Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck
In the chapter titled Solarium in Black Swan Green, Jason meets with Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck to discuss his poetry. When they first start talking, Madame Crommelynck critiques his poetry by saying that he “thinks his words, his paints, his notes, makes the beauty” (Mitchell 147). She believes that the excess imagery and words detract from the hidden truth within the poems which is what beauty is. Eva dismantles the whole premise of Jason’s poetry career; Jason hides his identity with the pseudonym Eliot Bolivar, which Eva thinks makes his poems less truthful and therefore less beautiful.
With her intense questions, she helps unearth unspoken beliefs that Jason holds that he didn’t even know that he had. As Eva aptly puts it, “you want a double life. One Jason Taylor who seeks approval of hairy barbarians. Another Jason Taylor is Eliot Bolivar, who seeks approval of the literary world” (154). At this point in the book, Jason desperately wants to be acknowledged and be popular, but he also wants to write poetry. Eva essentially tells him that he has to choose which one is stronger to him. Another thing that is interesting is the medium he chooses to write in. The medium of poetry is significant since when compared to prose, it doesn’t necessarily need complete grammatical sentences. This relates to Jason’s stammer, and how the point isn’t necessarily to craft immaculate sentences, but to convey a message. Eva does this by extrapolating the core pieces or truths of his poems and showing him the most important parts of his poetry.
Jason Taylor takes this to heart. Even though near the end of the book it is suggested that he’s stopped publishing poetry, it appears that he’s exploring more about prose. Prose suits him more due to the smaller moments of commentary that he can add to the story he’s trying to tell. This also allows him to be more truthful and tell the whole side of the story instead of in his poetry where he has more limited space to speak his truth. Using prose also relates to his stammer where he’s allowed to use and explore language without being afraid of it instead.
Another aspect that’s pretty interesting is how the chapter title Spooks is called spooks. In Solarium, he admits that he titled his poem that he submitted about the spooks Back Gardens to avoid the wrath of the people in that underground society. This just further shows how he’s matured as a person and isn’t afraid of telling the truth (or he’s braver since he moved away and doesn’t have to care about them chasing him down). Speak your truth Jason!
Even though Madame Crommelynck disappears, she still leaves a mark on Jason and I like how you point that out. Changing the name of the spooks chapter, and overall acting more true to himself are definitely ways he's grown after absorbing the lessons of Madame Crommelynck. She's definitely one of the most subtly influential characters in the book.
ReplyDeleteI like that this book is all a mirror of what she said. It's a really upsetting plot point that Eva gets taken away before Jason gets a final talk or goodbye, but you can still tell that he's affected by it. Everything she says finally makes an impact on him by the end of the book, from him writing prose to the names of the chapters to hanging out with Dean to kissing Holly. It all comes from the truths he learned about himself from her.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the fact that Jason began writing prose at the end of the novel. I think the poetry was good for him, but as Eva said, it made him hide behind fancy words and confusing metaphors, and didn't allow him to be completely honest about the things he wrote about. I also think that, since poetry began as a way for Jason to get away from his stammer (because he could carefully curate every word), it is a sign of growth that we see him not only writing prose, but writing in a voice that is very clearly his usual voice, not some fancy alter-ego.
ReplyDeleteEva seems to have Jason's number in so many ways--and I agree that it's crucial when she tells him he *can't* sustain this "double life" and he has to CHOOSE between the Hairy Barbarians and being a TRUE (and therefore truth-telling) poet. And yet it would seem like a bad sign when "Eliot Bolivar" throws his poems into the bonfire with all the Greenland office supplies (Michael speaking his truth, in his own DGAF phase, trolling Craig Salt--my favorite Michael scenes in the book). But I like your take: what we see here are implicitly the origins of this specific book, and it's notable that when Jason starts writing in the prose style, the only word he can come up with is "confession." His prose is confessional: SO MUCH of this novel consists of stuff no one else knows about Jason, and in a strange way, we as readers really DO know more about him than anyone else in his life. And that's entirely because we take him to be SUCH a "reliable narrator" who uses his narrative for a sincere "confession" and airing out of secrets. Not only does he write under his own name, he names names within his narrative--the "Goose Fair" chapter he starts writing in the closet (symbolic!) ends up "outing" him in a range of ways (remember *no one else* has ANY idea that he is connected to Ross's fate). Notably, this same chapter entails his hall-of-mirrors epiphany where his unconscious tells him to stop hungering for approval. Of course he uses the name "Spooks" now for that chapter, when the "poem" hid behind a bland and non-confessional name. He's got nothing to lose at this point, so he might as well reveal everything. Including the names of the Spooks. "No one knows" who is and isn't a Spook, remember--but WE do, after reading this chapter. Good think Pluto Noak is likely illiterate.
ReplyDeleteFor a character that only shows up for a chapter and then never being mentioned again, Madame Crommelynck has a lot of influence on Jason. I think she is most likely the catalyst for Jason's growth because of her understated pushes that drive Jason into the more bold and self-confident version we see in Goose Fair and onwards.
ReplyDeleteThe points you bring up about Jason's literary prose is really interesting to me. It seems like Jason is always hiding and concealing himself, and he an never fully own up to the work he does (even if he cares about it). Having Eva as that mentor that opens and leads his path is special, and I think she was probably the most impactful mentor in the context of Jason's growth.
ReplyDeleteHi! I really like how you connected Jason’s stammer to his choice between poetry and prose. I agree that Eva really pushes Jason to think more deeply about the truth behind his writing. It is interesting how you pointed out that using prose gives him more freedom to express himself fully. I also liked your observation about the chapter title "Spooks" showing his growth. Nice post!
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