In one of our discussions in class we talked about the purpose of Gould sometimes referring to himself in the third person. Most people felt like it was an ego thing and that he was making himself sound more important by talking about himself in the third person. I have a different theory for this reasoning for using the third person that is completely opposite. I think that everytime he uses the third person he is ashamed of him self and he wants to separate himself from what he was doing at the time during the story.
For example when Gould has no clue what to do with the bones of the surgeon, he refers to himself in the third person (241). Here he is confused and lost and does'nt know what to to do, and thats kind of embarassing so he wants to distance himself from that "version" of Gould that he is telling the story about. Then on pg 201 he is talking about how pathetic he is trying to climb the ladder amongst prisoners. Next on pgae 191, he's talking about himself being on an island with no escape. So I think he uses Third person to highlight how screwed gis situation is. Then he also uses it to highlight when he doesnt know what to do.
YAY!!! Jasmine, if you look two blog post up, I have written my post on the same theory that you hypothesized about! If you turn to page 289, Gould admits that he is changing his perspective because of his shame "& my shame is such that I can only refer to myself in this regard in the third person." I seriously think we were on the same brain-wave. I agree with you when you say that Gould is using the third person to almost liberate himself from anything that he finds to be morally wrong.
ReplyDeleteSo, combining my post with yours, we can begin to form a list of the actions Gould wants to claim and those he doesn't.
Claimed:
explicit sex scene with Twopenny Sal
the actual act of hooking up with Mrs. Gottliebsen
Unclaimed (scenes referred to in third person):
inability to decide what to do with the Surgeon's bones
cheating on Twopenny Sal
vomiting from drinking too much
I certainly agree with your blog post. I believe you have clearly solved the reason why Gould refers to himself in third person. This use of third person to separate himself from his shameful actions or feelings can also relate to the theme of identity that pervades the novel. In this novel, it is arguable that Gould attempts to "sift" through his actions that may define him as a criminal. He refuses and abhors being identified as a criminal imprisoned in Sarah Island and struggles to find a better identity. As a result, he uses third person to refer to any shameful action or thought to distance himself from being considered a criminal. Thus, he labels those actions under "Billy Gould" but labels his other normal or "good" actions under "I." Thus he is separating the identity of a criminal that is attached to the name "Billy Gould" from the identity of his true being also known as "I."
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Jasmine that Gould's use of third-person is not motivated by his egotism. Furthermore, I think her assertion that he utilizes this point of view in order to cope with the atrocities he is experiencing. However, I think there may be another factor that motivated Flanagan in writing parts of Gould's narrative in third-person. I believe Flanagan is trying to show us that Gould is going insane, and quite possibly may already be insane. As the tale progresses, I feel that third-person is used with increasing frequency, thereby signifying his transition into insanity. I feel the author's goal is to show how unstable Gould is while at the same time giving him a method by which he can separate himself from terrible events.
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