To me, in the novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on
Earth, the character I felt the most empathy for was the first Jimmy, or
present-day Jimmy’s grandfather. This could be because we meet James as a small
child, and we meet Jimmy and his father as grown adults. However, I also
believe it is because James at least tries to go out and improve his life
situation in the small ways that he can, but he is repeatedly beaten down
(quite literally) and ridiculed.
I found two pages in the novel that seemed to be transitions
in young James’ life as well as sources of empathetic understanding. The first
occurs after James and his female friend return from exploring the White City.
The two begin to argue, and she calls James a bastard. Since he doesn’t know
who his mother is, he immediately retaliates and fights her back. He is so
filled with rage that he can’t think straight, can’t realize that he’s
destroying the one true friendship he has. He is filled with shame and anger
and an ever-boiling rage against his father and lot in life, and it all lets
loose in that one moment.
The other transitional moment that inspired great empathy
for me occurred when James’ failure of a horse statue was brought to him at
school. He had such high hopes and dreams for that tiny piece of metal: it was
meant to bring him closer to the girl that he mistakenly pushed away. It was
supposed to repair their fractured relationship, and act as a token of his love
for her. Instead, it becomes his greatest failure. Not only does his plan spectacularly
backfire, but all of his peers are there to witness it. He lost the chance to
repair the relationship with the girl he loves, and he also loses friendships
with people he thought truly cared about him. His “friends” point and laugh at
him, and then walk off together, leaving James alone yet again.
These two events allow the reader to feel great empathy for
James. Unlike his descendants, he actively tries to go out and better his
situation. He tries to make a friend, but loses her in a moment of weakness,
then, in an attempt to rectify their relationship, he is made a mockery of by
all of his fellow comrades. James is definitely the character that I feel the
most compassion for. I feel as though there are too many gaps in Jim’s (Jimmy’s
father) life in order to fully feel empathetic to him. And I do feel some
empathy towards Jimmy, particularly when he opens up to Amy and his
grandfather, but it’s hard for me to feel totally empathetic towards him
because he does not do much to be actively improving his life. Young James, on
the other hand, tries several times to reach out to his peers or to interact
with his father and he is constantly pushed down repeatedly.
I agree with what you say. I believe that present-day Jimmy has more control of his own life and his own circumstances than James. Jimmy had hardships, yes, but James is a child whose dealt with neglect, bullying, and abuse. I believe this is demonstrated fully when James goes to play at the Italian family's house.
ReplyDeleteThe contrast between James' life and the Italian's really causes me to feel empathy towards James. He visits this family and sees exactly what he wants in his own. He ends up sitting next to the father of the Italian family the entire time because he wants his own father to be like him. We see the happy Italian family, and we see James' reality when his father takes him from the house, tells him to never go there again, and beats him. This causes me to feel empathy towards James because he is only looking to make his life better, but it always ends up crashing on him.
The same isn't the same towards Jimmy. Yes, I feel empathy for him still, as he has an absent father and a stressful mother, but I think that he could be doing more to make his life less pathetic. He could attempt to meet people and become socially competent, but he really doesn't. This causes me to be more empathetic towards James than Jimmy, also.
I feel this same sense of strong empathy toward James and even slightly so toward present-day Jimmy. I actually became very emotional during the Italian family scene you described (236-37, I believe) -- how sad it is that someone's life could be so miserable that he would fantasize about belonging to a family he barely knows. The Italian boy’s father appears to take a liking to James immediately, something that he’s not used to feeling. Most people pass through James’ and Jimmy’s lives without giving them a second glance or thought. James wanders around in his own life wondering whether anyone will care about him or if he’ll ever rise above his father’s and classmates’ abuse. Jimmy does the same while wondering if he’ll ever find love and success. Although Jimmy is much less helpless than James, each still longs for paternal love and acceptance.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be one of Ware’s main objectives with the novel: to pique our empathy for the Jimmy Corrigans of the world. I mentioned something in class today about how we all have daydreams and demons; this is what makes James, and even Jimmy, relatable to an extent for all of us. We have all had moments where we feel alone or hurt, and we have all experienced success and acceptance. Although James’ moment of acceptance is very brief, the Italian father’s presence and kindness comforts and strengthens him. Jimmy’s awkward moments with his father are still ones of mutual tolerance of each other, and I am hopeful that the two estranged men come to accept each other. However, it is clear that James’ father will never accept or even tolerate him, and this encourages much more sympathy for James than for Jimmy, who still has a fighting chance at family.