Answer one of the following four prompts on I am Not Sidney Poitier.
Due Feb. 26th by 11:59pm. 200-400 words.
The novel begins with the following:
“I am the ill-starred fruit of a hysterical pregnancy, and
surprisingly, odd though I might be, I am not hysterical myself. I’m rather calm, in fact; some might say
waveless. I am tall and dark and look
for the world like Mr. Sidney Poitier, something my poor disturbed and now
deceased mother could not have known when I was born, when she named me Not
Sidney Poitier. I was born after two years
of hysterical generation, and who knows what happens in a mind when expectant,
anticipative for so long. Two
years. At least this was the story told
to me” (3).
Having read the first few chapters of the novel, what role
does this opener serve to situate/anchor the book, or does its unmooring
qualities remove the possibility of any such anchoring? What genre/type of story does such an opening
promise? Where else in media (books, tv,
film, etc) have you seen such a move? Is
this indicative of the possibility for magical realism or just the ramblings of
an unreliable narrator? Discuss.
From page one of this book, no, from the very disclaimer label, the book prepares you for humor of a somewhat relevant yet completely absurd nature. In fact, I lied again; the book’s title is a shot at libel from the front cover. In the first couple of chapters celebrities such as Ted Turner and Jane Fonda have been presented to the reader in a humorous manner. The book’s Ted Turner never is able to stop talking for longer than a moment’s reply, constantly ranting, and Jane walks around on a boat without her top on like it is nothing. While these are mere comical aspects, there can be some implied truths to these jests, but that is what libel is all about. If a woman is determined enough to not have her son be mistaken for another famous actor yet buys stock for a television company seems to be a little outrageous. Shows such as South Park and Robot Chicken have also placed a similar comical discretion disclaimer to avoid such libel lawsuits. Aside from this comical libel, the book takes a turn for the magical realism form of books, enabling a woman to be pregnant for a good two years is certainly a stretch of more than simply skin (I myself am not really sure if that was an appropriate pun, but feel free to disregard it.) The book pulls on the chord of realism further when Not Sidney is able to conjure this ability of “Fesmerize” and hint/control individuals to do things that Not Sidney tells them to do. Now Everett cleverly goes back to his original disclaimer and protects the innocent by changing the names of the true individuals behind the disguise. After hiring a Private Eye detective I was able to uncover that this novel’s Anton Franz Fesmer, an Austrian physician and creator of Fesmerism, was in fact based off a man by the name of Franz Anton Mesmer, a German physician who studied “animal magnetism” and brought us the root of the verb “mesmerize.” Everett takes this belief one step further by giving Not Sidney this ability to control certain individuals. Or when Not Sidney is sexually assaulted by his history teacher, Beatrice Hancock, and when he reports this, all the principal and superintendent do is laugh. This book is a combination of libel, for its references to those relevant of the time frame as well as its evident magical realism aspect.
ReplyDeleteThe opening narrative instills the reader with a strong sense of absurd-ism, that is lightly covered in irony. The irony stemming from Not Sydney Poitier growing to identically resemble Sydney Poitier, while the absurd-ism comes from any, and every character that caused Everett to utilize the disclaimer. Ted Turner, the most outlandish character next to Bill Cosby, refutes the idea of the rich white man aiding the poor black child, yet does so in his own unique way, with whatever outlandish reasoning Everett chose to give Turner. The disclaimer is parable to the disclaimers in many mocumentaries, and satirical sketch shows(mostly robot chicken). While the characters Everett has created resemble the bizarre, yet acceptable behavior of the Family Guy universe. Where any famous person is victim to doing or saying anything. Most recently of which is James Woods, whom has stolen Peter's identity, and even lived with the Griffin's as "Peter", only to come back in the latest season to ask Peter to be his casting agent; of course, this is after Mr. Woods died, but was then brought back to life using techniques only available to stars in Hollywood, which require the life force of a seventeen year old virgin. It is this type of shenanigans that Everett wants his "mythical" character to resemble, but with less dick and fart jokes. This opening does also favor magical realism quite heavily. There is, as Mr. Whitmore kindly pointed out, the ability that Not Sydney uses to control certain individuals. There are also the situations where Not Sydney is essentially living out a few of Sydney Poitier's more well known movies. This type of opening sets the stage for a well written, and one of a kind(not really) comedic novel, allowing Everett to hang his proverbial hat proudly, knowing that he achieved what he set out to do, create humor.
