Molloy, the Unknown and the Unreliable

The Unreliable Narrator

Molloy constantly contradicts himself when describing the setting of “Molloy” to the reader, making him an unreliable narrator.

First, Molloy depicts two people who remain nameless, but are called A and C, as identical. “They looked alike, but no more than others do” (5). In one sentence, Molloy is able to shift the reader’s perspective, a sentence with nine words. So, apparently A and C resemble each other, “but no more than others do.” Everyone looks slightly different from one another, but Molloy is not implying this. He outright states that they look alike, just like everyone else does. Well, I am a brunette and my brother is a blonde; we may share common features but we look completely different. Therefore, A and C do not look alike even though Molloy claims that they do.

By God, they're identical! (or are they?)

Then Molloy proceeds to describe a man and his dog. “Perhaps he had come from afar, from the other end of the island even, and was approaching the town for the first time or returning to it after a long absence. A little dog followed him, a Pomeranian I think, but I don’t think so. I wasn’t sure at the time and I’m still not sure, though I’ve hardly thought about it” (7). Molloy tells a story of an event he supposedly witnessed, but he cannot even remember large details about the only two objects his eyes were watching. He does not know the man’s intentions, which is slightly understandable, but he also does not know the breed of dog, which is ridiculous.

Just a gentle man and his pomeranian?

Molloy later admits that the details of these stories are blurry to him. “And I am perhaps confusing several different occasions, and different times, deep down, and deep down is my dwelling, oh not deepest down, somewhere between the mud and scum” (10). In this quote, Molloy confesses that he is an unreliable narrator immediately, then contradicts himself one last time.

Although, Molloy will continue to disappoint and confuse the reader by remaining an unreliable narrator throughout the entire story. “I can’t believe it. No, I will not lie, I can easily conceive it” (10).

I just can't believe it!

The Constraints of Society

A big difference exists between what you want to do and what you are supposed to do. Belacqua struggles with this problem throughout “Yellow” because of the surgery he must suffer through, and each difference between the desires and expectations of Belacqua are represented with dialogue and parentheses.

Belacqua’s mind, haunted by the thought of being put under and cut open, wishes to rebel. But how would his behavior affect his doctor, his surgery, and his family?

“But the unfortunate part of it was that this would appear in his behaviour, he would scream and kick and bite and scratch when they came for him, beg for execution to be stayed and perhaps even wet the bed, and what a reflection on his late family that would be! The grand old family Huguenot guts, he could not do the dirty on them like that. (To say nothing of his natural anxiety to be put to rights with as little fuss as possible)” (200).

 

Belacqua really wants to act out and be dramatic in order to prevent the cold touch of the scalpel, but he naturally wants to be better as quickly as possible, so he must not fuss in order to make a good impression on his doctor and his family by remaining cool, calm, and collected throughout the tortures of surgery.

Belacqua concerns himself with the memory of his family and therefore restrains himself, but he also equally worries about the opinions of his friends. “So now there was nothing for it but to lie on his back in the dark and exercise his talent. Unless of course he chose to distress the friends of his late family (to say nothing of perhaps jeopardizing the cure for which the friends of his late family were paying)” (202). Belacqua wants to prevent surgery with acts of silly resistance, but he must lie still and be quiet out of respect for the people receiving the bill for his surgery.

 

They pay the bills, so just get over yourself

The rules of society constrain our actions, though we are allowed to think freely. Belacqua accomplishes just this as he pleasures himself with the idea that he could rebel, act out, scream, yell, fight, etc., but never performs any of these desires because of the part that others play in his surgery: the nurses will take care of him, the doctor will operate on him, and his friends will financially support him.

Scary surgery!

The Presence of Death

A man hears a voice in the dark, and I believe that voice is death. The voice changes narratives throughout “Company” to delude the logic of the man on his back as well as the reader.

