Binx Bolling and Nick Adams are two men with one major thing in common: they are both searching. Thier searches are both large-scale and have an objective that isn't well defined. Binx Bolling searches for he knows not what, he just feels an overwhelming urge to search. Nick Adams may not even realize that he is searching, but he is searching for where he belongs. Both men may never complete their searches due to the non-specific nature of them. If they do not ultimately feel that their search is over, that they've found that unknown something they search for, it will never be over.
Another thing that Binx Bolling and Nick Adams share is that they seem out of place in their lives. While everyone seems to be a part of the story, the events of the day as they take place, they always seem off in a separate place. What I mean is, Nick Adams always seems to not have much stake in the conversations he's having and the people he's with. He may have friends or meet strangers who threaten to harm him, but he just always has a sense of detachment. The stories detail what's going on when he's near others, and what they are saying, and normally not much of anything about Nick Adams himself. In The Moviegoer, when Binx Bolling is having conversations with someone, it most always veers off into him thinking about something mostly unrelated, sometimes for pages, before a line of dialogue from the middle of a conversation pops up to remind you that he's talking to someone. This makes you feel like he is detached from his surroundings, and doesn't belong, just as Nick Adams feels out of place in the stories of his own life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment