beginning as well, "and then you'd see the little mystic Irish cheeks cave in as he sucked the sugar, so that he looked like an undernourished leprechaun"(5). Your average narrator would simply say that Sugar Boy was Irish, however we learned early on that this is not how Jack Burden functions. By portraying these southern isms, the reader is allowed to see Jack's cynical and condescending attitude that he doesn't do the best job of hiding. Later in the book, while out to dinner with a childhood friend by the name of Anne Stanton, the two get in a disagreement. After Burden extensively analyzes her like he does everyone else, the two argue over his father. Jack ends up stating, "Just because your old man was governor once and died in a mahogany tester bed with a couple of high priced doctors leaning over him and adding up the bills in their heads..."(149). Although Jack's comments are incredibly rude and harsh, they are oddly beautiful and extremely well put together. In reality, the people receiving the crisism, like Anne in this case, can't be angry over the comments because Jack simply states the truth In ways that people don't necessarily like to hear it. Jack is one of the only characters with a college education and it shows in his whitty comments. But the Southernisms don't stop there. Southern culture in this era is portrayed through the school scandal when certain member of the town refuse to hire a construction company simply because they employ black workers. As stated, "Mason County is a redneck country and they don't like niggers, no strange niggers anyway,and they haven't got many of their own"(77). Also, during the scene where Willie gives his first powerful speech drunk at the barbecue after learning he was played, he uses Southernisms himself by calling everyone in the crowd hicks and ignorant idiots. Simultaneously, Jack and Sadie continue the trend by referring to the Boss as 'The Sap'. Lastly, Warren used the same style towards the book's own narrator, Jack Burden himself. Although he is mostly criticizing other people using his language techniques, he also insults his own life. For example, "But nothing happened to Jack Burden, for nothing ever happened to Jack Burden, who was invulnerable. Perhaps that was the curse: he was invulnerable"(227). Although this appeared in the Cass Mastern chapter, it still directly shows how Jack views himself. He is able to use the southern isms to enhance and portray his own character and place in the story. As shown multiple times, he refers to himself in the third person, which portrays a lack of respect for himself. Southernisms have proved to be a crucial factor in the story thus far. They allow Jack to describe other things while also showing himself, and his option about those things. The colorful vocabulary and insults have definitely kept this book interesting.
In addition to characteristic southernisms, the author Robert Penn Warren employs striking and flamboyant language to create a vision of a particular character. Jack the narrator imaginatively and meticulously describes each introduced character and allows the character to live vivaciously in the reader’s mind. For example when Sadie was introduced into a scene, “She was running a head of steam to burst the rivets, and the way she snatched across the floor you could hear the seams pop in her skirt.” (page 202) Warren is a unique author in the sense that he takes time to thoroughly develop the plot by using these extensive descriptions that undoubtedly enhance the novel as a whole.
ReplyDeleteFunny: that same description popped out at me the first time I read it. I can so easily imagine a woman (especially in skirts of that time) popping skirt seams while walking fast! I could FEEL myself doing it from the way he described it!
DeleteI too noticed different character's personalities come out through their use of southern insults and description. An example of this can be seen when Sadie came to talk to Jack in a restaurant once. When she sat down she gave Jack the once over and remarked "I like mine with vitamins" (p104). Which prompted Jack to ask if she didn't think he was handsome. Her response was "I don't care about anybody being handsome... but I never did go for one that reminded me of a box of spilled spaghetti. All elbows and dry rattle" (p104). This underhanded insult was made easily understandable by Sadie's creative use of a common item (spaghetti). It also gave readers an early insight into Sadie and her brusque, honest manner.
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ReplyDeleteIzzy SnowFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:44 PM
This is a spot-on, eloquent observation on Jack's style of insult. The way he notices people exposes the idealist writer in him. He takes a quality of a person and makes them into a caricature. As a writer, it is his instinct to use powerful images and as a reporter, he exaggerates them. Early in the book, Jack asks Willie if he remembers when they first met. After Willie says yes, Jack claims he is not surprised because "he was like the circus elephant, he never forgot anything, the fellow who gave him the peanut or the fellow who put snuff in his trunk." (22). Although this description is an image, it is a very blunt explanation of one of Willie's characteristics. When he describes Sadie after she mistakenly tells Willie that he has been set up, he says "She had made her way in the world up from the shack in the mud-flat by always finding out what you knew and never letting you know what she knew. Her style was not to lea with the chin but with a neat length of lead pipe after you had stepped off balance." (112). Jack reveals details about Sadie with powerful imagery. Instead of listing a description of Sadie, he describes her as determined, cautious and manipulative with one image. Jack can also be very blunt. When Willie begins to get angry as Sadie reveals he has been played, Jack describes the scene with a perfect "southernism". He says she "flashed me a look, the only SOS, I suppose, Sadie Burke ever sent out to anybody. But it was her fudge and I let her cook it." (113). This image explains the scene perfectly. It ends on a somewhat humorous not and still successfully describes the tense ambiance. Jack's lyrical descriptions go far beyond the "southernisms" used by other characters in "All The King's Men". He is a true poet.