Finish reading the entire book before commenting.
One of my theories about Son is that the first part of the book (up to the departure from Italy) is STRUCTURALLY identical to the rest of the book part.
This symmetry is brought about by the parallel stories of the two protagonists, the Vampire and Pascal himself. I would argue that the Vampire's story is identical to that of Pascal.
Both the Vampire and Pascal are victims, defenseless, without protection, at the mercy of others, without agency in the world. And, for all his striving and struggling, at the end Pascal has nothing to show for himself except defeat. This is when he is forced to BEG: begging the editors of magazines to publish his work. If you look closely, that's what his letter is.
COMMENT:
Do you think this interpretation is too outlandish? Don't be afraid to disagree. Indeed.
But if you find other examples of similarity, please mention them.
REPLY: pick at least one comment you found interesting. Please do not start your reply with "I agree" or "I disagree." Anything but that.
I questioned the purpose for the Vampire in Pascal's story for a long time during my read. I justified it as one of Pascal's early memories he felt necessary to include, also highlighting aspects of his character that are easily intimidated, nervous, and gullible. I believed that the Vampire was also used to show the ideology and mindset of those living in his traditionalist town. It showed how feelings towards the beggar separated the people, who are in no place to cast judgment since they are too in poverty, in their feelings about her. Once Chapter 6 came and Pascal made the move, I quickly forgot about the Vampire. Although I gave her purpose my own reasoning, I did not even feel that my justification was strong enough to permit her presence in the book. After reading Professor's argument, I do not want to regurgitate what he said above because I do agree. Instead, I want to touch upon my comment about how the Vampire separated the townspeople in how they reacted to her. Everyone saw Pascal, the beggar in the very end, very differently. His friend shook his head at him, everyone ignored him, people questioned his eating and living choices, and the companies refused him. One editor light heartedly saw Pascal as someone in need of a doctor and a hospital. Mainly, he was rejected. However, Pascal fed the Vampire. It was out of fear, but he gave her food. He saw a new side of her that was overly thankful. Similarly, the two editors fed Pascal. They gave him a chance. Like the Vampire, Pascal was overly grateful.
ReplyDeleteKara, your comment is so eloquently written! The way you organize your thoughts is impeccable. Your comment helped me organize my own thoughts because you provide specific examples from the text to support your argument. Like you, I forgot about the vampire as soon as the move to America was made. At first, I did not understand why she was a major part of the autobiography. But the comparisons you make between D'Angelo and the vampire are surely true.
DeleteI do find a lot of symmetry between the "vampire" and Pascal. Both of them suffered from their own forms of isolation and fear.The "Vampire" was alone and had no one in her life, she always had a frightening appearance which made people afraid of her; hence the name vampire and witch. Pascal often felt alone because he felt he had no one who could protect him, he was in this world alone and defenseless. They share a lot of the same common themes, like fear and isolation. It's just how they chose to conquer it that was different.
ReplyDeleteHi Nayisha, What you said makes sense and is truly interesting. However, I would like to highlight the many companions that he had along his Journey. Although these individuals came and go, i feel as though he had people with him along the way. This was something that the vampire lacked. i think that's why their stories end so differently.
DeleteNayisha, I think that D'Angelo and the vampire had similar approaches to conquer their fear and isolation- they were both begging. The vampire was begging for food from the townspeople and D'Angelo was begging to be published from the editors.
DeleteYou brought up a great point - people were afraid of the "Vampire" in part because what she looked like. This is the same way Italian immigrants felt when they migrated to America, people were afraid of them because of what they looked like. They looked Italian, therefore they were criminals or gang members, therefore they're dangerous, therefore we need to stay away from them.
DeleteOnce you look closely, there are many parallels between Pascal and the "Vampire". One similarity I found is that neither of them are referred to by name. The Vampire is always called "hag" or "witch" or sometimes "beggarwoman". She is never named. The same thing happens to Pascal. Although this was an autobiography, so he uses "I" a lot instead of his name, no one else ever calls him "Pascal" while talking to him or about him. If not for his name being on the cover, I probably wouldn't have known it. I realized while I was taking notes on the story that I myself was calling him "He" or "him" and not Pascal. This lack of a name which happens to both him and the vampire, is kind of dehumanizing and adds to the loneliness.
ReplyDeleteThe foremen had so many workers that they probably never bothered to learn their names. When Pascal met with editors, they were less concerned with who he was and rather his appearance and if he was lost. Pascal not being formerly addressed sends a message that he is just a number that can be easily replaced at any moment. The woman referred to as "vampire" is a foreshadow of what's to come for Pascal when he moves to America. They are both of the same cloth but their actions towards their circumstance determined their different fates.
