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The Man with the Golden Arm: a Genetic Study

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The Man with the Golden Arm: a Genetic Study This dissertation has been 65-5686 microfilmed exactly as received VELER, Richard Paul, 1936- THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM: A GENETIC STUDY. The Ohio State University, Ph. D ., 1964 Language and Literature, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan Copyright by Richard Paul Veler 1965 THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM: A GENETIC STUDY DISSERTATION Presented in P artial Fulfillm ent of the Requirements fo r the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Richard Paul Veler, B.A., A.M. * •>'( * * * * The Ohio State University 1964 Approved by Adviser / Department of English For M. G. K. and J. H. W. ! i VITA October 29, 1936 Born - Lorain, Ohio 1958 .............................. B. A., Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio 1959. ...... Woodrow Wilson Fellow, A. M., Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1961-1963 .... Graduate Assistant, Department of English, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1963-1964 .... A ssistant, Department of English, The Ohio State U niversity, Columbus, Ohio 1964-1965 .... Instructor, Department of English, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: American Literature Studies in American Renaissance Literature. Professor Claude M. Simpson Studies in American Literature and Culture. Professor Roy Harvey Pearce Studies in Utopian and Anti-Utopian Literature. Professor Robert C. E llio t t Studies in Modern Drama. Professor Robert G. Shedd Studies in English Renaissance Prose. Professor Herschel Baker i i i CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................... 1 Part I. Algren the Writer: His Intention, His Subject, His S tyle ........................................................... 3 Part I I . The Man with the Go 1 den Arm: Its History and Sources........................................................... 14 Part I I I . The Man with the Go!den Arm: Its C ritical Reception ........................................................... 24 Part IV. The Man with the Golden Arm: Its Typescript Versions........................................................... 34 CHAPTER I. Version 1 ............................................................................................................. 4t I I . Vers ion 2 ............................................................................................................. 89 Ml. Version 3 ...................................................... 136 IV. Version 3^. ........................................................... 1&9 V. Version k .................................................................................... 197 V I. Version 4^........................................ 236 VI I . Version k2 ................................... 241 V III. Miscellaneous Pages ............................................ 249 IX. Galley Proof ........................................................................................................ 256 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................... 263 APPENDIXES I. Typescripts at the Illin o is In s titu te of Technology . 277 II. Table of Name Changes ................................................................................ 297 BIBLIOGRAPHY I. Works by Nelson Algren ................................................................................ 299 I I . Works about Nelson Algren ...................................................................... 303 iv INTRODUCTION Understanding a work of art is a complex process which one can approach from several points of view. He may focus historical or biographical c riteria upon it; he may examine it as though it exists in a vacuum. If the work is lite ra ry , he may be able to see the turns of the w riter's mind in successive versions. He may then trace the development of the book from its conception to its birth. This approach equips him to evaluate not only the finished product but also the author's creative "genius" that gradually transforms the in itia l, rough copy into the fin a l, polished form. This c ritical method seems to me to be particularly sound since it allows the researcher to answer the crucial question, "What makes the work come to exist in its present form?" The answer is of utmost significance because it takes into account both the author's intention and his degree of fu lfillm en t. I am able to apply this c ritic a l approach to Nelson Algren's The Man wi th the Go 1 den Arm for the Ohio State University Library owns typescript and galley proof versions of the novel. Included in its collection are four major drafts, in addition to three fragmentary drafts and 164 miscellaneous pages. The major drafts vary in completeness from the fir s t , 286 pages, to the fourth, 4o8 pages. The fir s t is lit t le more than a skeleton for several of the sections of the published volume and does not reflect an intent by the author to achieve a we 11-developed plot. It rather marks the beginning of a few plot threads, some of them p artially developed and others seemingly le ft unnoticed. The second draft greatly expands the story, adding crucial scenes that measurably advance the action in the direction of the completedbook. The third version refines the second and contains a plausible conclusion. The fourth polishes the third. The most radical changes between versions are additions to the plot rather than alterations in characters, although these do occur. The most important changes, I believe, appear in versions 2 and 3. From the second draft onward Algren's concept of the p lo t, although s t ill sketchy, remains the same in its broad outline. One of the most significant changes, however, occurs in the third draft with the explicit introduction of Frankie's drug addiction. The only major change in character is that of Dovie Breedlove, who in the third draft becomes Mol lie (Molly) Novotny, Frankie'smistress. The Illin o is Institute of Technology at Chicago also owns typescripts of the novel. Because of physical limitations and the Institute library policy, I cannot include a close analysis of them in this study. The library forbids an outsider's extensive use of the typescripts until an Institute student has studied them thoroughly. Although the library has owned the typescripts since at least 1955» no student has yet recognized their worth. Most of the typescripts, in fact, remain unsorted into drafts. The library, furthermore, is making them so inaccessible that even with Algren's permission it w ill not microfilm them. Nor will it trade a microfilm of its collection for a film of the Ohio State holdings, although the Institute collection is considerably smaller than Ohio State's. I have examined the Institute typescripts as carefully as possible, however, and in Appendix I describe them with accurate and pertinent detail to show how they complement my project, for they support rather than invalidate my conclusions. I hope that my genetic analysis of the typescripts and proof may provide information relevant and necessary to subsequent criticism of The Man with the Golden Arm„ Algren has received relatively little critical attention, although he portrays a representative slice of one authentic aspect of mid-twentieth century American life . Before proceeding with the analysis, however, I introduce Algren and The Man wi th the Go 1 den Arm and explain the mechanics of this project. Because Algren is a minor figure and because a reader's appreciation of The Man with the Golden Arm is heightened if he understands Algren's point of view, i. e ., his intention as a writer, his subject, and his style, I believe that such an introduction is necessary. It serves, furthermore, to re 1 ate The Man with the Go 1 den Arm to A1gren1s other works. An account of the history and sources next paves the way for the bulk of this project by showing that it is a we 11-researched novel based, in p art, on documentary evidence. I next briefly summarize some of the critical opinions that greeted The Man wi th the Golden Arm. not only to demonstrate the novel's popularity but also to illustrate that my genetic study, in orientation d iffe re n t from fchal; of any other appraisal of Algren, arrives at someof the same positive conclusions. The final section of the introduction furnishes the necessary apparatus to simplify and to clarify the discussion of this complex project. I ALGREN THE WRITER: HIS INTENTION, HIS SUBJECT, HIS STYLE Nelson Algren believes that the function of a w rite r is to accuse, "to play the wasp."' Since there is no purpose in w riting about people ^Robert A. Perlongo, "Interview with Nelson Algren," Chicago Review. XI (Autumn, 1957), 95. k who have everything—"'There's no story there . nothing happens so far as I'm concerned"1—2 the writer is traditionally on the side of the defendant. Present-day c ritic s , according to Algren, do not hold this view. '"There's a big boycott against the man who wears brown shoes after six in the evening. That's the way the New York c ritic s look at my w riting. They don't 1i ke i t.Algren contends, however, that in the final analysis an author writes only to please himself. "'Every serious writer is interested only in expressing himself. He doesn't really care what the reaction is.'"^ A true book is a writer's confessional. Algren does not hesitate, therefore, to confess a concern that he equates with Whitman's: "'I feel
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