The Wagon Boys
As many people in class have said, Anse is in no way a suitable hero for what we think of as the hero's journey. He acts all high and mighty with his religious speech, but when it comes down to it, he's kinda just a cheapskate who takes money from his children and doesn't want to buy a shovel to bury his wife with and instead just looks for the nearest person to lend one to him. We tend to sympathize more with Anse's children (plus Jewel).
I believe the person most cut out for the hero role would be Cash. Cash is dependable, smart (at least probably the most educated of the Bundrens, since he actually practices a craft). He is tough and doesn't try to make trouble with the others. He's also the oldest, making him more of a leader. I have always thought that if Cash spoke up more often, this adventure would not have turned into the disaster that it did.
Obviously Darl and Jewel wouldn't be the main heroes of the story. I could possibly see Jewel as the brooding protagonist, but his distance from the rest of the children places him far enough that seeing him as a leader isn't feasible. And Darl would probably make the wagon go on a route even more complex and dangerous than the path it actually took. Similar to Jewel, Dewey Dell is distanced from the others in the wagon because her motives are about her pregnancy, something that she can't talk to the males in the family about.
The only reason that Cash isn't the leader is that he doesn't speak much. And even if he did, the others in the wagon probably wouldn't have listened to his logical advice because they would think that their own way is better, or at least that's how it is between Cash and Anse, with Anse even stealing money from Cash.
I believe the person most cut out for the hero role would be Cash. Cash is dependable, smart (at least probably the most educated of the Bundrens, since he actually practices a craft). He is tough and doesn't try to make trouble with the others. He's also the oldest, making him more of a leader. I have always thought that if Cash spoke up more often, this adventure would not have turned into the disaster that it did.
Obviously Darl and Jewel wouldn't be the main heroes of the story. I could possibly see Jewel as the brooding protagonist, but his distance from the rest of the children places him far enough that seeing him as a leader isn't feasible. And Darl would probably make the wagon go on a route even more complex and dangerous than the path it actually took. Similar to Jewel, Dewey Dell is distanced from the others in the wagon because her motives are about her pregnancy, something that she can't talk to the males in the family about.
The only reason that Cash isn't the leader is that he doesn't speak much. And even if he did, the others in the wagon probably wouldn't have listened to his logical advice because they would think that their own way is better, or at least that's how it is between Cash and Anse, with Anse even stealing money from Cash.
Poor Cash. He spends the entire book being beaten up by everything around him. I agree that he would've knocked some well-needed logic into the rest of the wagon multiple times throughout the journey. He just doesn't really know how to communicate with anyone. We know he's logical and we can figure he would have made the right decisions, but he's severely lacking in his abilities to communicate. Funnily enough, he's held back even more when his leg is broken and he has to just lie in the cart as they travel. He really does lose all his abilities to make the situation any better and has to just sit back and watch the journey go up in flames (literally).
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, I am wondering what are your reasons for leaving Vardaman out. He is the one that has interesting narratives and I believe that young age should not be a factor in being a leader.
ReplyDeleteCash is definitely more of a hero than Anse. I feel like Anse tends to complain about everything like his teeth and how he wants to get them fixed. Darl, on the other hand, doesn’t complain about a single thing, even when he has a broken leg! I do think that if Cash is a bit more vocal, then he can become the main hero. However, other characters do also exert some heroic traits, so maybe all the characters are heroes in a way rather than just Cash.
ReplyDeleteI also think that Cash's level-headedness would make him a good hero because he is able to make good decisions without letting personal motive influence him. His work ethic also makes him admirable, considering one of Anse's traits to outsiders is his laziness. Through the sacrifices he makes in order to complete their journey (all the pain and suffering he goes through with his leg), he really shows himself to be able to put the group in front of himself, a characteristic of a good leader, and definitely very heroic in my book.
ReplyDeleteIn class we talked about how no one character is the hero as the story. Instead, the whole family makes the hero. That fact that everyone thinks they have the right way explains, or at least gets to why they act so poorly together. But I'm not sure we can look down on the Bundren family for wanting to each lead the way. Other than Cash, there is no voice of reason, so who do they listen to ? I'm not saying they went about it the right way, I'm just saying their situation had a lot to do with their behavior.
ReplyDeleteCash seems to be the opposite of his father. He has an incredible work ethic and never complains. He definitely fits the hero stereotype more than Anse. I was pretty upset that he made so many sacrifices in order to make the journey possible since he was one of the most likeable characters. It's always really frustrating to see bad things happen to good people.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Anse isn't who I would call the hero. However, I don't think that Cash is either. As you pointed out, Cash has all the trappings of a great leader, but none of the charisma, and to a family like the Bundrens, I think charisma is most important. So who could've been the hero? My money's on Jewel. Yes Jewel is brooding and a **** but he also genuinely cares about his family, despite not being one of them. Furthermore, Jewel, being the son of, arguably, the main character, Addie, positions him as a unique mix of Bundren and something special. I wrote more about this in my post, if you're interested, but I definitely don't think the Bundren hero was Anse. Great post, Harmen!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that being the hero of a story and being a leader are necessarily related. Also, none of the characters appear to have any interest in leading. The whole journey is pretty much the whole family using Addie's 'dying' wish as an excuse to go to Jefferson. As for who is actually the hero, Jewel saves Addie's coffin twice, goes diving for Cash's tools, sacrifices his horse to get the team of mules, and generally acts the most heroic of all of them. To Cash's credit, he did stay on the wagon as it got swept away in the river after telling Darl to jump off, and acts extremely stoic about his leg. But given that Cash was incapacitated so early, I think Jewel is the best candidate for a hero character.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! On some level I totally agree with you because tbh I WANT Cash to be the leader, but I don't necessarily think that he would be the most cut out for it. He is level headed and kind, but too me he's TOO self sacrificing. The way that he totally denies himself medical attention and his own needs make me think that if he was really in charge he would be dead really really quickly. I hate how selfish lots of the other characters are, Anse stealing and Dewey Dell betraying Darl etc, but I don't think the solution is to go to the extreme and have the nicest character lead. Not to sound like a broken record reiterating the other comments but Jewel to me seems like he might have run a smoother course. He's kind of terrible, but think of the way he gave up his horse. He was pissy but he did it because it was good for the group. I think Cash would have just given the horse and maybe sold himself right along with it. But anyway Cash deserved better #justiceforcash
ReplyDeleteActually, you're probably right. Cash is always portrayed as the most level-headed, and if he had spoken up more, the journey might have ended up halfway okay. However, Cash isn't really portrayed as a leader, and as a result, Anse ends up being the decision maker. Which sucked for everyone except him. Anse sucks.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Cash is the most cut out to be a leader in the Bundren family, and he also ended up being my favorite character in the book (probably for several of the same reasons). There are sections where we see Cash being authoritative towards his younger brothers and telling them to "shut up", or we see him being curiously protective over Jewel when he is sneaking out at night. However I agree that Cash doesn't outwardly exemplify leader-like qualities enough to actually be considered the leader of the group. I wonder if now, as he has become more outspoken throughout the novel, he will take a more active and vocal stance in the decision making process of the Bundren family.
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