Please comment
- on the symbolism of the train and the journey in the short story
- on relevant passages (with examples) of the image of the United States
In the text, the train symbolizes a moment of relaxation for Jim. His neurotic and obsessive behavior is caused by an uncontrollable fear of disasters and loss of control which he can only manage by small rituals like "looking at the ceiling, sucking his thumb. He does this to relax". When he is on the train, squeezed in his seat he has no other option other than let go of his need of control and let himself be transported somewhere. He even dares to fall asleep. Movement and thus the train, is positively associated with being comfortable, at ease. Throughout the text, we watch the escalation of Jim's fears and anxiety in a world of chaos and threats, as he is forced to stay at home instead of going to work. Symbolically his name, Jim Train, tells us that he needs movement. Like a train, if he stops, he looses his purpose and dies (at least that is what he concludes in the end of the story". The narrator tells us that "stillness makes Jim uncomfortable" because he is left with nothing but his thoughts of paranoia, exposed to the world and decay just like a train that isn't used.
The image of America given here is a negative one: references to the "toxicity surrounds him", the description of people being all exactly the same "well-bred retriever", the passage that says " this is not America as Abe Lincoln intended" as there is no privacy or little freedom and the unlikely but possible numerous threats described, such as a bomb in the office, robberies and invasion of houses by careless teenagers, all show an apparent decay of America.
I disagree when you say «His neurotic and obsessive behavior is caused by an uncontrollable fear of disasters and loss of control which he can only manage by small rituals like "looking at the ceiling, sucking his thumb. He does this to relax"» I believe it's the other way around. He is neurotic, he is obsessive and the things he does, the smalls rituals, are his way of trying to somewhat be in control of the situation. His uncontrollable fear of disasters and lack of control come as a result of his uneasiness in dealing with the changes in his usual routine, and this is why his level of anxiety and his fear rise throughout the story, reaching it's peak on the story's final pages.
Unlike Kerouac’s On the Road or Bellow’s “A Father to Be”, where the journey ( by car in one and subway in the other) is one of discovery and observation, Jim Train’s daily commute in the train is no opportunity for exploration of the inner self. Jim Train falls asleep on the train. There he is separate from his fellow travelling companions, from the landscape, from his reflections. Jim Train’s world is also separate, there is his suburban family life and his professional big city persona. Both these spheres present problems for Jim Train. He functions in both but he is not truly home in either. While highly functional and with excellent performance – The Man of the Year recognition illustrates this - he resists the uniformization that the system imposes on the individual. His daily act of rebellion is a way of asserting his individuality but it seems to require no deep reflection, it is a juvenile act of resistance, an useless too as it will not promote any real change. At home too Jim Train is a small part in the big tableau of suburbia, a cog in a well oiled machine. As becomes evident in the days he spends at home because of the bomb threat. The train is the industrial device by which Jim is daily transported between the two worlds he lives in but to which he does not really belong to. It is what anthropologist Marc Augé calls a non-place, a product of “super-modernity”, where transience is key and the self unimportant.
Nesta história, o comboio representa uma fronteira entre a vida profissional e familiar de Jim. Durante a viagem, "he quicky falls asleep", como se se estivesse a preparar para viver mais um dia de trabalho ou em família. A imagem dos Estados Unidos é-nos apresentada como uma sociedade formal e trabalhadora, tal como podemos ver no texto: "Jim is a lawyer, as is everyone in New York City, or so it seems". Ao ler esta citação, imaginamos ruas movimentadas de pessoas formalmente vestidas, de pasta na mão, a caminho dos respectivos empregos. Imaginamos também uma cidade de edifícios quando Jim "(...) leans back in the senior partner's chair, and looks out over the Manhattan skyline". A sociedade americana era também uma sociedade de indústria automóvel, tal como podemos ver: "The streets are full of station wagons, carpools going in all directions".
In the text, the train symbolizes a moment of relaxation for Jim. His neurotic and obsessive behavior is caused by an uncontrollable fear of disasters and loss of control which he can only manage by small rituals like "looking at the ceiling, sucking his thumb. He does this to relax". When he is on the train, squeezed in his seat he has no other option other than let go of his need of control and let himself be transported somewhere. He even dares to fall asleep. Movement and thus the train, is positively associated with being comfortable, at ease. Throughout the text, we watch the escalation of Jim's fears and anxiety in a world of chaos and threats, as he is forced to stay at home instead of going to work. Symbolically his name, Jim Train, tells us that he needs movement. Like a train, if he stops, he looses his purpose and dies (at least that is what he concludes in the end of the story". The narrator tells us that "stillness makes Jim uncomfortable" because he is left with nothing but his thoughts of paranoia, exposed to the world and decay just like a train that isn't used.
ReplyDeleteThe image of America given here is a negative one: references to the "toxicity surrounds him", the description of people being all exactly the same "well-bred retriever", the passage that says " this is not America as Abe Lincoln intended" as there is no privacy or little freedom and the unlikely but possible numerous threats described, such as a bomb in the office, robberies and invasion of houses by careless teenagers, all show an apparent decay of America.
I disagree when you say «His neurotic and obsessive behavior is caused by an uncontrollable fear of disasters and loss of control which he can only manage by small rituals like "looking at the ceiling, sucking his thumb. He does this to relax"»
DeleteI believe it's the other way around. He is neurotic, he is obsessive and the things he does, the smalls rituals, are his way of trying to somewhat be in control of the situation.
His uncontrollable fear of disasters and lack of control come as a result of his uneasiness in dealing with the changes in his usual routine, and this is why his level of anxiety and his fear rise throughout the story, reaching it's peak on the story's final pages.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDeixo aqui o link do filme que foi feito a partir deste livro:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNbZB9zpSlE
Unlike Kerouac’s On the Road or Bellow’s “A Father to Be”, where the journey ( by car in one and subway in the other) is one of discovery and observation, Jim Train’s daily commute in the train is no opportunity for exploration of the inner self. Jim Train falls asleep on the train. There he is separate from his fellow travelling companions, from the landscape, from his reflections.
ReplyDeleteJim Train’s world is also separate, there is his suburban family life and his professional big city persona. Both these spheres present problems for Jim Train. He functions in both but he is not truly home in either. While highly functional and with excellent performance – The Man of the Year recognition illustrates this - he resists the uniformization that the system imposes on the individual. His daily act of rebellion is a way of asserting his individuality but it seems to require no deep reflection, it is a juvenile act of resistance, an useless too as it will not promote any real change. At home too Jim Train is a small part in the big tableau of suburbia, a cog in a well oiled machine. As becomes evident in the days he spends at home because of the bomb threat. The train is the industrial device by which Jim is daily transported between the two worlds he lives in but to which he does not really belong to. It is what anthropologist Marc Augé calls a non-place, a product of “super-modernity”, where transience is key and the self unimportant.
Nesta história, o comboio representa uma fronteira entre a vida profissional e familiar de Jim. Durante a viagem, "he quicky falls asleep", como se se estivesse a preparar para viver mais um dia de trabalho ou em família.
ReplyDeleteA imagem dos Estados Unidos é-nos apresentada como uma sociedade formal e trabalhadora, tal como podemos ver no texto: "Jim is a lawyer, as is everyone in New York City, or so it seems". Ao ler esta citação, imaginamos ruas movimentadas de pessoas formalmente vestidas, de pasta na mão, a caminho dos respectivos empregos. Imaginamos também uma cidade de edifícios quando Jim "(...) leans back in the senior partner's chair, and looks out over the Manhattan skyline". A sociedade americana era também uma sociedade de indústria automóvel, tal como podemos ver: "The streets are full of station wagons, carpools going in all directions".