Post by Jeff on Mar 12, 2019 9:52:39 GMT -5
Here I focus on the eye as an important symbol in TTOTC (as a book, regardless of its relation to the poem puzzle); the star/sun and the name are closely related to this symbol. The eye is a symbol for the self; "I" the pronoun and "I" the Roman numeral one (which also bears a close resemblance to the Arabic numeral 1), could be the wordplay.
The eye imagery reaches its apex with the epiphanies in My War for Me, an aptly named chapter because the revelatory experiences have to do with Fenn’s understanding of himself and his relation to others--perhaps we can categorize this as a break from solipsism and a move toward existentialism. In any event, when Fenn finally understands these revelatory experiences he concludes his moral education--at an unspecified time, but probably after his second brush with death in the face of kidney cancer. The revelation is summarized as follows: (1) "I am myself only to me," because "no one else can think my thoughts;" (2) "to be important I only need to impress myself;" and (3) "I can impress myself" "if others are positively affected by what they see in me or see me do." Therefore, Fenn surmises, our goal is "to enrich those with whom [we] interact."
In My War for Me, as a flashback to years earlier, Fenn is transporting a plane in the dead of night all "alone" ("alone" yet again, at night, and with a light; could "alone" be a holorime for "all" and "one"--keep reading) and, with a "winking" gauge, and, trying to stay awake, places his thumb in front of his eye and covers "up millions of people," represented as a "blur of lights," in Philadelphia.
This most overt example of the eye symbol in TTOTC. It is through this action--covering his eye or "I" or Roman numeral "I" for one--that he recognizes that there are other selfs--other eyes or "I"'s or Roman numeral "I"'s--out there, "each one is as important as the all." That Fenn chose Philadelphia for this story is clear from its motto and nickname--"let brotherly love endure" and "the city of brotherly love."
The Philadelphia incident mirrors the earlier story in Gypsy Magic, where a young Fenn escapes to a gypsy camp at night. The camp is arranged like an eye: the "horse-pulled wagons" were in a "big circle" and "they built a large fire in the middle." Observing the camp in hiding, the young Fenn "touched [the dancing women] with [his] eyes and [he] became part of it." In both stories Fenn is alone, at night, with eye images (and in both cases lighted eye images), coming to an understanding with other eyes or "I"'s or selfs.
Also in My War for Me, during a chronologically later incident while in Vietnam, Fenn makes a "pledge," their "secret alone," with--and winks at--a "serenely beautiful" "small clearing" with a "small waterfall in the center" that "dropped water so far that it turned to mist before it could spread on the rocks below." If he returned safely, he would visit this "magical" place. Near the conclusion of his tour he visits the site and finds it to be different on the ground--"impersonal and disappointing." He discovers that it is actually a forgotten, grown over graveyard of French soldiers from a previous war--"no one cries anymore" for them. A gravestone says "if you should ever think of me...forgive a sinner and smile at a homely girl."
This Vietnamese waterfall clearing is another eye symbol. Similar to the blinking gauge in the Philadelphia incident, Fenn "winks" at this clearing as a pledge before each mission. The waterfall clearing is an image of earth’s eye (the clearing) crying (the waterfall) for the forgotten soldiers buried there--"the ground knows and the tall grass knows." Further supporting this notion, at the beginning of the chapter we are told, in a parallel image, of how the Vietnam Memorial "is constantly being washed clean by the tears of a million visitors" but that "in another generation or so most of those names" will be forgotten.
The epitaph on the gravestone at the Vietnamese waterfall is a variation of H. L. Mencken’s humorous suggestion of what his might read: "If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl." It is curious that Fenn has changed "wink your eye" to "smile," especially given his liberal use of eye imagery within TTOTC. Would have keeping it been over the top, or perhaps it’s the change in general or the change to "smile" in particular that matters?
