In Jamie McCulloch’s “Creating the Rogue Hero: Literary Devices in the Picaresque Novels of Martin Amis, Richard Russo, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Steve Tesich” (International Fiction Review, Vol. 34, No. 1, 2007), McCulloch writes:
It's not just because picaresque heroes are more fun than other characters that I love them. It's not just the dissolute behavior that I find so appealing. And it's not just the dubious company they keep or the adventures they embark upon that I find so satisfying. All of these things make for a pretty good story. But what makes them really worthwhile is the romantic sense of sadness and futility that haunts them all—their honest recognition of their own shortcomings that gives them emotional weight and makes them resonate. Disappointingly, like young Hal in Henry IV, Part I, who eventually deserts Falstaff, all rogue heroes must grow up and assume a certain amount of responsibility. Often they settle down, give up their aimless wandering, and find a home. Unfortunately, settling down can mean letting go of "the impossible dream." We wish their peregrinations would never end, and so by nature the picaresque novel, whose trappings are ribald excess, is also fraught with a deep sense of loss and sorrow. We must not forget, however, that what makes the picaresque so much fun are the comic possibilities of an errant hero in pursuit of something impossible. He is at once noble and pathetic, a delight to spend time with and to laugh at, and heroic in his blindness to the humbling reality that confronts him wherever he goes.
[…]
A more scholarly approach to balancing the serious and the humorous in the picaresque is to mock the early romances just as Cervantes set out to do. The romance tradition is ripe for parody as are those who pursue "the impossible dream." In Russo's Straight Man, Hank has a not-so-subtle Cervantes-esque dream: "In my dream I am the star of the donkey basketball game. I have never been more light and graceful, never less encumbered by gravity or age. My shots, every one of them, leave my fingertips with perfect backspin and arc toward the hoop with a precision that is pure poetry, its refrain the sweet ripping of twine. And remember: I'm doing all this on a donkey" (364). Metaphorically shooting from his ass, Devereaux is weightless, ageless. The image is steeped in the mock heroic, an English professor as warrior is comic enough in itself—a man like the man of La Mancha riding a donkey while competing in a sports event is wonderfully absurd. At the same time, the dream is sadly romantic in the same sense that Don Quixote is a sadly romantic man—a man who sees the world as he chooses, not as it is.
Analyze Hank as a Picaresque (lovable rogue) character. Does Russo present Hank as a man in quest, a man whose quest is stalled, or is something else at work here? Could the mid-life crisis Hank and many of his colleagues are undergoing be a postmodern quest in and of itself? Is Hank Quixotic, and if so, what are the windmills he’s chasing? If there’s no quest, is it Picaresque (side note: I really did not intend for that to sound like a Johnny Cochrane courtroom rhyme, but here we are…)? Have I asked too many questions? Why are you still reading? Out of a morbid curiosity to see how this prompt ends? Something else?
Hank is a Picaresque character because he is one of those people that you love to hate. He is constantly making rude yet comical remarks about almost every single one of his coworkers. He is the stereotypical male who is going through a mid-life crisis. His "quest" has stalled and he is now at a fork in the road; one where he decides wether or not to a) write a new book and hope that it sells or b) continue to live his life the way ht is living it now. If he takes the "a" road, he could strike gold and rekindle his romance with his wife in their new, improved life. If he takes road "b", his life will remain the same. He will be left with no romance, and will constantly pining for the touch of other women.
ReplyDeleteHank is a Quixotic character. His "windmills" are 1) his need to be just as great as or better than his father 2) his need for romance with his wife 3) his need to be more successful and leave Railton. Hank is stuck. He is stuck trying to be something that he is not. Hank is not like his father. He is, regardless of his internal feelings, is loyal to his wife. Hank is THAT guy that makes wise cracks during the meetings and jokes about his colleagues’ works, even though his is not that impressive.
