In an effort to avoid giving away spoilers, I’d like to focus solely on the scene between Lenny and his wife while she reads an old book. Based on all of our readings and discussions throughout the semester, I think we can find interesting ties between their conversation and our class. Lenny asks his wife how she can re-read a book so many times. He doesn’t seem to understand the endless enjoyment she finds in reading the book; he believes that enjoyment is found in the story’s unpredictability. This disagreement begs the question: why do we read? There are probably hundreds of answers to this question, but based on our class, I think a few specific ones come to mind.
We often read because we are expected to. In the past few weeks of class, we have been asked to take note of how outside forces influence our daily decisions. As students, we’re at college to learn and further our education. Most likely, we all want to succeed, and in order to do so, we conform to expectations of the College’s education system. Professors assign readings, and we complete them so that we can participate in class discussions, or better understand the material for upcoming tests. Perhaps doctors are expected to read articles about new treatments or medicines to remain successful in their practice, or teachers must read assignments they give students in order to have a successful lesson. We therefore see that although there exist a wide variety of personal identities, everyone at some point recognizes the effect of outside expectations and reads because they have to in order to be successful.
Like Lenny’s wife, we often read for pure pleasure. Reading for pleasure and to fulfill expectations can intersect, which I have happily found is true for our class readings. Lenny’s wife has read her book as Lenny says, “a thousand times.” She becomes frustrated when he doesn’t understand that she can enjoy the book just as much reading it a fifth time as she did the first time. Although the scene doesn’t reveal what a good story means to her, for Lenny’s wife, reading for pleasure seems to just be about reading a good story. On the other hand, Lenny reveals that for him, reading for pleasure has to do with the excitement of the unknown, the mystery of the story. Based on his character in the film so far, this makes sense. Throughout the film, he reveals that he used to investigate cases, such as the case of Sammy Jenkiss’ memory loss. This career choice, and his own investigations throughout the film are revelatory about his character. He seems to be a man that enjoys mystery, or solving cases. Therefore, his interpretation of reading for pleasure is understandably focused on the excitement of an unknown story. Lenny and his wife’s two different positions, allow us to understand that reading for pleasure is dependent on one’s identity, and the meaning of reading for pleasure can vary quite widely.
The texts we have read in class reveal other reasons we may have for reading. O’Brien’s The Things They Carried distinguishes between an “emotionally true” story, and a “factually true” story. Depending on a reader’s mood or situation, they make seek a specific story. A story may carry an emotional truth of happiness, love, anger or jealousy, or it could carry a story absent of such emotions, such as an almanac purely stating facts. We may wish to read a happy, funny story to improve our mood, or we may read an encyclopedia to glean information. Reading therefore often serves as an escape, as it is for Bokononists; reading The Books of Bokonon to escape the Christian world that they are supposed to live in. But reading also always provides us with information, as Julianna learns about the true nature of her world after reading The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. By reading, we can learn about physical entities: current events, what food to buy, the latest fashions. But we can also learn in more abstract ways: about emotions, relationships, or perceptions of reality. The way we interpret what we learn, we discover more and more about ourselves. Again we see what we have talked about all semester: everything comes down to interpretation. So although we may read for different reasons, and interpret stories differently, their commonality is that it is these differences that teach us the same thing; the type of person we are.
Nice post Alex! I never really thought about all the different reasons people have for reading.
ReplyDeleteI think that this scene is also meant to show the irony of Leonard’s situation. He teased his wife about reading the same book over and over again, but now Leonard reads his notes and tattoos over and over again. Though his wife did not have the same memory problems that Leonard does, as he says, memory is unreliable and she probably cannot remember every little detail in her book. She read it over and over again because the book means so much to her that she never wants to forget it. Leonard tattoos the details of his wife’s death so that he will never forget.