It is ironic that the "serenely beautiful" waterfall clearing is in actuality a graveyard and, further, that Fenn made a pact to visit a graveyard should he not be killed in action. That the experience is revelatory harks back to Surviving Myself, where "a kid really has time to think in a graveyard"--he has, survived himself, in this war for me, and finds himself thrust into thought in this graveyard. Similar to the Philadelphia story referral back to Gypsy Magic, the waterfall clearing episode--an eye--also refers back to the Gypsy camp in that chapter--another eye; in both he ends up on the ground "lying on my stomach" and parts the "tall grass" in order to see the revelatory experiences that awaited him.
The image of a star/sun are closely related to the eye symbol. At the conclusion of Important Literature, as Fenn transitions to telling his memoir, he introduces this symbol with the words: "sooner or later each of us will be nothing but the leftovers of history or an asterisk in a book that was never written." An actual asterisk is included for effect. The asterisk, a star, is used in this context as a representation of the person. In relation to this phrase, it is Fenn’s contention that the passage of time leads to the dead--their lives and lessons learned--to be forgotten and that "enrich[ing] those with whom [we] interact," particularly if done in a durable manner, is the best way for us to be remembered after we die, even though that outcome is not ensured. This memoir is one of several durable momentos that Fenn has created in an attempt to escape that fate. Note that the author photograph on the book jacket has a Native American feathered sun motif in the background--Fenn is a shining star!
The star image is most fully developed in the the Philadelphia episode in My War for Me; herein the twinkling lights below--it’s a reversed starry sky--come to represent "millions of people." In Fenn's conception, we each try to be a star to ourselves--"to be important I only need to impress myself." Stars, of course, are also idols or celebrities--this definition requires a shift from a more narrow, individual view of a star to that individual’s relationship with others. With this in mind, we arrive at the latter part of his argument: "enriching those with whom [we] interact;" in other words, become a star to them. This idea is expressed through the contrast Fenn creates between his wife’s viewing of "Dancing with the Stars" and his creation of bells that he hopes will result in him "Dancing with the Millennium." After his death (that is, after his own personal star has extinguished), even long after, he hopes to remain a star to somebody, somewhere, sometime.
The star/sun image is not developed much further in TTOTC. Stars make an appearance in the drawings of Fenn staring at the night sky in a graveyard in Surviving Myself and in the Epilogue. There are several sun images that may be related to egotism/hubris (at the extreme end of "to be important I only need to impress myself"), as in The Totem Café Caper, Looking for Lewis and Clark, and My War for Me. For example, when Fenn flew "250° into the sun" and "probably got hit" in My War for Me, is this an allusion to the Greek myth of Icarus and hence hubris/egotism? After all, he did mention earlier in the chapter that the sea "seemed somehow foreboding and sinister," the other half of the danger that faced Icarus. (Or is the "sinister" sea more a call back to Skippy’s fate from The Long Road Home?) Egotism/hubris is alluded to with the phrases "firm belief that I was totally invincible" in My War for Me and "we were both important to ourselves in our own way" in Looking for Lewis and Clark, and, of course, Frosty--"the Ruler" who "was pretty full of homage for his own person"--in The Totem Café Caper.
Lastly, in slightly mirrored stories, Stout-hearted Men finds Fenn abandoned by his "stout-hearted men" but in My War for Me it finds him rescued by them. This raises the topic of names--and more generally outward appearances--which is closely related to the eye symbol as a signifier of an individual, but an imperfect and often transitory one.
The eye imagery reaches its apex with the epiphanies in My War for Me, an aptly named chapter because the revelatory experiences have to do with Fenn’s understanding of himself and his relation to others--perhaps we can categorize this as a break from solipsism and a move toward existentialism. In any event, when Fenn finally understands these revelatory experiences he concludes his moral education--at an unspecified time, but probably after his second brush with death in the face of kidney cancer. The revelation is summarized as follows: (1) "I am myself only to me," because "no one else can think my thoughts;" (2) "to be important I only need to impress myself;" and (3) "I can impress myself" "if others are positively affected by what they see in me or see me do." Therefore, Fenn surmises, our goal is "to enrich those with whom [we] interact."
