If, for some reason, Simeon Zahl’s talk at the 2010 Mockingbird Conference in NYC wasn’t enough to convince you to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest Thornton Wilder’s Theophilus North, then maybe this will entice you. The following comes from Wilder’s unfinished preface to the book and gives an insight into the overriding themes which dominate this intuitive account of life in “old” New England. (Spaces are left blank where words are missing). Wilder mutually affirms both a pessimistic realism and an idealistic optimism, taking into account a low anthropology and the intermittent spark of creativity. He writes:
“All men aspire to excellence. All men strive to incorporate elements of the Absolute into their lives. These efforts are doomed to failure. Every man is an archer whose arrow is aimed to the center of the target; but our arrows are leaden, their feathers are ill {____} our eyesight is imperfect; our education has failed to distinguish the true from the false targets; the strength in our arm is insufficiently developed. All men aspire to incorporate elements of the Absolute into their lives.
“To the impassioned will all things be possible. The founder of the Christian faith is reported to have said, “if you have faith {_____} mustard seed, you shall say unto the mountain, be removed, and it will {_____} and {_____} and it shall be open to you. And all things are possible to those who love God.” That is of course, absurd. Something must be the matter with all the ‘terms of reference.’ As I have often amused myself by saying, “Hope never changed tomorrow’s weather.” Yet… yet… history abounds with achievements that fill us with wonder.”
Wilder is then left with the question of how to attain this intermittent spark of creativity and “wonder.” Paradoxically, wonder is not found through the effort gain it. For Wilder, this project often results in its opposite. Wilder does not condemn the desire to attain “wonder”- he calls it “noble.” But this project for Wilder is misguided and ultimately destructive. He writes:
“All men aspire to excellence. The very crimes against the human race are derived from the “dream” of establishing an orderly existence. War itself is the “dream” of eliminating bad men and bad societies. All energy is the corruption of an aspiration to excellence. Gold is exhausted radium and lead is exhausted gold.
It is a basic condition of the human mind to wish to be free. The desire is noble and wreaks a large part of the harm in public and private life.”
This leads Wilder to the question which dominates the book:
“What does man do with his despair, his rage, his frustration? There is a wide variety of things he does with it.
“One or other of them is pictured in each of the chapters of this book…”
For Wilder, Despair is likened to the reality of impending death and its implicit condemnation. Despair is unavoidable, yet is it the final word? Is there a solution to the inevitability of failure? It seems, for Wilder, that either the solution is to be found through the “freezing realization of the repetitions in her life (49).” Or like Perseus viewing Medusa in the reflection of his shield, if one is to deal with despair one must see the terrible thing (life) as it actually is through an external aid: to give up the quest to find an illusory future “wonder” and to honestly see oneself and one’s life in the present.
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8 responses to “What Does Man Do With His Despair? Thornton Wilder on Theophilus North”
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Todd, you didn't by chance notice these before posting this, did you? Great minds…
http://johncampoxford.blogspot.com/2009/09/thornton-wilder-re-theophilus-north.html
http://johncampoxford.blogspot.com/2009/09/thornton-wilder-quote.html
Amazing book!
Not particularly on topic, but nevertheless interesting: I was just reading Patrick Deenan's review of the current off-Broadway revival of 'Our Town,' then popped over to Mockingbird and found this post. So God is speaking to me through Thornton Wilder this morning 🙂 Anyway, the review is a poignant meditation on the way we live (and love) today. Just wanted to share it!
http://patrickdeneen.blogspot.com/2010/04/our-town-in-city.html
Great stuff Margaret! I'm betting you would really love Wilder's "The Angel that Troubled the Waters". It's a collection of "playlets", which are short, 3 minute plays that only require 2 to 3 actors. They are fascinating and overtly Christian.
There are about 16 of them in all, but my personal favorites are "Angel that Troubled the Waters", "And the Servant's Name was Malchus", and "Hast Thou Considered My Servant Job". Another great one, but difficult is "And the Sea Shall Give Up It's Dead."
The book is no longer in print, but it's not very hot these days, so you can actually pick up a copy of the original edition in good condition pretty cheaply. I was able to get a first (trade) edition, second printing for around $15 through Amazon.
ha, great minds indeed John, and that first quote from Wilder really sums it up well.
Margaret, Deenan's review is spot on with its contrast between the ideals of Grovers Corner and NYC. It's part of what makes Our Town so enduring.
the most interesting part of TN, had I had room in the post to talk about, is Wilder's concept of indirectness. In addition to demonstrating external mean to face despair, the Medusa image also demonstrates that despair must be seen indirectly, like the sun during a solar eclipse. As if to say that a head on assault of the law will lead to an equal and opposite reaction against the law. So then what is needed, as TN demonstrates is an indirect voice which speaks sideways to surprisingly "flank" one's defenses.
Todd,
That last description on indirectness sounds a lot like slot-rattling (Bonnie et al.) – the psychological idea that just focusing on a problem in the linear direction (your compulsive, so stop being compulsive) results in just rattling back and forth, and what is needed is something orthogonal (or indirect) to break the problem (in psychology for example, the compulsive person is encouraged to focus on a totally different characteristic, like honesty). Real psychologists, please do correct…
But I see direct connection to the Law and the Gospel in both the slot-rattling and the indirectness of the solution(and am loving Theophilus North too!).
this post and these comments are pure gold! thank you, todd.
Margaret, i had the pleasure of seeing that production earlier this year. I have to say, I think Deenan's point about the contrasting worldviews, though interesting, is pretty peripheral to the play itself – which transcends context, esp in its final act (he's talking more about the second act, i know). Which isn't to say his thoughts about NYC institutionalizing discontent isn't still valid. But Wilder operates on a deeper level, in my humble opinion. Still, thanks a million for posting the link – it's serious food for thought.
Peter, I think you're really on to something! Thanks for giving a bit of a psychology background. Needless to say, I am VERY interested in this point. Theologically speaking, its often been said that the word of the Gospel bypasses the will to change the heart of the person. I have to believe that there is a similar way in which the law, properly used, can have a similar indirect, orthogonal approach. I know it's something that Wilder is getting at in TN.
Psychologists please help! Any book recommendations on orthogonal speech?
This is so good, Todd. I just finished reading this for the book club, and wanted to see what had all been written on it here in the past. It’s too bad Wilder never finished the preface, because what he did write really sheds further light on the whole project. Thanks!