Card Drawn:
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| "We're all suckers for a happy ending." |
Pain and humor are intrinsically linked in Lorrie Moore's "Subject to Change," my first introduction to this author. The interjection of jokes, puns, witty remarks and humorous digressions are strategically utilized by the two main characters in the story as a coping mechanism for heartbreak, internal anguish and unresolved trauma. Instead of opening up about their true feelings and being vulnerable with each other, they prefer to circumvent the awkward tension with playful humor, thereby steering the conversation away from establishing any real connection or intimacy. As the popular aphorism goes: sometimes laughter is the best medicine.
The unnamed female protagonist arranges to meet up with a man named Tom at a restaurant in France. As they engage in lengthy conversation, their sad personal history is slowly revealed through various comedic anecdotes, inferences, flash-forwards and flashbacks. I could not help but be reminded of Ernest Hemingway's classic "Hills Like White Elephants" that consists almost entirely of dialogue between an American man and woman traveling abroad in Europe with the emphasis being on what is left unsaid. That is where the comparison ends because Moore is not a minimalist; she provides just enough information to fill in the gaps whereas Hemingway's story is wildly ambiguous, forcing the reader to deduce what the couple is discussing by reading between the lines and analyzing the subtext beneath the surface (his whole"ice-berg" theory). I would argue that Lorrie Moore is a postmodern feminist writer since she engages in feminist discourses but in an irreverent and subversive way. Indeed, I would go as far to say that she has more (sorry, bad pun) in common with John Updike, especially with her use of the fragmented narrative, vignettes, the exploration of memory and shifting the comedic tone into melancholic despair. Themes of unrequited love and failed relationships are also common features in Updike's writing that we see here as well. However, Moore sets herself apart from both authors by walking a fine line between mockery and seriousness. Although her highly polished prose might not leave much to the imagination, I found her unique dark sense of humor and wordplay amusing. Call me old-fashioned but I love a good pun and there are plenty of good ones to be found here. She does have a great ear for dialogue but sometimes it veers into quirkiness territory.
Moreover, the story is also implicitly political, criticizing the Iraq war during the early 2000's. Tom is a member of the US military and suffers from a lot of traumatic experiences during his time in the Middle-East. He is on temporary leave and meets the woman in France before having to go back on assignment. Later on we find out that he undergoes a clandestine operation overseen by the military to cure his nagging headaches (PTSD?) by implanting a chip in his brain but suffers greatly during the recovery process. Although Tom's gradual failing health and eventual rejection of the woman is terribly sad, Moore counterbalances this sorrow with humor. For example, the woman makes several references to Tom being the 'Manchurian Candidate' and suggests that he might be at the center of a government conspiracy. Perhaps one can criticize Moore for being insensitive or flippant but I believe she is interested in showing how women use humor to repress or deflect their pain. Her unconditional love for Tom is not reciprocated and it was a little frustrating to me as to why she decided to waste her time pursuing him for all those years since he was not interested in having a relationship with her in the the first place. Was it out of boredom, loneliness, lust, a sense of adventure or did she genuinely love him? I am actually leaning more towards her being seduced by his charming wit and suffering from disillusionment in thinking that she has finally found "the one." Girl, you deserve better.
Nonetheless, the ending is surprisingly poignant and Moore successfully manages to bring the narrative full circle by providing a glimpse of when they first meet at a house party, flirting in the kitchen over empty bottles of wine. The woman comes across as a hopeless romantic whereas Tom is a realist about not having a future together: "We're all suckers for a happy ending." The implication, of course, that he is only interested in having casual sex with her but she is obviously looking for something more serious. Their relationship was doomed from the start.
The unnamed female protagonist arranges to meet up with a man named Tom at a restaurant in France. As they engage in lengthy conversation, their sad personal history is slowly revealed through various comedic anecdotes, inferences, flash-forwards and flashbacks. I could not help but be reminded of Ernest Hemingway's classic "Hills Like White Elephants" that consists almost entirely of dialogue between an American man and woman traveling abroad in Europe with the emphasis being on what is left unsaid. That is where the comparison ends because Moore is not a minimalist; she provides just enough information to fill in the gaps whereas Hemingway's story is wildly ambiguous, forcing the reader to deduce what the couple is discussing by reading between the lines and analyzing the subtext beneath the surface (his whole"ice-berg" theory). I would argue that Lorrie Moore is a postmodern feminist writer since she engages in feminist discourses but in an irreverent and subversive way. Indeed, I would go as far to say that she has more (sorry, bad pun) in common with John Updike, especially with her use of the fragmented narrative, vignettes, the exploration of memory and shifting the comedic tone into melancholic despair. Themes of unrequited love and failed relationships are also common features in Updike's writing that we see here as well. However, Moore sets herself apart from both authors by walking a fine line between mockery and seriousness. Although her highly polished prose might not leave much to the imagination, I found her unique dark sense of humor and wordplay amusing. Call me old-fashioned but I love a good pun and there are plenty of good ones to be found here. She does have a great ear for dialogue but sometimes it veers into quirkiness territory.
Moreover, the story is also implicitly political, criticizing the Iraq war during the early 2000's. Tom is a member of the US military and suffers from a lot of traumatic experiences during his time in the Middle-East. He is on temporary leave and meets the woman in France before having to go back on assignment. Later on we find out that he undergoes a clandestine operation overseen by the military to cure his nagging headaches (PTSD?) by implanting a chip in his brain but suffers greatly during the recovery process. Although Tom's gradual failing health and eventual rejection of the woman is terribly sad, Moore counterbalances this sorrow with humor. For example, the woman makes several references to Tom being the 'Manchurian Candidate' and suggests that he might be at the center of a government conspiracy. Perhaps one can criticize Moore for being insensitive or flippant but I believe she is interested in showing how women use humor to repress or deflect their pain. Her unconditional love for Tom is not reciprocated and it was a little frustrating to me as to why she decided to waste her time pursuing him for all those years since he was not interested in having a relationship with her in the the first place. Was it out of boredom, loneliness, lust, a sense of adventure or did she genuinely love him? I am actually leaning more towards her being seduced by his charming wit and suffering from disillusionment in thinking that she has finally found "the one." Girl, you deserve better.
Nonetheless, the ending is surprisingly poignant and Moore successfully manages to bring the narrative full circle by providing a glimpse of when they first meet at a house party, flirting in the kitchen over empty bottles of wine. The woman comes across as a hopeless romantic whereas Tom is a realist about not having a future together: "We're all suckers for a happy ending." The implication, of course, that he is only interested in having casual sex with her but she is obviously looking for something more serious. Their relationship was doomed from the start.
I've enjoyed a few Lorrie Moore stories and this one sounds pretty typical. "You're Ugly Too" actually gets its title from the punchline of a fairly well-known joke. One of the protagonist's favorite. Moore uses humor well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, good to know that I wasn't totally off base in my analysis about her use of humor. I was actually going to read "You're Ugly Too" instead since it seems to be one of her more popular stories. Maybe next time. I still have mixed feelings about her writing.
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