In My War for Me, as a flashback to years earlier, Fenn is transporting a plane in the dead of night all "alone" ("alone" yet again, at night, and with a light; could "alone" be a holorime for "all" and "one"--keep reading) and, with a "winking" gauge, and, trying to stay awake, places his thumb in front of his eye and covers "up millions of people," represented as a "blur of lights," in Philadelphia.
This most overt example of the eye symbol in TTOTC. It is through this action--covering his eye or "I" or Roman numeral "I" for one--that he recognizes that there are other selfs--other eyes or "I"'s or Roman numeral "I"'s--out there, "each one is as important as the all." That Fenn chose Philadelphia for this story is clear from its motto and nickname--"let brotherly love endure" and "the city of brotherly love."
The Philadelphia incident mirrors the earlier story in Gypsy Magic, where a young Fenn escapes to a gypsy camp at night. The camp is arranged like an eye: the "horse-pulled wagons" were in a "big circle" and "they built a large fire in the middle." Observing the camp in hiding, the young Fenn "touched [the dancing women] with [his] eyes and [he] became part of it." In both stories Fenn is alone, at night, with eye images (and in both cases lighted eye images), coming to an understanding with other eyes or "I"'s or selfs.
Also in My War for Me, during a chronologically later incident while in Vietnam, Fenn makes a "pledge," their "secret alone," with--and winks at--a "serenely beautiful" "small clearing" with a "small waterfall in the center" that "dropped water so far that it turned to mist before it could spread on the rocks below." If he returned safely, he would visit this "magical" place. Near the conclusion of his tour he visits the site and finds it to be different on the ground--"impersonal and disappointing." He discovers that it is actually a forgotten, grown over graveyard of French soldiers from a previous war--"no one cries anymore" for them. A gravestone says "if you should ever think of me...forgive a sinner and smile at a homely girl."
This Vietnamese waterfall clearing is another eye symbol. Similar to the blinking gauge in the Philadelphia incident, Fenn "winks" at this clearing as a pledge before each mission. The waterfall clearing is an image of earth’s eye (the clearing) crying (the waterfall) for the forgotten soldiers buried there--"the ground knows and the tall grass knows." Further supporting this notion, at the beginning of the chapter we are told, in a parallel image, of how the Vietnam Memorial "is constantly being washed clean by the tears of a million visitors" but that "in another generation or so most of those names" will be forgotten.
The epitaph on the gravestone at the Vietnamese waterfall is a variation of H. L. Mencken’s humorous suggestion of what his might read: "If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl." It is curious that Fenn has changed "wink your eye" to "smile," especially given his liberal use of eye imagery within TTOTC. Would have keeping it been over the top, or perhaps it’s the change in general or the change to "smile" in particular that matters?
It is ironic that the "serenely beautiful" waterfall clearing is in actuality a graveyard and, further, that Fenn made a pact to visit a graveyard should he not be killed in action. That the experience is revelatory harks back to Surviving Myself, where "a kid really has time to think in a graveyard"--he has, survived himself, in this war for me, and finds himself thrust into thought in this graveyard. Similar to the Philadelphia story referral back to Gypsy Magic, the waterfall clearing episode--an eye--also refers back to the Gypsy camp in that chapter--another eye; in both he ends up on the ground "lying on my stomach" and parts the "tall grass" in order to see the revelatory experiences that awaited him.