Alexandra Voyles
I believe Hank can definitely be described as a “picaresque” character. Hank treats most of his friends very poorly. In fact, it’s a wonder he even has friends the way he isolates himself from them either through directly treating them badly (Teddy) or if they are dismayed by his childish behavior (Jacob Rose). In all honesty, it is sometimes hard to distinguish between Hank’s friends and his foes. The treatment he receives from many of them aren’t exactly the definition of friendly, an example being the angry drunk calls and constant name calling from Billy Quigley. In this sense we can categorize Hank as a “rogue” character, especially amongst his peers. Even though he has adulterous thoughts, despite having an attractive and loving wife he probably doesn’t deserve, and him being a “sub-par” friend and uninterested educator, the reader still finds a reason to route for him. The reason is vague; it could be because Hank often seems legitimately unaware of the full extent of damage he causes and the people closest to him seem to understand this. As Jacob Rose said, he knows Hank doesn’t know why he does the things that he does, making the reader believe that Hank is a good person deep down. The treatment that Hank receives as a child implants a sympathy factor in the reader throughout the story. There is also the factor that Hank is a very comical character, which all together makes him lovable despite his faults.
ReplyDeleteThe real question is what is Hank’s quest (if he even has one). Hank appears to be satisfied living in a world where he is blissfully unaware of the serious things and one where he causes havoc among his colleagues. He seems to go through the novel rather aimlessly often reflecting on his journey to the point he finds himself in. He seems rather bored with the life he finds himself in and wishes for anything (whether good or bad) to shake up his life. Perhaps this is his quest, to overcome the boredom he finds himself in as he settles into his old age. Many of the people around him realize he cannot continue going through life aimlessly because it stalls him from being happy and perhaps finding some satisfaction in life. At the end of the novel, Hank overcomes his roadblock and begins to count the things he should be thankful for. It is here we see the markings of a new Hank, his quest now complete.
Hank would be considered as a lovable rogue character. He is insensitive and does ridiculous things. For example he always makes fun of his colleagues who he also claims that they’re his friends. I think Russo does represent Hank in a quest. His quest isn’t straight forward, but it is a quest. He never gets what he wants, and never directly says what he wants. When Jacob announced that he was going to be promoted as the dean for liberal arts, Hank denies it. Anyone else could look at it as a perfect opportunity to take, but Jacob accuses Hank of not knowing what he wants. He can’t have the women he fantasizes because he’s married to Lily, and he would become his father, and that’s what I think Hank fears the most. Also Hank loves to undermine authority. His mannerism towards Lou Steinmetz is no different than towards one of his students, he knows that there’s nothing that a campus security officer can do to him.
ReplyDeleteI think that there could be a postmodern quest that Hank and his colleagues are undergoing. Besides Hank everyone is scared of this list. Hank is the only one who does not seem to care. I feel like his mid life crisis and his urine problems, make him seem more apathetic. He is a one time published author who got a good review because of his father, he can’t pee, so it’s understandable that he would be more judgmental towards people. I wouldn’t label Hank as quixotic, because I don’t think he is unrealistic or impractical. He seems like a middle aged man having a crisis, his personality is just stubborn and judgmental.
Hank is not on a quest. Conversely he has completed his quest and is coming to the realisation that the old adage “it's not the destination but the journey that matters” is perhaps the most accurate cliché of all time. Consider his position in life, he has raised two daughters, is interim chair of his department, has a wife which is a present in a way to suggest that she is out of his league. What we are reading is not the story of a many who is trying to succeed, but a man who has succeeded and does not comprehend how it happened, rejects his success and considers them failures and is insanely insecure about how others will perceive any future attempts toward accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteFranks relationship with Lily is evidence that he doesn't fully understand how he has had such success. Sure it easy to make jabs toward Teddy about lusting after her, but Hank's repeated fantasies of other men being intimate with Lily and his dream of her admitting to a long term affair suggest that he feels she is out of his league. We are not presented a character who is terribly possessive so it's no wonder Hank doesn't became irate in his dream where Lily admits to an affair, but his subconscious granting him such release from her confession implies that he feels inadequate to fulfil her needs in a mate. Also consider his relationship to Julie; technically his task as a parent is complete. She is an adult, not dead, and was living on her own. Perhaps he failed to instil some common sense into the girl but technically the biological standards of being a successful parent have been met yet he fails to recognise this. The same is true for him being an “accomplished” novelist. Sure the success of his novel may hinge on crony-ism, but still it is something he has accomplished that many others have failed to do. He hasn't completed another novel for fear of rejection, nothing more. It isn't even fear of him becoming disillusioned, he doesn't see his novel as a success so there is nothing to become disillusioned about!
