On the surface, Odysseus and Anse are almost polar opposites. Odysseus is a king, whereas Anse is a poor farmer. Odysseus is adventurous, powerful, and diplomatic. Anse is a hermit, both physically and emotionally weak, and unskilled with language to say the least. Yet they do have their similarities, and although I'm not trying to paint Anse as the modern Odysseus, some of Anse's traits do portray him as a potential candidate for a hero.
Anse does have quite a bit of pride despite arguably having little reason to, specifically in his ability to provide for his family. Just as Odysseus's pride in his combat and leadership skills, this is probably considered the most defining characteristic of a man in this era. To be a man who cannot provide for his family is to be a failure, and with a general consensus among the characters being that Anse is extremely lazy and unproductive, our protagonist(?) may have to step up to protect his reputation.
In a more abstract way, Anse is someone who values wisdom just as Odysseus does. We see a clear example of this for Odysseus when the sirens tempt him with the promise of endless knowledge, specifically of the events surrounding the Trojan War. Anse seems to spend all of his waking hours philosophizing about something or other. Related to this, the two characters are very firm in their ideals. For Odysseus this entails the importance of hospitality and the emotional attachment to his homeland, and the exacting of revenge to defend it. Anse also believes strongly in the attachment of a family to their land and home, and goes so far as to greatly inconvenience himself and others to bring his wife to what he sees as her proper resting place. He is willing to make a sacrifice to defend his beliefs and honor, which is unarguably a heroic characteristic.
To be honest, I have never even thought about comparing the two. It's definitely a bit more difficult to find similarities between the two because they're set in completely different times, but I totally understand all of the points you're making. I still don't see a lot of potential in Anse to be a hero, but I definitely think he's capable of completing his journey. I can see the characteristics you mentioned, I'm just waiting to see them all come together.
ReplyDeleteDoes Anse really spend all of his time philosophizing? or does he instead just kind of space out and not think about anything. Does Anse really care about his family and getting Addie to Jefferson, or does he just want his teeth? Your connections between the two make some sense, but it also assumes that Anse is the person you think he is, which he might not be.
ReplyDeleteTrue, you can never really know, but I think it makes sense to give Anse the benefit of the doubt, at least in regards to his ideals. Anse is the one who forces everyone to come on the journey, and he does give up the funds for his false teeth eventually. As far as we know, Anse is also the only one who actively entertains thoughts about anything that doesn't involve farm work or daily life, and the way he talks about his ideas make it pretty clear that he ponders them often. I don't think you could call his ideals anything less than philosophy.
DeleteThe whole thing with the values is a good point. Anse's loyalty to his values is tainted, however, by the fact that the "community of the porch" thinks that he's an idiot for making the choices that he does. In contrast, Odysseus and Telemachus have the support of the general Greek community (except for the suitors and their families, obviously). So, while Odysseus it steadfast, Anse walks the line between steadfast and stubborn.
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of interesting to think of the journey in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying as a reversal of Odysseus' journey in The Odyssey. Mainly in that homebody Anse is finally being forced to take that damn road away from his home while Odysseus wants nothing more than to return to his palace in Ithaca. Another interesting comparison may be that of Telemachus and Darl, who each occupy the position of the son-becoming-his-own-man. While Anse seems hardly to measure up to Odysseus, Darl, in his way, seems much better adjusted and more competent than Telemachus.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of your statements, that Anse spends much of his time philosophizing and provides for his family, but I wouldn't put much value in these traits. Anse's philosophizing always seems to be a justification to get him out of work. For example, Anse doesn't think that man should always be traveling around because God made them up/down oriented. This seems like Anse's reason to be lazy and stay in the same place. I'm also not to sure of Anse's ability to provide for the family. I never saw him doing any work on the farm and his acquisition of the second mule team is sketchy. He decides to loan/sell items of the family that aren't actually his; Jewel's horse, Cash's money for the record player (I think), and farm tools that they will have to use later.
ReplyDeleteAlthough you say that Anse has a strong attachment to his family and a strong sense of home, Anse also has some selfish motives for the journey. Throughout the beginning of the book he remarks a large amount about the teeth that he has been missing out on for so long and how they are going to make his life so much better. In addition, Anse seems to trouble the rest of his family a large amount to get this done, by taking the money that the other sons have earned, refusing hospitality, and not even taking the lead on the journey. I don't see Anse as very heroic or comparable to Odysseus because of this.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure whether or not I can see Anse developing as a hero, but I think that he definitely sees himself as a hero. From his point of view, I would definitely agree with the Odyssean parallels you've made between the two, but I'm still iffy on his intentions. He does eventually give up some of the money for his new teeth, but I'm still cautious to call Anse's motives heroic.
ReplyDeleteI think we are over analyzing the characters' traits on whether or not they are heroic. We are doing this because we are eagerly searching for a hero since there is no obvious one. For me, I can't find a hero in this book. I don't consider Anse a hero, although you do provide a very convincing point. I think I have to wait until the end of the book to try to figure out who the hero is.
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