DeleteI was thinking the same thing about the foreman. Pascal not formerly being addressed does send a message that he is just a number and in my opinion we are all still just numbers. The government knows us by our social, schools know us by our ID numbers, etc. Being that it was an autobiography, I didn't expect his name to be stated much.
DeleteDehumanization is the key I took from your response. Dehumanization is the underlining thing that draws the line is holding a "tribe back" it is everything we learned this entire book about the history of Italian Americans. You take power away by dehumanizing a whole group. Dehumanization is what this country is built of, a people that will work and do but that will never over throw because they are so dehumanized that we themselves doubt themselves.
DeleteI don't think that this interpretation is outlandish. In fact, I think it's interesting. Both the "vampire" and Pascal are wretched souls trying to find their way. However, what separates Pascal from the vamp, is that he is a purer person. He makes his living with his own two hands. He doesn't exploit the fears of other people to survive.
ReplyDeleteI do believe there are many parallels between pascal and the Vampire. However, I feel as though the ending of their lives are very different and that's what separates them from each other. It is true that they both had to eventually result to begging. it is also true that, at first, pascal had nothing but defeat to show for himself. He redeemed himself int he end of the story though. He made a bold move that eventually led to his success. He, unlike the vampire, had many people over the course of his life who liked him. the vampire, I believe, was generally disliked among the townsmen. I think this is where Pascal and the vampire differ.
ReplyDeleteWhile I did not realize it until I read Kara's comment above, the themes in the life of D'Angelo and the vampire do parallel one another. I now realize that the anecdote about the vampire was central to the beginning of the novel and probably intentionally. Why else would D'Angelo have taken so much time to follow up with the vampire's life in his own autobiography? So no, the interpretation the professor offers is not too outlandish. We do see both D'Angelo and the vampire starve, beg, and physically exhausted (the vampire is beaten and D'Angelo gets injured on the job).
ReplyDeleteReading the interpretation about how Pascal and the Vampire have the same story line, while reading the book it did not dawn on me thats what was going on. While reading the interpretation it was like a slap in the face of how true that is. I do not think that the interpretation is outlandish at all, it makes complete sense. They both began helpless, and ended up having to beg in the end to get a little further in life, the only difference was that the vampire died and Pascal ended up thriving in his life and becoming a successful author.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading, I did not really think about the parallels between the Vampire and Pascal. I was more taken in simply by Pascal's story. I was so intrigued by the struggles that Pascal was going through and thinking about the thousands of other immigrants that were going through the same thing. I made the obvious connection that both Pascal and the Vampire were beggars but people were fearful of the Vampire and not Pascal. The Vampire was begging for food while Pascal was begging to be published. They were two characters that were both trying to make it through after being rejected. Maybe I didn't read as closely as others or closely enough to really pin point every parallel that there was, but thats why sometimes we read a text more than once.
ReplyDeleteI see the parallels between Pascal and the "Vampire" how they were both treated. Pascal says he himself and the whole town was afraid of the "Vampire", they discriminated against her. Pascal writes about the husband and wife denying the "witch" money or food when she comes around begging. This is the same way Pascal was treated when he moved to America, he was denied help.
ReplyDeleteAfter I was finished reading the book I didn't make the correlation between the parallel stories of these two protagonists but once I read the professor’s argument I started to think of the similarities. The people in the town are parallel to the foremen in America, they are ruthless and don't care about what either the Vampire or Pascal felt. Both Pascal and the Vampire were alone and had no one to rely on. They both begged for something-Pascal begged for his poems to be featured and the vampire begged for food. Although there are similarities between them they differ in the way that they became isolated. Pascal wanted to follow his dreams and he had to be by himself in America for him to do that. The vampire made herself isolated and alone by what she did to the other people, she made them become afraid of her so no one wanted anything to do with her.
ReplyDeleteyour comment was interesting .you mention that the vampire isolated herself, how do we know for sure it was her choice? The village herself seem to be treating her good , so if she left did she isolate didn't or was that the town doing?
DeleteI personally would not make such an analogy on my own, but after reading the professors comment I had a sense of "ahhh!" I see the correlation between Pascal and the Vampire. Both were alone, scared and not sure of the future. Even thought it was out of fear that Pascal fed the vampire, he still did it and the vampire was grateful. Same goes for Pascal and him begging at the end of the book. Pascal wanted nothing more but to be published by someone, once he found those editors, they fed into him just like he fed the vampire. Both parties at the end of the day were very grateful. It's a very interesting analogy, that would not come to me naturally but definitely gave the book more depth.