In short, quest is complete we are presented a Quixotic character in Hanks failure to see that this is the case. Yes, the final quest is accepting that your quest is over. There are no windmills, in the end you are only defeating yourself? The novel is Picaresque, Hanks a bit of an ass but he's likeable because he's aware he is an ass. No, but you're about to ask too many questions. One could ask you the same of you, why are you still reading, or are you? No the prompt will end with a question mark. Banana-phone? Also, Arther Pendragon, I'mma let you finish but Don Quixote had the best quest of all time! All Time!
Adam Mier
ReplyDeleteI feel like Russo portrays Hank as a man who is not only on one major quest (and by quest, I do not mean an adventure, per se, but simply a task that he wants to accomplish), but a few of them, with many smaller and less important tasks along the way. His most important task is, obviously, his quest to keep his job. A few of the other more prominent quests would be his pursuit to figure out why it is that he cannot pee, his quest to not be anything like his father, or what I would consider his quest to find or create humor in anything and everything that happens. I believe that nearly every character in the novel is going through some sort of midlife crisis, but I wouldn’t necessarily consider all of them quests. However, some of the characters, such as Tony and Hank, to name a few, do go through mid-life crises that somewhat resemble quests. Tony’s mid-life crisis would be his condition that prevents him from very strenuous activity. Even though it is a crisis, he manages to manipulate it into something humorous when he uses it to his advantage in his racquetball games with Hank. This is a quest-like crisis because he finds a way to make things as if he weren’t disabled, even though his solution is not very realistic and is pretty funny. Hank’s mid-life crisis, I believe, is his main quest in the novel – to keep his job.
I do not think that Hank is Quixotic. Although he does appear to be a very impulsive character, he is, in my eyes, the complete opposite of noble or romantic for most of the story (I do not consider his little side attractions to other women to be romantic).
The journey that Russo sets Hank on is not so much a "get from destination A to destination B" type of voyage but more of a quest within himself. One of his main goals throughout the novel is to prove to himself that he is not like his father, and this is indeed a quest as he is faced with numerous instances in which he needs to consider the similarities between his father and himself, and otherwise turn those into differences. This journey comes to an end when Hank finally realizes that he and his father are indeed alike and comes to accept it. I would definitely say that these midlife crises Hank and his colleagues are going through are a quest in itself as well, especially in a postmodern context.
ReplyDeleteI don't, however, think that Hank is quixotic. These ideals that he's chasing are not necessarily foolish or otherwise impractical. Some of these, specifically his denial of potential changes in the English department, may be a bit strange for lack of a better word, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they're foolish.
Hank is absolutely a "lovable rogue" in Straight Man. Much of what he says is either sarcastic or a straight up insult to one of his friends or colleagues but you can't help but like him anyway. He has real issues just like any other person would have, and the realness of his character helps create for the audience someone we can relate to or else understand. Through a pretty decent knowledge of his character we understand that these comments he makes, and just the general way he has of speaking to people, are not so much a reflection of his being a genuinely mean person (sort of like the impression we get from Paul Rourke in the first part of the novel) but a hint of his wittiness, a major part of why we like him so much.
Emily Avery ^
ReplyDeleteBlake Ballenger
ReplyDeleteHank is most definitely a man with a stalled quest. Within a short period of time multiple tragedies occur to him. His nose becomes mangled by mad colleagues, his daughters relationship crumbles to an end, he fears yet almost hopes for his wife to be having an affair, his colleagues are continuously on his ass about situations out of his control, and his father making a return to his life after being gone for so long. From the get go we clearly have a good idea of what a large effect his father plays on Hanks life as he tries to be as much unlike him as possible. He is continuously troubled by colleagues and their problems when he clearly doesn’t care about them at all. He can’t decide what he wants in life anymore. He analyzes everything that happens from the standpoint that a joke can be made from it. While Hank is much like any midlife adult who doesn’t know what they want anymore, you feel (at least I do) compelled to know what will happen next. Everyday situations turn into extravagant or tragic events where the worst possible happens. He seems to almost enjoy the power of chair – he is in fact a loose cannon. Making light of the situation regarding the dead goose not even bothering to deny killing it. Hank is his own man, a rogue as even Paul Rourke puts it.
