English 015 - Americans Abroad
The Effects of a Story
The Effects of a Story
Category: 4E: O'Brien | Hope Stockton
Whether traveling for business, pleasure, or service, Americans abroad can often be put in an uneasy situation. One method of easing this tension is to avoid the current situation and instead become involved in a different story altogether. The narrators in Gertrude Stein’s The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas and Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato both focus on other stories to deflect attention from their true surroundings. Despite similar intentions, these stories can oftentimes have very different results. Stein, narrator in her book, avoids giving details of her own life through stories from other people. On the other hand, O’Brien’s main character, Paul, reveals himself through the story he creates one night while on observation duty. The styles of both authors mirror these ideas. Stein’s style inhibits the reader’s knowledge, while O’Brien writes with clarity.
Gertrude Stein portrays herself as confident and carefree, ignoring everything that could create tension in her life by simply not discussing it. She deflects attention from herself immediately with her choice of title. While the novel is clearly about Stein herself, she instead chooses to title the novel The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. The majority of the novel then consists of stories from other people’s lives. More is learned about the relationships between minor characters than the relationship between Stein and Toklas. For example, Stein introduces the character of Alice Derain, who although only makes a brief appearance, is given a full description. The reader learns about her marriage with Mr. Princet, her experience of love at first sight with Andre Derain, and even the fur coat Princet tore to pieces upon hearing Alice was with Derain (Stein, 24). All of this, and yet she reveals none of the details about Alice and herself. Nor does Stein involve the reader in any of the dilemmas within her life, and it is impossible to believe that she faced none. The one hint of a problem mentioned is that of criticism of her work, and even then the message is very subtle and oblique. While at the Paris Salon, Stein appears to be confronting the critics of a certain Matisse painting but in actuality is confronting the critics of her own writing.
It bothered her and angered because she did not understand why because it to her was so alright, just as later she did not understand why since the writing was all so clear and natural they mocked at and were enraged by her work (Stein, 35).
Stein’s only mention of the negativity her writing faced comes as an afterthought and it is never followed up. Another area where Stein remains vague is her friendships. Although it is very clear that she and Picasso are the closest of friends, nowhere in the novel does Stein discuss their friendship. They met over a piece of bread and “that was the beginning of their intimacy” (Stein, 46). This, as well as how Picasso pronounces Gertrude’s name, is the only clue the reader is given to their friendship. When Stein and Picasso are in an argument, the reader is only made aware that there is an argument and of when it ends, never the reasons. By the end of the novel, the reader is left with a list of unknown facts about Stein such as the nature of her relationship with Alice, the problems she faced, and the background of her friendships. Stein’s anecdotes provide information about everyone at the 27 Rue de Fleurus salons except for herself. All of these stories draw the reader away from Stein and give her the air of a confident American abroad because there are no details to suggest otherwise.
Stein’s style also reflects this separation from concrete personal facts. Stein employs two devices consistently throughout her writing: repetition and circular sentences. Both of these devices rob Stein’s writing of force, leaving the reader unclear of the intended message. Repetition surfaces just as Stein is hinting at something; however, what exactly that something is remains a mystery to the reader due to the language. For example, Alice discusses sitting with the wives of geniuses early on in the novel:
I have sat with so many. I have sat with wives who were not wives, of geniuses who were real geniuses. I have sat with real wives of geniuses who were not real geniuses. I have sat with wives of geniuses, of near geniuses, of would be geniuses, in short I have sat very often and very long with many wives and wives of many geniuses (Stein, 14).
The reader is too caught up in the number of times “wives” and “geniuses” are used to grasp the point Stein is trying to make. Instead of highlighting the importance of wives of geniuses, Stein leaves the reader with nothing but a pattern. The content of her sentences is deadened by her repetition; there is nothing to the passage but empty words. Stein’s writing also relies heavily on circular sentences. These sentences have a similar effect on the reader: confusing him or her as to the point.
You know how painters are, I wanted to make them happy so I placed each one opposite his own picture, and they were happy so happy that we had to send out twice for more bread, when you know France you will know that that means that they were happy, because they cannot eat and drink without bread and we had to send out twice for bread so they were happy (Stein, 15).
There appears to be no real point to this sentence, just as Stein’s stories also seem to be without a point. Stein’s stylistic devices reinforce how she treats the plot of her novel; both leave the reader with nothing substantial, merely anecdotes and patterns in the syntax.
