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The Portrayal of Masculinity in the Novels of Charles Bukowski Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis

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The Portrayal of Masculinity in the Novels of Charles Bukowski Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Ondřej Jarůšek The Portrayal of Masculinity in the Novels of Charles Bukowski Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph. D. 2016 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature I would like to thank my supervisor, Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D., for his help, valuable advice and time he devoted to the present work. Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................. 20 Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................. 39 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 51 Works Cited .............................................................................................................. 55 English Résumé ........................................................................................................ 58 Czech Résumé ........................................................................................................... 59 Introduction In his underground society he describes a purely masculine world, in which women are hardly splashes of a puddle through which hardy fellows traipse, mostly drunk, or in which they wallow. Then afterwards: wipe off & away! Also most of the times drunk. almost everything in his head is reduced to the magical actions: fuck, drink, fight: beating women . (Harrison 214) The works of the 20th century German-American prolific poet, novelist and short- story writer Henry Charles Bukowski have often been criticized for its generally chauvinistic content and portraying femininity as rather inferior to masculinity. Karin Huffzky, one of the author’s critics, quite aptly summarizes in the passage above from her article “Big Daddy Is Watching You” which Russell Harrison cites in his Against the American Dream: Essays on Charles Bukowski the frequent image of relationships between the male and the female as it is depicted in Bukowski’s early writing. In it, the man is commonly presented as a dominant macho figure who perceives the opposite gender predominately as sexual objects that he can exploit and thus he treats them on this basis. However, this depiction of masculinity starts to gradually change in Bukowski’s later works. The present work analyzes Bukowski’s portrayal of masculinity in the author’s first three novels, namely Post Office, Factotum and Women, with the focus on the character of Henry Chinaski, Bukowski’s alter-ego and the main protagonist of the books. The primary purpose of the thesis is to provide evidence of the argument that in the texts can be observed Bukowski’s gradual deconstruction of the male protagonist and to prove that third of the novels represents the most significant alteration of the author’s portrayal of masculinity in comparison to his earlier works. Up to now, the research of Bukowski’s 5 writing has been concentrated mostly on the author’s depiction of women, the present work thus contributes to the discussion on the gender aspect in his works by analyzing the depiction of masculinity. The first chapter deals with Bukowski’s inclination to the phallocentric nature of his writing as well as with the projection of traditional machismo attitudes in his works. A considerable deal of attention if given also to the author’s comparison to (and contrast from) other American writers of his time, primarily the three lead figures associated with the literary movement Beat Generation whose writing is also considered phallocentric and in whose works masculinity is portrayed as superior to femininity, similarly as in the case of Bukowski’s works. The personal background of Bukowki’s life is given as well as the historical background of the researched novels in order to provide details of the author’s life which might have contributed to the style of his writing and to provide more in-depth understanding of the context of the works. The second chapter discusses Bukowski’s portrayal of masculinity in Post Office and Factotum, the first two of the author’s novels. The character of Henry Chinaski evinces in the books signs of the conventional chauvinistic macho protagonist, but at the same time there can be observed numerous scenes and instances where those characteristics are being weakened and undermined. For example, even though Chinaski is presented as aggressive towards women and often manifests his dominance over them, the reader is also shown the protagonist’s tenderness, sensitivity or lack of power and control when interacting with some of the female characters. The third chapter deals with Bukowski’s deconstruction of masculinity in Women, the third of his novels. The book represents the most significant alteration of the author’s portrayal of masculinity in terms of undermining of the traditional macho characteristics of the male protagonist and in spite of the fact that Chinaski at times still attempts to 6 behave according to his former image, his character is subsequently ridiculed. The erstwhile dominance and power of the protagonist is often reduced to a minimum and his manliness is on a number of instances undermined for example also with respect to his sexual performance. Moreover, Chinaski becomes more emotionally invested in his relationships with women than before which indicates he is in this sense also noticeably more mature. The primary secondary source used in the present work is Russell Harrison’s Against the American Dream: Essays on Charles Bukowski which has been chosen due to the noteworthy insights and useful pieces of information of the author in regard to the topic and focus of the Thesis. Furthermore, the present work consults a number of additional secondary sources which include works such as Sexual Politics by the American feminist writer Kate Millett, Charles Bukowski, Outsider literature, and the Beat Movement by Paul Clements or biographies (both in a Czech translation) Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life by Howard Sounes and Charles Bukowski by Barry Miles because of their helpful overview of the discussed issues. 7 Chapter 1 The present chapter discusses the phallocentric nature of Charles Bukowski’s works and the author’s manifestation of machismo and chauvinism in his writing. In addition, the chapter focuses also on Bukowski’s comparison to other American writers of his time and the personal background of the author as well as the historical background of the analyzed novels is also provided. Generally speaking, the perpetual battle of the sexes arguably belongs among the most characteristic, and perhaps also among some of the most controversial, aspects of Charles Bukowski's writing. Although female characters play an important role in most of the author's works, throughout Bukowski's literary career they are frequently described in an unflattering manner from the writer's chauvinistic point of view which Russell Harrison in his critical work Against the American Dream: Essays on Charles Bukowski describes as “undeniable” (Harrison 183). Bukowski often highlights the sexual promiscuity of the female characters, their loose morals or sometimes also questionable mental state which contributes to the overall degradation of the opposite gender to rather one-dimensional sexualized objects without any distinguishable personality and negates any complexity in terms of their identity. This consequently led to the fact that Bukowski's depiction of his female characters was condemned more than any other element of his works by critics, even though there can be seen a shift in the portrayal of women in the course of his life (Harrison 183) which is also suggested by Paul Clements in his work Charles Bukowski, Outsider Literature, and the Beat Movement (Clements 82). At the same time it is equally important to emphasize that the female characters as such do not stand at the very center of the author's works, even though the story often revolves around them, particularly in terms of the protagonist’s sexual relations with them. In other words, albeit women represent an essential part of Bukowski's writing, 8 they are presented as secondary characters, rather than primary ones. This can be deduced also from the fact that up until the gradual shift in their depiction which can be observed in Bukowski's novels, he portrayed them most often only in regard to the male protagonist and, perhaps more importantly, their existence outside of the relationships with him was considerably limited and reduced to a minimum (Harrison 183-184). The most dominant character in his works is thus the masculine figure, in the analyzed novels represented by Bukowski's alter-ego called Henry Chinaski. Chinaski on paper, just as Bukowski in real life, “gambled, argued, fist fought, drank hard, and womanized excessively” (Clements 81) which indicates that it is not only femininity which Bukowski depicts in a stereotypical fashion, but also masculinity, working class machismo in particular. (81) In this respect
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