Hank is without a doubt a lovable rogue. Throughout the book I constantly had the feeling of wanting to just scream at Hank to tell everyone the truth about how he never wrote up a list instead of being a smart ass the whole time. But even though I had this frustration with him, I still loved him and could not wait to see what happened next. In regards to the question if Hank is on a “quest”, I believe he is in a battle for a quest, but not yet on it. Hank constantly battles with himself on if she should write another novel, try to move to a different university, etc.. Hank kept himself on a quest for looking for what he really wanted. Once he decided that maybe I will write another book, he came up with some excuse about staff meetings on why he could never finish it. He used his tenure as an excuse to not try and move to another university, which is not really a bad excuse but in this case he used it as his crutch. Also in a more serious quest, he just wants to be able to pee and I think his “passing of a stone” his kind of what pushed him into his mid-life crisis. His crisis wasn’t as big as going buy a fruity sports car or getting his ears pierced but I believe his crisis was just him enhancing his witty attitude. Everyone knew Henry Devereux Jr. was a loose cannon but as the book progressed so did is actions.
ReplyDeleteI do believe Hank was on a quest, but it was really just because he couldn’t make up his mind on anything, and any time he did make a decision, it was always spur of the moment (ringing Finny by the neck, the goose not the man). In the end, I have never read a book that had a more Picaresque character than Hank. He is clearly a man you love to hate.
Kelli Cortez
ReplyDeleteI feel like Russo presents Hank as a man whose quest is stalled. I envision Hank’s quest as moving forward in two ways: the first being that he wanted for a long time to move out of Railton and never succeeded, and the second being that he wanted to move out of his father’s shadow and never quite achieved that, either. I think Hank’s mid-life crisis is more an effect of his stalled quest than a cause. He feels trapped, and stuck in a rut. His sense of wanting to escape coupled with his sheer inability to do just that has caused him to act out. I think Hank is also still trying to figure himself out. He is desperately trying to become his own man and escape his father’s reputation as well as his constant specter-like hovering over Hank’s life. The two “great escapes” eerily parallel each other. Neither of these quests is ever fully achieved. He moves away from the university by declining the position of dean, and his father dies. Hank never overcomes these obstacles by will, he more or less lucks into them.
Hank is definitely a Picaresque character. He is an ass, plain and simple. He is constantly making others the butt of his never-ending jokes. Something is always funny to him. However, through all of his mockery, there’s a forlorn sense of impending nothingness in his life. Hank is going nowhere. His antics are almost enough to make up for the fact that he’s old, tenured, married, and downright stuck. Almost. Despite the fact that there is really nothing in Hank’s life to cheer him on for or support, we as readers do it anyway. We can’t help ourselves.
Ryan Trull
ReplyDeleteWhen asking if Hank is a picaresque character, it's easy to answer yes. The first scene that jumps to mind is when he is threatening to strangle a duck a day. This is rather roguish behavior, but is hilarious at the same time. That's one of the two major defining traits for a picaresque character; being a loveable rouge. The other major requirement is to be on a quest. Was Hank on a quest? I would say so.
Hank's main quest is one that is shared amongst most people, the desire to feel satisfied. This is seen in his interactions with the public through his continual jesting. He feels like his wit has to be applied to every situation or at least that he has something to say about every situation. This acting out is evident mostly in people that seem unfulfilled in some manner. His lack of satisfaction is also apparent with his interactions with Lily. The whole premise of the rift between them is that of satisfaction. He is no longer satisfied with the boring monotony their relationship has boiled down into.
Loveable rouge? Check. Quest? Check. Picaresque? Check.
