A blog dedicated to the in depth study of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and its author Robert M. Pirsig, by the 2nd period AP Literature Class group.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Issues Between Friends and Family (Priya Dhairyawan)
This week's reading made me further realize that there seems to be some mild tension or a lack of a connection between the narrator and the three other central characters, Chris, John, and Sylvia. Chris always seems a bit uninterested in the things his father enjoys. For example, the narrator says, " all that moving water is strange, banked by grass hills that hardly get any water at all. I turn around and glance at Chris but he doesn't seem to be particularly interested in it" (44). Small things that evoke curiosity in the narrator do not faze his son. Also, the narrator gets a little bit upset whenever his son asks questions. I understand that constant streams of questions can get annoying, but he seems to always be aggravated even at the first few questions. Similarly, there seems to be the same problem with John. The two men, though they do share a love for motorcycles, have little in common. The issue can be seen with the soda can and the shim. The narrator is quite impressed and satisfied with his unique idea to use part of the smooth soda can to fix John's motorcycle handle, but the thought goes unnoticed by John. Although the two are friends, they have many differences. On another note, I had been wondering about the mother since the beginning of the story. After the mention of Chris's mental illness, it is revealed that this is the reason the wife is not present. I can't help but wonder more about her. There is very little said about her and I am curious as to whether or not this has any significance.
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Priya's post gives me a little more hope on the novel. Honestly, I suppose I was just too focused on how annoyed I was by the narrator to take any consideration of these small but meaningful relationship tensions. I cannot help but conclude that I am thinking just as the narrator thinks, meaning, I am focusing so much on one thing that everything else is overlooked or just not seen as important, in this case, his relationships seeming less important than motorcycle maintenance.
ReplyDeleteIn this blog post Priya organizes these points and I do have to agree and admit that now I, too, feel curiosity for these details. It, thankfully, gives me something to look forward too upon further reading (that is, if I don't grow overwhelmingly tired from the narrator's self-absorbed outlook on everything). The tensions are not shocking to me because the narrator is predictable in nature, and, he explicitly describes as to why he cannot find harmony within these relationships- which draws a new question: if the title of the novel is Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance, how is the narrator finding any "Zen" at all? He is looking for harmony within his own thoughts and ideas, and while doing this, is disrupting the harmony of the world around him and his interactions with the people that he cares for. Could it be that this is the whole point of the narrative, aside from being a cognitive exploration of philosophy? If this is the case, consider my interests peaked.