Friday, September 5, 2008
He
What really captured my attention while I was reading this story was how the boy was referred to as "He" throughout. Usually, when I think of "He" with a capital at the beginning, I think of God and Jesus and how Christians show respect by capitalizing this pronoun. While reading this story, I kept trying to figure out why Porter would capitalize this word. One possibility I thought of is that He is like his name (or maybe is his real name?), so it became a capitalized proper noun. Another possibility I thought of is that he is so important in the Whipples' lives and to this story that he received special recognition through this pronoun. Another possibility, and the one that I find most intriguing, is the possibility that Porter was trying to draw a connection between the boy and religion. In a way, the boy is treated with respect (except when they take his blanket away from him), he gets fed first and best, he is expected to be forgiving (or forgetful) of everyone and everything, and he is also expected to be giving and help out (he is expected to help with the pig and bull), all the ways in which a God should be treated. Also, I have heard (was it in this class?) that in "the olden days," when this story took place, that people with mental disabilities were thought to be especially in touch with God and his message. I am wondering why Porter would be drawing (if she is in fact) connections between religion and this boy, especially when he gets taken away. Possibly as a social comment to show how religious people are? I don't have a clear answer for this, but I find it all very intriguing. What do you all think?
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2 comments:
When I first started reading the story I also wondered about the capitalization. Of course, the first thing I thought of was that this was a parallel between the boy and Jesus. I do like the point you made about maybe it’s not so much the parallel between the boy and Jesus but it’s the parallel between the respect. Christians use capitalization to show the respect for God and Jesus. Perhaps Porter decided to use the capitalization to show the mother’s respect for her son. She certainly does treat him like some kind of exulted figure. Everything he does shows how wonderful he is. When a board falls on his head it’s not that maybe it really wasn’t that bad but she sees it as how he never gets hurt and how strong he is. I think that the parallel between Chrisitian respect and the mother’s respect is a fascinating read. However, I do notice that really it’s only the mother that is putting Him on a pedestal. The father seems to be humoring his wife but not so much participating and her other two children treat him more like the sibling their parents favor than someone they would favor on their own. What does this say about the mother?
I don’t so much read it as the boy is a link to religion itself. Mostly because it is only the mother that treats him like he’s so special. No one else seems to be using him as their religion. The neighbors whisper about him and the family behind their backs. They are treated very much as the “other.” The neighbors perhaps don’t outright treat them differently but there definitely is that mentality that their family is different because they have a mental disability among them. Back in the “olden days,” people with disabilities were more shunned and sent away than lived with day to day. I think that the boy is an exception to the rule for a while; his family/mother really tries to make his life livable every day. She works with him and is proud of him but it doesn’t last and he is sent away, which is what usually happened much sooner. If Porter is indeed making the parallel between Him and religion then what is she saying when the boy is sent away? The neighbor can’t look back at him like he can’t wait for the boy to be gone. I don’t think that the boy is ever going home again so is Porter saying that you can’t stick with religion? I don’t find this an easy reading to justify.
Like Allison, I initially connected the capitalization of the word "He" to Jesus Christ, thinking the boy would in some way become a christ figure. While he does, in a since, sacrifice himself--he allows his siblings to have the blanket at night despite his headcold, works with the bees never minding the stings-- but I believe the difference between He and Jesus, is the He was sacrificed, in the passive sense. Someone else, namely his mother, sacrificed him utilitarinously for the greater good; the boy, unlike Christ, didn't sacrifice himself, in the active.
I take the capitalization, then speaks to a different social issue: intolerance of people who are different. I never truly believed He was mentally inferior than the rest of his family; instead, I interpreted his slowness to be more of a communication disability-- not a kind of retardation. The capitalization of He asks us to respect him despite his differences because he is really the same as the rest of us. I believe he is nameless, in part, to represent all the other oppressed "He's" in our society who fall under the category of "different." The capitlization reminds us every He is worthy of humanity, worthy of love, and worthy of reverence.
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