Masculinity in Pale Horse Pale Rider

Porter constructs Adam to be the ideal form of masculinity. Starting with his name, Adam encompasses the feminine ideal of masculine perfection. Being the "first" man, implies he is above other men. God created the Biblical Adam in his image, without error, without defect, without sin. At one point, Miranda thinks "He really did look like a fine healthy apple this morning" (280) which immediately draws the readers back to the Garden of Eden and insinuates that Adam is the apple of her eye and the apple of God's eye. In a sense, Adam was the golden of all golden children. Porter describes the character Adam also as being golden. His appearance was"olive and tan and tawny, hay colored and sand colored from hair to boots" illuminating perfection (278). His eyes, the typical vessels of understanding and truth, were eyes were "pale tan with orange flecks in them and his hair was the color of a haystack"(280). Almost as if Adam had been kissed by the sun--golden hair, tan skin, orange eyes--Adam is a product of nature and of God's creation. He examples God's perfection in his appearance. He also examples a woman's idea of perfection in his appearance. Adam was "tall and heavily muscled in the shoulders, narrow in the waist" (279). I almost laughed when I read this as I was digging for evidence of implied masculinity within the text. Really, is this description not what even modern women desire when they create their perfect male? Commercials, the media, even our friends confirm the social desire for men who tower over the women and wear their inverted triangle physique proudly. Muscled and thick is--in a sense the David with the army build-- the ideal man. The perfect man, moreover, according to Porter, must be more than his brawn. He must be untainted, timeless, and connected with the stereotypical masculine concept of industrialization. Whether or not it's true, Adam's demeanor claimed him to be "clear and fresh and he never had a pain in his life" (282). Again, the perfect icon of creation would be sinless, spotless, uncorrupted within society and able to protect the females without damaging their innocence in the process. He must also be tied into industrialization. Adam's connection with his car represents the stereotype that masculinity must intertwine with industry. Industry evokes images of steel, hardness, production, and Adam felt as though he left part of himself behind when he could not take his car with him. "Miranda knew he was trying to tell her what kind of person he was when he had his machinery with him" (286). Adam is the ideal man in his purpose from God, appearance, untainted character and connection with the industrial. (On a side note, Porter's ideal must love to drive, be respectful to his mother, wait for women at all hours of the night, and be a good dancer). Porter, however, strips away Adam's perfect masculinity. First, Miranda does not give up her job for her man, a common complaint of feminism. Instead, he meets her to dance and eat and drink coffee at all hours of the night, essentially waiting for her to beckon him. He adjusts to her schedule and "late hours" and even attends the plays she must review to keep her company. When Miranda becomes sick, furthermore, Adam fulfills the role of nurse, getting her prescriptions and wiping the vomit from her face. In a delirious state, Miranda tells him "Adam, I think you're beautiful," verbally condemning him to a feminine adjective (301). Even at war, Adam does not die a soldier's death, a masculine death, but he is stricken with influenza. Miranda, furthermore, is the one who gives him the disease. She in a sense forces him to nurse her and then prevents him from dying an "honorable" war death. The question is then, why is Adam stripped of his manhood. By emasculating Adam, Porter issues a very feminist sentiment: men are not truly masculine and women have the ability to take away the qualities they think define their masculinity. Men, then, would be equal to women, pulled down a notch on the hierarchal ladder.