ReplyDeleteKyle and Sterling,
DeleteBoth of these posts are a bit broad. Pick one specific thing and analyze it in detail.
In I Am Not Sidney Poitier, Not Sidney Poitier has a comedic and slightly cynical outlook on his life. Instead of the normal narrative, Not Sidney reflects on the significant moments of his life with a sort of charming, emotional removal. As the beginning is read, one can tell that the book will be a satirical reflection on a life that has been nothing short of absurd. Like many of Percival Everett’s fiction novels, the beginning of this novel reveals to us that this story will follow a witty, sarcastic yet intelligently thought-out plotline.
ReplyDeleteI Am Not Sidney Poitier reads very similarly to the novel Bud, Not Buddy. Like I Am Not Sidney Poitier, Bud, Not Buddy is a humorous and introspective story about the plight of a young black man who remains optimistic through many hardships he faces. The main character, Bud, narrates his own story with the same charming and witty attitude.
While Not Sidney’s extremely long gestation period seems absurd, it is probably only the exaggeration of his mentally unstable mother. During the first few pages of the chapter it is easy to tell Not Sidney’s mother is a bit inane, as when she tells the town she is constantly pregnant. Not Sidney’s narrative of his mother does not seem like magical realism but rather a sad account of his mother’s unfortunate mental illness.
Interesting.
DeleteThe opening lines of the book prove to be a very good anchor. Everything about the first paragraph is absurd and new to the reader. I was hooked because all the things described were strange and new and I wanted to know more. The opening of the story seems to promise an unreliable, absurd, and humorous story. The fact that his actual name is Not Sidney is the first big anchor. His mother's two year pregnancy also hooked me and made me want to know more. The way Everett gets straight to the point and tells you exactly what the story is about makes the reader curious and drawn in, wanting to know more. One example of a movie that uses this kind of device to hook the audience is the movie 500 Days of Summer. In the movie, the main character starts out by telling the audience that the movie is not a love story, and that its just a story about love. This hooks the audience into wanting to know more details about this not love story. The idea is new and they naturally want to know exactly what the narrator means by this. Another example of a movie is Tangled. The main character starts off by telling the audience that its a story about how he dies. This catches the viewers attention and makes them want to know more, just as Everett's openness did. I thought that this move by Everett was indicative of an unreliable narrator. The fact that the narrator seemed unreliable seemed to just add to my curiosity. The narrator being unreliable gives the story a mysterious touch and makes the reader want to read more, hoping that the narrator might become more reliable later in the story, and clear up some of the mystery.
ReplyDeleteHow can his name being "Not Sidney" be an anchor? Also, you're being very broad and mostly just "praising the bard" (i.e. when you repeatedly say things like "...hooked me in and made me want to know more.") Don't do that. Pick a specific issue and expound upon it.
DeleteThe beginning of the novel anchors the readers mind with absurdist excerpts and a sense of miscommunication that will stick with the characters throughout the story. The beginning of the novel is also anchored with a theme of contraversial identity. Everett uses his characters to attack celebrities and political icons of america. It's ironic that Ted Turner, owner of CNN and the Atlanta Braves, shares the name of Not Sidney's rich stepfather. A movie that is somewhat resemblent to Sidney Poiter is "The Tuman Show". A movie where Jim Carey stars as Truman, a man who is born into a mock society and his whole life is a TV show that is aired to the people in the real world. All of his friends and family are actors but Truman has no idea. Truman struggles to find out who he really is and why he doesn't belong.
ReplyDeleteReid Hughes
Two things. 1) Something can only "anchor" the reader to reality... so you're misunderstanding that term. 2) It's not ironic that Ted Turner is named Ted Turner, because that's the Ted Turner Everett's talking about.
Delete