Redefining Savagery

"His home was to him home, workshop, church, as personal
as the shell of a turtle and as necessary . . ." (585).
Flannery O'Connor's "The Comforts of Home" (1960; 1965)

Joseph Conrad's Almayer's Folly (1895), chps. 1-8

1. why does Kaspar Almayer accept English sailor Captain Tom Lingard’s offer to marry Lingard’s adopted Malay daughter?  Consider not only the material circumstances of the transaction, but the nature of their relationship and the two men’s respective personalities.
2. the narrator tells us that Almayer used to consider his Malay slaves “‘my own people’” (9). What do we discover in this week’s reading that helps explain why Almayer might no longer see the locals in this way?
3. Almayer longs to take his half-caste daughter, Nina, to Europe with him, though he has never been there (despite his Dutch lineage).  What does Europe represent for Almayer—why is he so drawn to this continent?
4. with chapter two, Conrad begins a long flashback that reveals the history of his primary characters.  He does not return to the moment with which chapter one ends until the end of chapter five.  Is this an effective narratological strategy?  Would it have been better storytelling to begin with the past events and then move into the present in linear fashion?
5. the narrator begins the backstory of Almayer’s Malay wife by summarily describing her people and background as “savage” (12). In the personal history which follows, does Conrad going about deconstructing or cementing the notion that the indigenous peoples of these islands are “savage”?
6. what function does Nina play in Almayer’s life?
7. does the narrative thus far encourage us to sympathize with Almayer’s wife?
8. is Almayer an ignorant innocent? Thus far we have heard quite a bit about his unawareness of various things around him. Is he a victim of circumstances out of his control?
9. do Nina’s beliefs, her character, and/or her dreams change under the influence of her mother? Is Nina, instead, the author of her own path and destiny?
10. the narrator told us in chapter two that, as a child, Nina prefers her father to her mother.  Does she show a similar preference as a young adult?
11. the narrator wonders whether Taminah, the Siamese slave owned by Bulangi, avoids complaining of her ill treatment due to "the dictates of prudence" or perhaps "the strange, resigned apathy of half-savage womankind" (23). Which explanation appears more accurate as the story progresses?
12. why might the narrator not immediately name either Taminah, Bulangi's Siamese slave, or Babalatchi , Lakamba's factotum, when introducing them (23-24)?
13. Nina has apparently decided that all humans—regardless of culture, beliefs, or social practice—share the same selfish proclivities, though she gravitates towards the “savage and uncompromising sincerity of purpose shown by her Malay kinsmen” (27). Does the narrative to this point encourage us to share both Nina’s cynicism and her slight preference?
14. what complex of intentions drives the upper-class Malay Dain (referred to as “Tuan Maroola” by Almayer and “A Son of Heaven” by Mrs. Almayer) to work so closely with Almayer?
15. does the general demeanor of either Dain or Nina change as a result of their relationship?
16. who wields the gaze of desire more often and more powerfully, Dain or Nina?  Or, do they employ it in equal measure?
17. what changing significations does Conrad apply to the word “savage”?
18. is the love and passion expressed by Dain that of a romantically experienced man?
19. consider Conrad's decision to hold back the details of Almayer's and Dain's dealings until they've been in cahoots for quite some time (52-53). Why the delay?
20. does Dain come across as a man of honor?  Consider his actions and notions relative to trade, women, etc.
21. the narrator proves quite willing to assess openly characters like Babalatchi and Almayer—to pass judgment and offer commentary on their character.  Does this kind of commentary distract the reader?  Does it explain too much, or is it helpful?
22. does Almayer love his daughter, Nina?  Does she love him?  Upon what operational definition of “love” are you relying in answering this question?
23. the narrator characterizes Taminah as relatively unaware of her own latent desires, as largely ignorant of what lies buried within her own mind (72).  Is this characterization realistic? What triggers that transformation that leads Taminah to better understand her layered psyche?
24. does the narrative thus far encourage us to sympathize with Taminah?
25. Almayer does not believe that his mind has become unhinged as a result of recent events.  Is he correct, or has he begun to show signs of mental instability?

Flannery O'Connor's "The Comforts of Home" (1960), 573-94

1. does O’Connor’s apparently objective, detached description of Thomas’ living conditions and expectations at the opening of this story (573) provide an oblique commentary on his character, one implicitly elaborated later?
2. according to Thomas, what roles do propriety and pragmatism play in moral virtue?
3. both Thomas and his mother toss about the idea that Star Drake (Sarah Ham) can’t help behaving the way she does (574, 580, 582), that she’s “‘[b]orn without the moral faculty’” (575).  Does the story itself bear out this conclusion that Star fundamentally cannot access traditional virtue?
4. Thomas’ mother repeatedly asserts that her compassion is largely motivated by imagining how she’d feel if he, her son, were in Star’s situation (575, 582).  Does Thomas’ own imagination grant him access to others’ experiences, similarly stoking compassion within him?
5. Thomas loves his mother because “it was his nature to do so,” but sometimes has difficulty accepting her love for him: “There were times when it became nothing but pure idiot mystery and he sensed about him forces, invisible currents entirely out of his control” (575).  Is this difficulty at all related to the trouble he has accepting her kindness towards Star?
6. Thomas does not recognize the devil as an entity, but considers “engagements with the devil” merely a way of describing the foolhardy extremes to which his mother takes her charity (575).  The narrator tells us, however, that when her “virtue got out of hand, “a sense of devils grew upon him” that were “not mental quirks in himself or the old lady,” but “denizens with personalities, present though not visible . . .” (576).  What repercussions follow Thomas’ refusal to identify demons as demons?
7. both Thomas and his mother evince a censoring impulse, Thomas wishing to spare his mother “all unpleasant sights”—including that of the sexually loose, nineteen-year-old Star in a filthy jail telling stories about being sexually abused (577)—while she tries to discourage Star from watching crime movies (579).  Are their respective censoring impulses motivated by the same principles?
8. is Thomas’ father dead and gone, or just dead?
9. why does Thomas find himself unable to tell Star, definitively, what he thinks of her when he has the opportunity to do so in the car (580-81)?
10. is Thomas’ mother’s impractical, foolish love implicitly validated, or criticized, in this story?
11. Thomas maintains that he is not dead set against Star herself, but of his mother's making a fool of herself in trying to love Star (583).  Is this true?
12. what is the nature of the “disturbance in the depths of his being” caused by Star’s person and presence, and why does it lie “somewhere out of the reach of his power of analysis” (583)?
13. the current sheriff, an old friend of Thomas’ deceased father, appears rather sexist (590-91).  Does Thomas’ thought-life suggest that he is equally sexist?
14. is Thomas responsible for his irrevocable action at the tale’s end?
15. why does it look as though Thomas and Star are going to embrace at the story’s end?

Merry Structure (1926)
Wassily Kandinsky

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu