MYB's complicated journey through his addiction for obsession
Mother's Younger Brother is introduced as a creep. He keeps to himself. He's obsessed with a girl he can't dream of dating. He puts posters of Evelyn Nesbit on his wall. He stalks Evelyn for 3 weeks straight. He hides in Evelyn's closet. He violates Evelyn. Somehow, Evelyn can't resist his attraction, and MYB kicks off a transformation. MYB discoveres some change in his love. As he dedicates everything to Evelyn, she slowly loses interest, and MYB begins to discover a disillusionment for the world. Evelyn Nesbit, MYB's sole obsession for years, finally leaves him for a ragtime artist. Devastated, MYB takes the first steps to finding himself.
Many might find MYB lost during the chapters following Evelyn's departure. And while he may seem somewhat directionless, I think MYB is at his best during this period. He isn't fully closed off in his room. He discovers himself and looks for a way to channel his genius in creativity and obsession. While experimenting with his explosives he invents incredible creations and boosts his families business. He becomes more involved in the family, and stays connected with his sister. And after the Coalhouse shoots the first set of firement, he stands up for his sister and coalhouse in the face of father's hateful rant. That stand-up was the coolest scene in the entire book. MYB standing up isn't as captivating as Houdini's exploits, Ford's inventions, or Goldman's speeches. But it impressed me far more than any of them. For the first time MYB is the coolest character in a scene, and I really like him. I genuinely, and this is not hyperbole to support my argument, never thought I would like MYB after his explosion from Evenlyn's closet. Yet, through a combination of outside factors, like Evenlyn deciding she liked it then leaving MYB, and his own actions and initative, I discovered a respect for MYB.
From that prime, MYB again becomes a complicated character. Although I didn't realize when I initially read the scene, MYB's outburst showed the start of his a obsession, one of Coalhouse Walker. He begs to join Coalhouse's crew. Makes bombs for terrorism. Does blackface. Becomes a criminal in the infamous Coalhouse Walker gang. He again becomes obsessed, and he again shows his darker side. After Coalhouse's death, MYB is again lost, and he searches for more revolutions to join where he utilizes his skills to revolutionize weaponry before soon dying.
MYB has an addiction with obsession, and his addiction, much like with substance addiction, consistently brings out the worst in him. In the glimpse in MYB's story where he discovers purpose in Coalhouse's story yet had not yet fallen back into obsession, we see how respectable and capable he can be. Yet his obsessions pull him to make terribly irrational decisions, using his genius for destruction and revolutions of nothing to do with himself, where his own creations injure then kill him.
Hey Kyle! I love this analysis. I think that you did a great job showing MYB transformation and how he deals with his addiction and how it would lead him into sticky situations. I too wrote about MYB and his ordeals and I think yours has a nice touch that shows the darker side of his obsession.
ReplyDeleteNice work Kyle, MYB seems to me as a character that is meant to have an obsession. He cannot bare the thought of a small town life with a wife and kids. He needs to do something extraordinary. If that extortionary thing is either blowing things up or sleeping with Evelyn Nesbit, it seems to him that it is giving some purpose to his life. It seems at the end of the book he has chosen what his purpose was going to be. A real growth in character from his first introdution.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff Kyle. I liked how you represented MYB almost exactly like the book did, and how both leaves the audience to judge MYB for themself. I think labeling his obsession as an addiction is something that never crossed my mind during discussing this book. However, it perfectly fits how I would now desrcribe MYB. You also illustrated how impactful Coalhouse is in MYB's life, and I like how you tied it back to the idea that his obsessive nature is something he is addicted to.
ReplyDeleteThere's some real ambiguity around MYB, in so many ways in this novel, but one of the most prominent has to do with whether he "finds himself" through his "career as a revolutionary," or whether he actually *loses* himself in this way, goes off the rails, loses all connection to his family, leading to his anonymous and futile death.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, it's really hard to disentangle his sense of "vocation" or "mission" and this idea of him being potentially the most self-actualized character in the novel (which would be a thoroughly ironic kind of self-actualization, since it entails dressing in blackface). The way you describe his fertile creative period, when he is relentlessly experimenting with new kinds of fireworks and explosives, he sounds like another *artist* figure in this book. Should we think of MYB as a kind of young artist discovering his unique talent for making bombs? He's an "artist of explosives"? It's true that "I know how to blow things up" becomes THE defining feature of his identity, and he shifts his wares from New York to Mexica as needed. I've never thought of MYB as an "artist" before, but it's true that we CAN think of his feverish "creative period" in this light. And of course his sudden bout of inspiration is in reaction to a deeply disheartening break-up. His "brooding" leads him to allegedly create a wide range of weapons that wouldn't be introduced for decades--so in a sense the novel DOES take him seriously as a creator and innovator of blowing things up. It's as good an identity as any!
Hi Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI think you make a good point that MYB is at his best between Evelyn Nesbit and Emma Goldman! I think it doesn't make as much sense to idealize his obsessions with different causes considering the amount of irony Doctorow wrote them with. That in-between is the only part where MYB finds a way to express himself through art or creations in a way where he isn't dependent on being a part of some separate cause. Great post!
hi kyle!! The way you talk about the different traits and habits (like obsession) with Mother's Younger Brother is very clear in your post! Just like Mr. Mitchell, I was very interested about your use of "artist" when talking about Mother's Younger Brother! It offers a perspective I didn't expect (the art is to destroy?). That last line, "his own creations injure and kill him" is very interesting. I might be inspired for an essay topic with this one! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Kyle, great post. I think you did a great job highlighting how MYB's complexities and talents of a character are well displayed during the period where he's looking for purpose in life after being left by Evelyn Nesbit. I honestly thought that MYB would launch the family business into another level of success with his weapons designs (which he kinda ended up doing), but you do a great job of explaining of his addictions to true obsessions lead him down a different path.
ReplyDeleteHi Kyle! Great post. The transformation arc of MYB as he meets (and becomes obsessed with) Nesbit, Goldman, and Coalhouse is really interesting. It's also unclear what Doctorow makes of MYB: he seems to be holding back on treating MYB with the sort of mocking irony that he rips apart Morgan with. He's a Coalhouse type character, which the reader is supposed to judge for oneself. Great work!
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