Danielle Rainwater
ReplyDeleteHank’s personality is that of a lovable rogue character in a stalled quest. He is not quite happy with his life nor is he depressed or sad about it. His marriage with Lilly isn’t necessarily on the rocks but there aren’t really any fireworks. His friends, or colleagues, aren’t the most dependable people but nevertheless Hank finds them fun to be around. His career isn’t exactly booming but still he is a professor and chair of the English department in a higher learning institution. His lovable rogue character is always present. Hank never misses a chance to make humor out of a bad situation or everyday situations. Perhaps he keeps his friends at bay with his humor or pushes his enemies even further with his “wisecracks.” Even when he is in presence of his “enemies” he tries his best to withhold any straight-up rude remarks, instead he chooses humor and jokes to make his point. Even when he is pushed up against the wall or obtained a bloody nose he probably thought it was all out of good humor and not to intentionally hurt anyone’s feelings. However his “windmills” cause him to struggle internally, for example, he seems to always struggle with the idea of reaching the same fame of his father. This might not necessarily happen though, something to which he finds hard to grasp. Also his father’s adulterous behaviors seemed to have crept their way into Hanks mind. Hank strives to lust for one women, that being his wife Lily.
Seth Pottle
ReplyDeleteI think Hank is still questing for what he believes is the true meaning of his existence, but has hit a pretty significant snag on the way. In a way, his smaller quests seem to define his main quest. Throughout the novel, Hank compares himself to his father, making every attempt to do things right, rather than make all the wrong moves, like his father had. But he continues to find himself amounting to all his father had: a more or less failed writer sleeping around behind his wife’s back. More often than not, low self-esteem could be the issue. It seems that the more and more he tries, the more he feels that he will still amount to nothing, probably the result of the constant negativity from mommy dearest. However, he can still recall the athletic ability that made him feel like he was a superstar, giving him faint hope that he may still do something great. In this case, the object that Hank searches for is acceptance, and to hold on to his job. That, or Hank just wants to be as much of a dick as possible to everyone that he works with because he thinks it’s funny.
I think that RussoI think that Russo is definitely making Hank a “lovable rogue.” He’s sarcastic and biting at times to his friends and family. It seems like everything about his life is in, some way or another, turmoil. I also think that Hank’s life could be considered as a quest. It seems as though when the book starts that Hank’s life is at a stall, but as we continue to read, we see his life unfolding even in the midst of a mid-life crisis.
ReplyDeleteI think that even as Hank is sarcastic to his colleagues, he is realizing that his life is half-way over, thus the mid-life crisis. I think this is why Russo makes Hank out to be this rogue character. If he was happy going through a mid-life crisis, he would be completely unrelatable. Why do this for a picaresque character? Aren’t we supposed to “love to hate” these characters? Everyone that is under the age of 50 that reads this book will indeed get aggravated with Hank and even want to throw the book down at times, but there’s just something about him that makes you keep the book open. It’s the way that Russo makes him able to relate to anyone, whatever age. Everyone knows that eventually their life’s journey will come to that point.
So, even though Hank’s “quest” is half way over, it’s still going. There are still elements of surprise that continue to happen to him. That’s why we love him but hate him at the same time. We wish he would give up, but we know that same feeling and the desire to keep going to see what’s going to happen next. It’s what makes Straight Man worth reading.
Hank’s mid life crisis is indeed a postmodern quest, although Russo presents the matters in an absurdly comical manner. He is stuck in a self chosen state of depression regarding the problems of his life, and of others. Hanks ideal way to live is aimed at Occam’s Razor, or simplicity. But in this quest for a life with no complications, Hank finds himself with the exact opposite; an unconventional mid life crisis. Problems with his father, daughter, wife and his own prostate add to the reader’s experience of Hank’s journey in this first person narrative. Russo mixes paranoid seriousness with screwball comedy not through the plot, but through great characterization, dialogue, and scene progression.
ReplyDeleteWe get the impression that Hank’s problems, though some are self imposed, may be a product of being stuck in his hometown, Railton. Regardless of the crisis Hank may be experiencing, there is still a small exuberance of freedom that he emits. Russo presents Hank’s life choices in a comical manner that relates to many readers. The purposeful mistakes that he makes, and the independence with which he plays the incompetent one are only one example of Russo’s clever depiction in the novel.
Russell, I like the line, "What we are reading is not the story of a many who is trying to succeed, but a man who has succeeded and does not comprehend how it happened, rejects his success and considers them failures and is insanely insecure about how others will perceive any future attempts toward accomplishment."
ReplyDeleteSecondly, did you go rogue Kanye on me?
ReplyDelete