The first time we see Nelson become dependent on his grandpa is on the train when he realizes that if he loses his grandpa in the city, he will be lost and alone. He wants to cling to him, but represses this feeling to maintain his own image of being in control of himself, dependent on no one. When the scene happens with Nelson running to find his grandpa and he hurts the woman laying on the ground, the boy holds onto his grandpa for dear life. He finally understood what he would feel like without having his grandpa there to guide him, even if it is in the wrong direction. Despite the fact that the grandpa left Nelson alone on the bench to teach him a lesson, he ended up teaching himself a greater one. As they walked along, the grandpa 20 feet in front of Nelson, he finally felt helpless, as if there was nothing he could do to bring Nelson to forgive him. I think that when they saw "the artificial nigger," they finally were seeing through the same eyes. They both saw exactly the same thing when looking at the "plaster figure." On the train, Nelson saw the negro man as someone who was tan, and resented his grandpa for telling him to expect to see person with black skin. The two were never on the same page until they shared the moment towards the end with the statue, finally embodying the same physical, and emotional attributes.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Control and Dependency
The relationship between Nelson and his grandpa reminds me of a cat and mouse-type. I found the visual that O'Connor gives us to be both helpful in understanding the two characters, and intriguing as well. Nelson is portrayed to be very independent in the beginning, resembling a rebellious teenager, while the grandpa is stubborn and works too hard to make the boy feel inferior. Throughout the story, the grandpa insists that it is the boy's "first time" going to the city, while Nelson argues that he was born there, so it is his second time. It is not until the grandpa realizes that he got them lost, and he forgot their lunch, that he decides to put the guilt on Nelson, by saying, "...you could have remembered the sack as good as me...this is your second trip. You ought to know how to do" (p. 224). He attempts to make the boy feel just as ignorant and mindless as he feels, so that he can remain in control of Nelson.
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I like the cat and mouse relationship comment. It's very true. However, I think Nelson and Mr. Head are both competing to be the cat and force the other to be the mouse. Nelson uses his insistence that this is his second time to the city to give himself power and the grandfather uses his three times to the city to trump him. Their roles are constantly changing. Nelson becomes the mouse when he realized he would be alone without his grandfather and when he takes his grandfather's hand when they're lost, as well as when he hugs him after knocking the old woman down. Mr. Head is in the position of the mouse when Nelson wakes up first and is already cooking breakfast, when he forgets the lunch on the train, when he gets them lost and when he denies Nelson near the end. They are both competing to be the cat but in the end, only Nelson is victorious. I would say the grandfather ends up in the weakened role because he realizes that all his power doesn't come from his pride but from the forgiveness and relationships he has with Nelson and God.
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