C. After discussing in class today the conflict within Eudora Welty’s “The Hitch-Hikers”, I am still left wondering about Tom Harris’ overall detachment from the events in the story. We addressed several conflicts, most notably helplessness/control, friendship/anonymity, no connection/connection. There was also the conflict of silence/noise that was present between Sobby and
Monday, March 24, 2008
BA #7
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These are definitely good questions, and I would have to agree with the overall concern in Harris' "detachment." I was trying to answer these questions presented when I realized that perhaps the town in which most of the story takes place is not the only town in which he has these kind of relationships with the people in the town. There is a lot about him which we don't know, and the time-frame of the story takes place within 48 hours. On page 221, the narrator talks about fights, confessions, and love-making in towns he passed through. In the same paragraph it says that his freedom and helplessness go hand-in-hand, but it would be safe to say that he consciously chose that freedom when he became a traveling salesman, but we don't know those circumstances. Perhaps he's attached to his detachment and doesn't feel strongly enough to change it. I do think however, that his disconnection from the events are correlated with his passiveness; if he feels like he can't change anything, maybe that's why he doesn't really do anything about it.
I think he feels detached from people in general. A big part of it is probably the fact that he has no real home, just a 'base' where he stays every so often. I think he feels that most people aren't genuine; something that shows this is his reaction to the people at the party. Although he is fimilar with people in this town, but because, at the end of the day, he always has to leave and travel onward, he cannot connect with any of them on an intimate level.
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