Finally, I would like to ask you all: what do you think? Is Mr. Pontillier a control freak, or is he simple a very egotistical, possessive, product of his white male dominate society? Does Mr. Pontillier remind you of any other male character we have discussed in class or you have read of before? What do you think, overall, about this seeming obsession with possession in the novel?
Thursday, March 5, 2015
The Obsession of Possession
Like many of my classmates the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Pontillier interests me. However, by looking more closely at the marriage I have found another layer to dissect by specifically noticing some characteristics of one of the individuals within the marriage: Mr. Pontillier. I do believe that in class we briefly mentioned and discussed how Mr. P views Edna as property, and through this discussion it was mentioned that a Marxist critique could easily be done with this novel. The concept of possession and property, however, is not just manifested in Mr. Pontillier's view of Edna, but in multiple areas of his life. Mr. Pontillier seems to think that he is or should be over or in control of just about everything within his reach. There are several times the word "possessed" or "possessions" is used in reference to something involving Mr. Pontillier: "The Pontilliers possessed a very charming home," (49) or "Mr. Pontillier. . .greatly valued his possessions, chiefly because they were his," (50). Often, Mr. Pontillier is described as in possession of something, or proud of possessions simply because "they were his." Because I often like to try to draw comparisons between characters from other works, I have been trying to find a suitable comparison for Mr. Pontillier. Since we have talked about The Great Gatsby several times in the past of this class I had a brief thought about a comparison between Mr. Pontillier and Tom Buchanan, since both men seem to view their wives as their possessions and also expect particular actions and submission from them.
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Chole, I think that Mr. Pontellier is an archetype of his race and socioeconomic status. His attitude and behavior exemplifies those of rich white men today. As such men go, I suppose that Mr. Pontellier was not all that bad. Compare him to men like Donald Trump or the Koch brothers of today. Capitalists tend to regard everything and everyone as commodities to be privately owned, bartered, and traded. Was that not the basis for chattel slavery?
ReplyDeleteMr. Pontellier is possessive. I agree with Charles that he is just fitting in in his place in society, as was Tom Buchannon. I relate this story to the play "Trifles." The woman is pushed by her husband and the culture to an extreme. I suppose the same could be said about Gatsby, although it doesn't focus only on one couple.
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