The image of a star/sun are closely related to the eye symbol. At the conclusion of Important Literature, as Fenn transitions to telling his memoir, he introduces this symbol with the words: "sooner or later each of us will be nothing but the leftovers of history or an asterisk in a book that was never written." An actual asterisk is included for effect. The asterisk, a star, is used in this context as a representation of the person. In relation to this phrase, it is Fenn’s contention that the passage of time leads to the dead--their lives and lessons learned--to be forgotten and that "enrich[ing] those with whom [we] interact," particularly if done in a durable manner, is the best way for us to be remembered after we die, even though that outcome is not ensured. This memoir is one of several durable momentos that Fenn has created in an attempt to escape that fate. Note that the author photograph on the book jacket has a Native American feathered sun motif in the background--Fenn is a shining star!
The star image is most fully developed in the the Philadelphia episode in My War for Me; herein the twinkling lights below--it’s a reversed starry sky--come to represent "millions of people." In Fenn's conception, we each try to be a star to ourselves--"to be important I only need to impress myself." Stars, of course, are also idols or celebrities--this definition requires a shift from a more narrow, individual view of a star to that individual’s relationship with others. With this in mind, we arrive at the latter part of his argument: "enriching those with whom [we] interact;" in other words, become a star to them. This idea is expressed through the contrast Fenn creates between his wife’s viewing of "Dancing with the Stars" and his creation of bells that he hopes will result in him "Dancing with the Millennium." After his death (that is, after his own personal star has extinguished), even long after, he hopes to remain a star to somebody, somewhere, sometime.
The star/sun image is not developed much further in TTOTC. Stars make an appearance in the drawings of Fenn staring at the night sky in a graveyard in Surviving Myself and in the Epilogue. There are several sun images that may be related to egotism/hubris (at the extreme end of "to be important I only need to impress myself"), as in The Totem Café Caper, Looking for Lewis and Clark, and My War for Me. For example, when Fenn flew "250° into the sun" and "probably got hit" in My War for Me, is this an allusion to the Greek myth of Icarus and hence hubris/egotism? After all, he did mention earlier in the chapter that the sea "seemed somehow foreboding and sinister," the other half of the danger that faced Icarus. (Or is the "sinister" sea more a call back to Skippy’s fate from The Long Road Home?) Egotism/hubris is alluded to with the phrases "firm belief that I was totally invincible" in My War for Me and "we were both important to ourselves in our own way" in Looking for Lewis and Clark, and, of course, Frosty--"the Ruler" who "was pretty full of homage for his own person"--in The Totem Café Caper.
Lastly, in slightly mirrored stories, Stout-hearted Men finds Fenn abandoned by his "stout-hearted men" but in My War for Me it finds him rescued by them. This raises the topic of names--and more generally outward appearances--which is closely related to the eye symbol as a signifier of an individual, but an imperfect and often transitory one.
In Jump Starting the Learning Curve, Fenn tells us that "no matter what I lacked or lost...they couldn’t take away my name." Names are representative but in many instances they can be deceptive; of course we have the paradox in names in our author: Forrest Fenn, both a forest and a wetland. We are first introduced to the deceptive nature of names in Important Literature where the books The Great Gatsby and A Farewell to Arms are considered important literature but are in fact "such little books." In First Grade and No Place for the Biddies, names on signs and name calling are a source of tension; "John Charles whatever" is discounted with the "whatever" surname, particularly in comparison to Fenn’s father, by depriving him of that representation of his being. In Lewis and Clark, the horse named Lightning is apathetic. In My War for Me, we are told how "those names" on the Vietnam War Memorial will be forgotten and "the name may be remembered if it is written, but what of the person?"
Am I reading too much into this? Probably. These are just my very imperfect observations. Way back in college I took an English class. "The American Short Story" or something like that. After the semester was done, the distinguished professor (he wore tweed!) pulled me aside and said how his graduate students who graded our papers suspected that I was plagiarizing, that I couldn't have written these things--this drivel coming from a biochemistry major? Oh, what a kind thought. Then, he continued, he was forced to read my papers and saw the papers for what they were: rank amateurism. Ah, so that's my place! I stuck with the sciences. Learn my lesson...
