Lee's desire to be historically relevant
Throughout the novel, I always found the extent to which Lee dramatized everything in his life interesting. First, one can consider his outlook on his own life. He easily falls into the works of Marx and dramatizes the impact he can make on the world. After reading these works, he has the confidence that he will become a part of history. At the same time though, he dramatizes the larger context of the situation in Cuba, for example. At the end of the day, his actions do not reflect his desires of the present time, but more of his infamy after he dies. He values his reputation more than his life, and that may be part of why he is so willing to put himself in dangerous situations.
Parts of his character can be traced back to his earlier portions of life (which we see at the beginning of the novel). He has an obsession with riding the New York City subways back and forth. This shows how easy it is for him to fall into these trends, whether it's meditative or to learn more. He values the small aspects of the city as well as the larger narrative it tells. And the personal aspect comes from his love and respect for his mother (at times) despite his confusing actions.
Overall, Lee feeds his natural and frankly narcissistic desire to be a major role in history by fixating on his interests and learning as much as he can about them. He finds figures to look up to (like Karl Marx) and base much of his passions based on them. At the same time, he's not afraid to critique certain ideologies as long as it falls within his plan. He is honestly easily influenced by his surroundings, but also has a personal desire that got him into what most people would consider the wrong path.
I too found it really fascinating too that Lee has such a non-individualistic perspective of his life - he sees every aspect of it as a product of broader historical trends and while I see where he's coming from, I think that clouds his ability to make good decisions for himself and have autonomy over the trajectory of his life. I find it interesting how you pointed out that you keeps riding the subway back and forth, which is really indicative of his obsession with history and how some people have been oppressed for the benefit of others (Marxist thinking) and how he does this to understand where he comes from. I do wonder what Lee's life would've been like if he had been born into the ruling class instead of the suppressed - would he have still been as obsessed, just with this different role he would've assumed? Great post!
ReplyDelete