Rhetoric Study

“The dog was slow enough so that Garp could spin behind him; he pulled the dog’s forepaws from under him and dropped his own weight, from his chest, on the dog’s back. Bonkers buckled forward, he slid into the ground nose first—his hind legs still clawing. Garp now controlled the crumpled forepaws but the great dog’s heavy head was held down only by the weight of Garp’s chest. A terrifying snarling developed as Garp bore down on the animal’s spine and drove his chin into the dog’s dense neck. In the scuffle, an ear appeared—in Garp’s mouth—and Garp bit it. He bit as hard as he could, and Bonkers howled. He bit Bonker’s ear in memory of his own missing flesh, he bit him for the four years he’d spent at Steering—and for his mother’s eighteen years.” Pg. 113

When browsing through some of the passages I had marked while reading, I stumbled across this one and knew I had to pick it for my Rhetoric Study post. Not only does this terrifically demonstrate the author’s style, this excerpt is among my favorite from the book so far.

One of the most notable characteristics is the use of short, choppy sentences to convey action. The frequent pauses allow the reader to interpret the situation in a step-by-step manner that provides a better comprehension of the event described in the text. The use of hyphens also contributes to this, as demonstrated when Garp bites off the dog’s ear.

Along with the method used to convey the action, is the use of diction, comprised of fairly simple vocabulary, but presented in a way that gives the perfect description of what is happening. Bonker’s growl is characterized as a “terrifying snarling”, an explanation that provides great appeal to the senses.The entire situation slowly builds and climaxes to the moment that is sure to please all the readers of the novel, and that moment is Garp’s Revenge. For those who don’t know, the dog Bonker’s mauled Garp as a child and bit off a piece of his ear. As the situation becomes more and more intense, as mentioned earlier, the author builds suspense by creating extremely short sentences, separated by hyphens to quickly spurt out short and simple announcements of what is happening.

“In the scuffle, an ear appeared—in Garp’s mouth—and Garp bit it.”

I hate to sound cruel, but that dog deserved every bit of what Garp did to him. I personally view this moment as the highpoint of Garp’s childhood; everything he did as a kid was incorporated in this situation. From the revenge sought after the dog hated by both Garp and Jenny, to the wrestling moves Garp learned while at school, this passage was more than just about Garp getting back at the dog, it was about his childhood and growing up enough to tackle the obstacles that once tackled him…literally.

Main Characters Analysis

I’ve progressed significantly further through the book since my last post, and I believe I’ve encountered most of the main characters within the story.

Jenny Fields

Jenny Fields is the mother of T.S. Garp. She worked as a nurse for most of her life because she found nursing to be a worthwhile occupation, amongst a world filled with too many “nonsense” jobs.

“Nursing was the first thing I took to, and the first thing I ever wanted to do. It simply seemed very practical…” Pg. 186

Despite eventually moving away from her nursing profession and becoming a writer, her motherly support and care for those around her continued on through her life. “In Garp’s opinion, his mother never stopped being a nurse.” Pg. 186

Another major trait Jenny possesses is her feministic viewpoint. Despite claiming to not know what the word meant, Jenny’s powerful sense of independence and self-determination proved her to be an excellent role model for women everywhere who were struggling during the time period. A perfect example of Jenny’s character is shown in her reasoning behind writing her book in the first place, “She said shyly that she’d only thought she made the right choice about how to live her life, and since it had not been a popular choice, she’d felt goaded into saying something to defend it.”

Jenny was down to Earth, and didn’t set out in hopes of recognition from the public. She simply wanted to be independent, respected, and to make the right choices, all tasks she clearly accomplished.

T.S. Garp

Born without a Father, and a less than perfect mother, Garp has had his work cut out from him since day one. Despite the negative factors, Garp grew up to be an intelligent and certainly unique person. With his dark sense of humor, sarcasm, and wit, Garp becomes an entertaining centerpiece to John Irving’s novel. Garp continuously seems to bare resemblances to Holden Caulfield. (Not only with his pessimistic view of aspects of life, but even down to his relationship with hookers. I never thought I’d read two books where both protagonists are involved in paying a prostitute to simply chat with them.)

During his late teenage years and his early twenties, Garp was one of the most self-disciplined and intelligent people you’ll ever find.

“What made Garp older and wiser than his nineteen years had nothing to do with his experience or with what he had learned. He had some instincts, some determination, better than average patience; he loved to work hard.” Pg. 156

These “instincts” and “determination” would be what propelled Garp through his life, and enabled him to be successful in near any task when he set his heart to it.

Helen Holm

Helen Holm was the daughter of the wrestling coach at Garp’s school, and becomes Garp’s first love interest. Helen is a very independent person, much like Jenny, and she’s got an ego to match. One thing Garp could always count on Helen for was her honesty. Helen would be brutally honest and give Garp her opinion about the writing he had done. Thus, Helen motivated Garp and provided him with goals that assisted in moving his life in the direction he wanted to take it. Helen and Garp eventually get married and have a child.

That covers the three primary characters that have remained in the story throughout its bulk so far. As it progresses I plan to create another post focusing on the side characters, and their overall affect on Garp.

A First Look and First Impressions

I’ll be honest, I basically began reading The World According To Garp with no prior knowledge or idea of what it contained. After my original requested books were already taken, I simply signed up for the first blank I saw. Fortunately for me, The World According to Garp immediately proved itself to be much more than just another boring and stale piece of literature.

The initial reaction to the style of narration shown in the first chapter was a little confusing at first. The author narrates the book, but quotes and stories from both T.S. Garp and Jenny Fields are embedded to create the story. This provides three separate point of views that enhance the reading, and show insight into the main character’s thoughts and emotions.

Introduced, as the focus in the first chapter is Jenny Fields, a feminist and strong willed nurse, with an outlook on society that often reminded me of Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield. While her general pessimism and strange morals make her a bizarre person, they make for fantastic and entertaining characteristics of Jenny in the story. One of the oddest motives of Jenny in the first chapter is that she wishes to have a child, but wants nothing to do with a man.

This quickly turns into a running joke at the hospital, after several men approach and volunteer to impregnate her. Jenny turns them all down for various reasons, ranging from not wanting to be with a man who “obviously lacked confidence; she wanted a child who would be more secure than that”, to refusing to have a baby with an anesthesiologist because “his eyes were too close together, and his teeth were poorly formed; she would not want to saddle her would-be child with such handicaps.” The hospital staff soon began to distance themselves from Jenny and her odd objective by moving her to the intensive care unit. Here among the devastation and brutal consequences brought about by the war, Jenny would find Technical Sergeant Garp.

Garp was injured in the war and suffered severe brain damage, resulting in a near complete loss of speech, aside from uttering “Garp”. Jenny sees him as a perfect candidate to help her have a child. In a somewhat shocking move, Jenny rapes Garp and secretly impregnates herself. Garp’s brain continues to deteriorate in a manner that Jenny described as a backwards-aging process. What was initially the intelligence and naivety of a young child has turned into a baby in the womb, curled up in the fetal position, until eventually, Garp died. Jenny would go on to name her son “Garp” in honor of the boy’s father, and use the first initials “T.S.”, which stood for “Technical Sergeant”.

Clearly this is a unique and unordinary book, with a storyline I’m anxious to uncover.