At first, the man tries to deduce that the voice is not addressing him. “Though now even less than ever given to wonder he cannot but sometimes wonder if it is indeed to and of him the voice is speaking. May not there be another with him in the dark to and of whom the voice is speaking? Is he not perhaps overhearing a communication not intended for him? If he is alone on his back in the dark why does the voice not say so?” (428). The voice currently utilizes the second person narrative, but the man on his back believes himself to be the listener of a conversation not pertaining to him, and he is wrong.

If the voice were not addressing him, the voice would assume the third person narrative.

“Since it speaks in the second person. Were it not of him to whom it is speaking speaking but of another it would not speak in the second person but in the third. For example, He first saw the light on such and such a day and now he is on his back in the dark. It is clear therefore that if it is not to him the voice is speaking but to another it is not of him either but of that other and none other to that other. So with what reason remains he reasons ill” (429).

Now that the man realizes his mistake, his mind starts to deteriorate as he simply accepts the voice as company and imagines it to be entertaining, even though it may be death. The voice resembles death because it constantly recounts the events of the man’s life, in order, addressing the man as “you.”

The voice then transitions to the first person narrative when the man believes the voice is inside his mind. “To confess, Yes I remember. Perhaps even to have a voice. To murmur, Yes I remember. What an addition to company that would be! A voice in the first person singular. Murmuring now and then, Yes I remember” (431). In my opinion, this passage is evidence that the man on his back is accepting his condition, death. The man lies in the dark on his back because he resides in a coffin.

Beckett explains this situation on the last page of the story, when he describes the forever limited space and singularity of the man on his back.

“You now on you back in the dark shall not rise to your arse again to clasp your legs in your arms and bow down your head till it can bow down no further. But with face upturned for good labour in vain at your fable. Till finally you hear how words are coming to an end. With every inane word a little nearer to the last. And how the fable too. The fable of one with you in the dark. The fable of one fabling of one with you in the dark. And how better in the end labour lost and silence. And you as you always were. Alone” (450).

The voice never existed; it was a fable, a fable made up by a man losing his final moments of consciousness.

The man will never rise again because he cannot, because he is dead. And alone. Having imagined he spoke to death. Such company.

ALONE.

Mlle. Glain, So Flat with Dimensions

The Great Dante

 

This class has given me my first opportunity to read Samuel Beckett, and he appears to be a Symbolist. He lies somewhere in between Romanticism and Realism. Beckett romanticizes about actions or objects that are realist, or boring and disgusting actions or objects. Also, his descriptions of the mundane are unreasonably thorough, especially in “Dante and the Lobster.” Beckett describes making toast for almost three pages. Although thorough, his descriptions are necessary and funny, in my opinion. One example is the flat character, Mlle. Glain.

When introduced, her character dominates every sentence. “Sounds of conflict were borne in from the hall. Then silence. A knuckle tambourined on the door, it flew open and lo it was Mlle. Glain, the French instructress, clutching her cat, her eyes out on stalks, in a state of the greatest agitation” (85). From this small passage, the reader gathers that Mlle. Glain is loud, “sounds of conflict;” over excessive, “knuckle tambourined;” dramatic, “flew open…eyes out on stalks;” and a crazy cat lady, “clutching her cat.” The reader also becomes aware of the fact that she speaks French, because Beckett utilizes this attribute to describe her entire being. “Mlle. Glain took a French step forward” (86).

 

 

The Crazy Cat Lady

Another quirk of Mlle. Glain that remains for us to discover is her ability to be nosy and humble at the same time. She barges into the Italian room to question Belacqua about a situation she has already prevented. Belacqua responds “fish”because he does not know the French word for “lobster.” “He did not know the French for lobster. Fish would do very well. Fish had been good enough for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour. It was good enough for Mlle. Glain” (86). What a hilarious way to state that she accepted his answer! Beckett has created a flat character with dimensions that can only be described as ridiculous and hilarious.

 

Lobster

The Dancing Lobsters We All Hallucinate About