Paul Berlin becomes entangled in a story in order to escape the alternating panic and monotony of the Vietnam War. Since a very early age he has spent hours in imagination and over the course of one long evening on the observation post, Paul spins a story that takes him 8,600 miles across the world to Paris. Unlike Stein’s, Paul’s story reveals details about his character. The fantasy Paul creates includes pieces of his reality. In his dream a water buffalo is killed, while in real life, a member of his platoon nicknamed Water Buffalo is also shot dead (O’Brien, 50). Fears and worries that irk Paul in reality are played out in his fantasy world. For example, while at the observation tower Paul comments on never having seen the enemy; “he had seen the dead but never seen the living enemy and he had never seen the tunnels” (O’Brien, 85). Within his fantasy, the next step after this realization is a face-to-face interaction with one of the enemy in the Viet Cong tunnel system. Paul also remembers a childhood retreat where he ended up “lost, bawling in the big Wisconsin woods” (O’Brien, 41). Embarrassed by this incident, in his fantasy, Paul is sure to have a moment of glory when he escapes from prison in Iran, knowing the exact way. Also in this scene, “fierce, hard, desperate full-out running…[with] no honor…no thoughts of duty or glory or mission” helps him to become a true soldier, something in real life he is desperate to prove to himself and his father (O’Brien, 243). Superficially Paul Berlin is introduced to the reader at various times, however, the most is learned about him during the fantasy sequences. It is then that his innermost thoughts and fears are revealed to the reader.
Tim O’Brien writes very clearly. All of his information is laid outright on the page; there is no confusion for the reader to sift through, there is nothing blocking a connection with Paul. O’Brien provides the reader with every last detail, oftentimes in a list to facilitate understanding. “There were no voices, no echoes, no doors opening or closing….So he slept, and wondered, and listened to the sounds of stone on steel” (O’Brien, 221). The reader is aware of Paul’s every action and all the details around him just as they are aware of his thoughts.
O’Brien even devotes a chapter to describing the others soldiers, going into detail, and using a separate style for each character, distinguishing them very clearly from one another. Eddie’s description, for example, is composed of short, choppy sentences: “Eddie Lazzutti loved to sing. He sang marching songs and nursery ballads” (O’Brien, 141). Stink Murphy’s description, on the other hand, is full of long sentences that flow together (O’Brien, 144). O’Brien also gives the reader something to associate with each character, gum for Cacciato and the big gun for Harold Murphy, for example.
Like Stein, O’Brien also uses repetition, although to a very different effect. O’Brien constantly repeats facts. For example, Paul is always referred to by his full name, even though he is the narrator and the novel is his fantasy. O’Brien’s repetition drills what information is known into the reader’s head, instead of confusing him or her. For example, O’Brien writes, “the thirty-eight soldiers and the boy,” and then just a few paragraphs later “the steady marching of the thirty-eight soldiers and the scout, a boy of thirteen” (O’Brien, 164). O’Brien refuses to let the reader fall behind the story. This is also evident in how he points out the flaws in his own narrative. Paul Berlin and his fellow soldiers travel across the world, buying train tickets, food, even an apartment, and the reader has no idea where all of this money is coming from. However, O’Brien dismisses all of this; he alerts the reader that he already knows of the missing details, that his characters have “no passports, no money, [are] hunted like common crooks, runaways” (O’Brien, 273). O’Brien’s recognition of these shortcomings allows the reader to move on and focus more on catching Cacciato than the logistics of the journey. Although multiple holes exist within the plot of Paul’s fantasy, nothing is left uncovered with O’Brien’s prose. The story within a story supplements the reader’s knowledge of Paul instead of inhibiting it.
A story within a story is a simple device but with many possibilities emanating from it. In The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Stein’s constant stories of other people and modernist style detach her from the reader. In Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato, however, it was the story within the novel’s plot that allowed the reader to truly know Paul Berlin, facilitated by O’Brien’s style. Being abroad, even during wartime, seemed to have a positive effect on Paul; he learned more about himself, his fears and desires through the creation of his fantasy. Stein meanwhile seemed more than anything nervous abroad, despite her highly regarded position in the Lost Generation. Her story masks a strong lack of confidence that perhaps she truly felt in real life.
Posted by on December 15, 2003 at 01:38 PM