Today in class, my group and I analyzed Biff's position in the novel. In part II, this character especially seems to become more emotionally detached from the characters around him. When Biff's wife dies, he pays little attention to her passing, much to the contrary of Singer, who is distraught for weeks on end after Antanopolis leaves.
Although Biff does seem to be detached from characters such as Alice, he remains one of the most observant characters in the novel. He is objective in the fact that he does not form rash opinions about the other characters, as Jake is not just the "drunk" and singer not just "the mute."
Through Biff's physical isolation, he becomes an outsider, and learns about each of the characters on the sidelnes. (Just like the readers.)
Biff also seems to be the central connection between all characters, as they all meet through his diner,or have connections with it.
Why would Carson Mccullers chose Biff to be the central connection between the characters? How does this relate to Biff's perspective? Would you agree that Biff's perspective is that of the readers?
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I do think that Biff is from the perspective of the reader, although I disagree that he is the central connection between the characters. Yes, he is observant and he does provide a common ground for all the characters, but he does not truly connect them all. The reason I see him as the perspective of the reader is because of his observance, but also his confusion. He knows just about as much as the reader does about all the characters. He is a very versatile character. He wants to be a father, but he has mother like qualities. He is a businessman, but a very nice one. He secretly adores Mick, and most people see him as an old mean man even though he really isn't. He literally has very view that a reader can look at through the novel. He also sometimes sees what is happening that no one else does. "Everyone persisted in thinking the mute was exactly as they wanted him to be" (224). The reason that i believe he is not the central connection of the characters is because he provides the reader with a different view into the world of the book, but he does not have a common quality that connects all the characters. John Singer is definitely the central character.
ReplyDelete(Sorry for my lack of quotes.It was a developing idea and I couldn't find textual evidence specifically for my idea. Maybe someone could help me out with that?)
To be honest I think you answered your question already, Biff is a good central character because where he spends most of his time is host all the other important characters found in the book. Put more simply he knows everyone so it's easier to make him the central character rather than one of the others such as Copeland who may doesn't know the other main characters such as Mick for example. One reason Biff seems to be a good central character is because through dealing with everyone often times in the chapters about him these general statements are made that can be applied to all the characters and give good insight to the reader. For example in his first chapter on page 15 he expresses acting differently around people and then on 29 says "in nearly every person there was some special physical part kept guarded". It seems as if McCullers uses Biff to get the reader thinking how she wants them to. As far as Biff talking from the reader's perspective I would say that is highly debatable seeing as each reader will approach the book differently but he will allow the reader to view certain things more clearly
ReplyDeleteI'd like to add I think it would be interesting to compare and contrast Biff and Singer as central characters, since they both seem to fit the role in certain ways but I would say the characters in the book treat Singer as a more central person in their lives.
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