ReplyDeleteAt first I honestly didn't really go too deep into the path that the vampire and pascal share till I read your comment.I went back to reread it with a different view and got a better understanding. The very first thing that stood out was how poverty led both the vampire and pascal beg for survival , Pascal had sense of dedication and sense of passion to succeed at his journey, at many cost even if that did mean begging.You can say he was now walking in the shoes of the vampire. The Vampire on the other hand was somewhat a different story. Pascal knew in order to succeed he would have to challenge himself, Pascal made it his priority to learn English in a fluent manner, this help him with his success with literature and poetry. The Vampire, on the other hand, never received the chance to enjoy this kind of success; but with her exile from the community it wasn't easy.Pascal was funny when it came to success, he was motivated by failure .Vampire didn't use failure as pascal did ,she allowed herself to be defeated .the beginning path of the vampire and pascal was similar ,but end wasnt .As the story goes on we see how pascal journey is faced with multiple struggles. So much that he hit rock bottom and begin to beg . Instead of giving in , pascal goes in search of something that would forever change his situation .Getting education was one that set pascal different from the vampire . pascal was truly a fighter .
ReplyDeleteLike my colleagues I had did not correlate Pascal and the Vampire, to me they lived two very different stories. At one point I questioned if the vampire was depiction of himself(though the sex was different) of a different circumstance. To me the stories weren't parallel at all. I wouldn't even call it a motivation, I think their indidvual behaviors were that of survival skills. I also think this of my own abilities, my successes are me surviving. At the mercy of others like we all are.
ReplyDelete"For all his striving and struggling, at the end Pascal has nothing to show for himself except defeat." This statement is funny to me, a man who is defeated is a man who has not tried. Pascal was faith filled despite all, Pascal would not label himself as defeated in my opinion. As far as begging goes, never be too proud to beg, you beg one person for an opportunity that will open unlimited doors. Pascal had to have known this. Now back at the beginning where I say that the vampire and pascal where just alternative selves of one person, pascal didn't allow himself to be defeated the vampire was allowed herself to feel that feeling of defeat. Isn't that us all, sometimes we are undefeated and other days we become so easily broken down. As far as education goes, education gives you ability, ability gives you power. Thats why you asked us why are we pursuing education, thats why you asked us what does education mean to us. Pascal knew that educating himself would give him a chance when opportunity came or we could be the person who careless about being educated and if opportunity comes we won't even know how to take it by its reigns and thrive.
Pascal himself became the vampire. There is a lot of symmetry, from the beginning starting from his home, this lady was introduced as a vampire, an outcast that people were afraid of. Pascal in his journey became this vampire; he was alone living in horrible conditions, trying to get by. He was eating scraps he could find. It as an interesting point that is made, you can see how he starts out with nothing, manages to make money, but slowly drifts backwards in an attempt to fulfill his dreams. He was begging, just like the vampire had in the beginning. Pleading to get some type of notice. They both lived isolated from people, fearing what would happen. Pascal had many moments where he feared and felt defeated. At the end Pascal lived through the eyes of the vampire. People didn’t care much for either Pascal or the vampire. Instead they tried to get them out of their sight as soon as possible. When Pascal was looking to learn music and harmony, the man said he didn’t give such lessons, despite the sign that was hanging there. The woman who opened the door for him fainted by his sight. Another thing I found interesting was right before he decided to quit his job. An old man told him that he would be hunched an look scary to others if he didn’t do what he wanted to do. He said the old man was Pascal. But in quitting his job, he became the scary vampire that others wanted nothing to do with. He became a beggar much like the vampire but instead of begging for food and taking advantage of people, he was a hard worker that at the end begged for acknowledgment.
ReplyDeleteMariam, you make an excellent point about the shared experiences of both the vampire and D'Angelo. You also highlight the similar reaction people had when they saw the Vampire and D'Angelo. I could have never made that comparison, Your comparison was very delightful and did not depict him as a vampire but draw comparison in how they were treated. Your response is very detailed.
DeleteVery interesting association, a parallel can be drawn but there is a stark difference between the two stories. For one thing I don't recall the Vampire laboring for her living. However, the Vampire made her living similar to how foreman, contractors, and commissary stores made theirs, off of the handwork, strife and monotonous labor of the downtrodden peasant. The Vampire sapped the already meager livings of the poor to her own ends. My most startling observation is that the Vampire and foreman used fear to wring dry the less fortunate. The Vampire used sorcery, the foreman, termination. The Vampire's and D'Angelo's stories aren't the same although D'Angelo did beg at the end out of desperation. I agree to an extent that a parallel can be drawn, but the interpretation is somewhat outlandish. The structurally identical comparison that can be made is between the Landed few in Italy and the Foreman and contractors in America. For many years these two groups benefited from the hard work and suffering of the indigent. He pointed out that peasant toiled for the land lords in Italy and toiled for the foreman that gawked over them in American. Furthermore, his father departure from Italy was for the same reason of his departure from America, his father found no difference in his situation. His autobiography not only spoke of his misfortunes but of the peasant and ruler relationship that many people face.
ReplyDelete