Thursday, March 4, 2010

Alienation in Seize the Day 5

Step by step, Tommy learns to overcome his selfhood. He feels himself part of a larger body. He feels love, as he does in the subway   on his way to the Polo Grounds, when “a general love for all these imperfect and lurid-looking people burst out in Wilhelm’s breast. He loved them. One and all, he passionately loved them. They were his brothers and his sisters. He was imperfect and disfigured himself, but what difference did that make if he was united with them by this blaze of love” (84-5)? In this moment of love Tommy is able to forgive himself. This is not the false love of the impostor soul but the true love which can rid Tommy of his burden.
As he rushes out on to Broadway to look for Dr. Tamkin, Wilhelm makes a number of resolutions: to divorce Margaret, to sell the car and get money for his needs, to return to Olive and her love. He will change his relationship with his father, though he is not sure how: “‘As for Dad— As for Dad’” (115). Tommy seems prepared for a return to community.
The moment before the coffin is very much like the moment of love in the subway — it is an expression of Tommy’s true soul, his love for all men, and his acknowledgement their common humanity. As he looks down on the corpse of a stranger, he understands or at least feels the basic relationship between himself and all men — by the bond of mortality. All shall die live with joy and live in harmony. Thus, standing next to the coffin, Tommy begins to weep, softly at first, and then loudly and compulsively. He weeps for the dead man before him, another human creature. Through the tears and cries and the sobs, he realizes his heart’s ultimate need, a feeling of brotherhood and a love for all mankind.
Anyhow, the novel ends only with new possibilities and resolutions, but no guarantees that Tommy will finally become accommodated to society. Tommy still has to face the break-up with his wife. And he has no intention to reject his selfish character. His job is unsettled. If he makes enough money by chance, he may be able to join the community. If he not, where will he go? So his accommodation to society is only a psychologically temporary one.

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