New Student Reading Project Fall 2011 Student Essay Winners

Raphael Luis Agundez Lauren Elizabeth Avery Catherine Ko Chen Edbert Yan Ho Cheng Emma Court Sarah Mattimore Fiskin Sara Kristine Gushgari Rachel V. Harmon Caroline Wiley Quaglieri Danielle J. Sochaczevski

Find pictures on the web of the day the police broke into the real Homer and Langley’s house on Fifth Avenue and the sequence of photos of the removal of its contents. Describe the crowd that we see in these photos. As an outsider looking in, consider how the house and the brothers were viewed by those New Yorkers at the time. Is this how Doctorow views Homer and Langley?

Catherine Ko Chen

Humanity Rediscovered

They were brothers transformed into objects; reduced to strategically placed emphases on negatively- connoted words; grotesque and shocking and revolting; street-corner gossip and head- shakes of disapproval; objects of ridicule and objects of shame. From an outside perspective, Homer and Langley were considered nothing but a ―mythic joke‖. Seen as a pair of inconsequential recluses swallowed up by the gruesome environment they themselves created, the brothers and their way of living were not only looked askance at in their time, but also stripped of all hints of humanity and immortalized in a comic legend. For was it possible that even those who lived like animals among such squalor could be truly human?

Doctorow answers this query as he gracefully delves into what others overlook. Outsiders regarded the Collyer brothers as no more than what they owned – a collection of ghoulishly cluttered, decaying debris – yet Doctorow weaves an empathetic image portraying the brothers as much more. In Doctorow‘s retelling, Homer and Langley are not seen as objects of a near-comic urban legend, but as subjects of surprisingly vivid lives.

What others conceive as piles of obsessively accumulated possessions takes on new meaning as Doctorow creates a 1 well-orchestrated historic macrocosm present in the Collyer brothers‘ home. And yet this retelling is also full of gentle ironies. Such a keenly insightful interpretation of 20th century American history is narrated by none other than a blind man, and though the Collyer brothers wanted nothing more than to keep the outside world at bay, worldly elements inevitably pass through their doors. Elements of the Spanish flu and World War I, the rise to prominence of jazz music, tea dances, a whirlwind of war bonds and Japanese internment brought with World War II, the prominence of gangsters and crime families, the revolution of color television brought by the Golden Age, the counterculture of the 1960s and the Vietnam War – are all witnessed by Homer and Langley. Not only are the Collyer brothers chroniclers of history, they are commentators of it as well.

Above all, Doctorow sees the Collyer brothers as simply human. Homer and Langley are portrayed as gruffly endearing; defiantly weathered, slightly cynical and too old and practiced in their tracks to stop or change for anyone. Though outsiders see Homer simply as an eccentric blind man, Doctorow depicts him as intuitive and thoughtful. While outsiders view Langley as deranged, Doctorow describes him as an intellectual, a questioner, a caretaker. Even more so, the brothers‘ humanity is evident through their emotions. Present in Doctorow‘s rendering of the Collyer brothers‘ story are clear displays of universal emotions; both brothers experience love, loss, confusion, fear, elation. Present is the heartwarming bond between brothers. Present are the ‗methods behind the madness‘; reasons why newspapers and pianos and typewriters were collected, reasons why the brothers became reclusive and withdrawn from society. Present is humanity, ethos, explanation.

Doctorow does not deny that the Collyer brothers are an oddity. But he does so sympathetically, forgivingly and acceptingly as they, like us, are human. Homer and Langley is nostalgic and haunting in faded black and sepia, an exploration of the strangeness and complexity of humanity and of 20th century American history. But above all, it is a resounding testament to a simple statement: ―And so do people pass out of one's life, and all you can remember of them is their humanity, a poor fitful thing of no dominion, like your own."

Catherine Chen is an enthusiast of literature, art, and coffee from San Jose, California. She is currently studying English and Economics in the College of Arts and Sciences. Catherine is also involved in a variety of activities on campus such as the Business

Department of the Cornell Daily Sun and the Editorial Team of the Cornell Business Review.

Illustrations:

―Crowd Watching Police Remove a Body From a House,‖ 1947. Photograph, Bettmann, New York City. Corbis Images

―Man Removing Steinway Piano from Collyer Home,‖ 1947. Photograph, Bettmann, New York City. Corbis Images < http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights- managed/U830632AACME/men-removing-steinway-piano-from-collyer- home?popup=1>

―Crowd Watches Search of Collyer Mansion,‖ 1947. Photograph. Bettmann, New York City. Corbis Images < http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights- managed/U829765ACME/crowd-watching-search-of-collyer-mansion?popup=1>

In enabling us to understand Homer, Doctorow explores his love of music. How does music define Homer’s character and connect him with others outside the house (for instance, Mary Elizabeth Riordan, Harold Robileaux)?

Sara Kristine Gushgari

More than Notes on a Staff

An observer listens to a composer perform a finely tuned sonata and, because of numerous social proverbs and clichés, he can comfortably remark that music is a window to the composer‘s soul. However, in Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow, music is a window to the outside world for Homer Collyer where he is uninhibited by the black solitude of his sightless consciousness. Homer not only uses music to define himself as a hopelessly romantic musician in search of a fulfilled life, but also uses music as his most operative means of connecting with other people.

Homer explores his identity through experiences and ideas which are tethered to music. When Homer describes V-J Day he says, ―The joy rising from the city filled the sky like a melodious wind, like a celestial oratorio‖ (100). In this passage, along with many other excerpts, the theme of music surfaces to bind Homer to pleasant moments and positive experiences. This is the foundation of the manner in which Homer displays truths about himself – he describes delightful people, experiences, and moments which make him feel a part of the world with music. When Mary Elizabeth Riordan makes a second appearance in Homer‘s life, he compares himself to ―Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame – this poor defective and how he…would ring the great cathedral bells in his anguished passion‖ (136). Homer identifies with Quasimodo on two accounts – his ―defectiveness‖ and his expression through music and sound. This self-imposed likeness to a physically flawed musician of sorts paints a vivid portrayal of how Homer views himself and how he believes others perceive him. Finally, Homer‘s musical skills provide a means of classification other than blindness (5). His musical talent helps him cope with his loss of sight not only because it allows him to be labeled as a musician, but because music is an unfaltering constant in his life. Even though he lost his sight, his mother and father, his way of life, and his brother‘s sanity, music and sound were always present as a means of expression, communication, identification, and exploration.

In addition to an identifier, music serves Homer as a vehicle that connects him to other people who drift through his life. The first time a great connection through music is made is when Homer falls in love with Mary Elizabeth Riordan; Homer says that ―she understood as I did that when you sat down and put your hands on the keys, it was not just a piano in front of you, it was a universe‖ (40). This connection with Mary Elizabeth through music proves to forge one of the strongest bonds Homer creates with someone from the outside world who comes to stay with Homer and Langley. It allows him to attach to her emotionally and personally, as he sees in her a part of himself – ―a parentless child trying to regain a belief in a reasonable world‖ (42). Conversely, Homer also discovers more about Lissy and the hippies through music when he declares, ―If

4 they attended that antiwar rally in the park it was because there was music there,‖ and he goes on to say that they are heedless itinerants (146). It is through the recurring theme of music that he determines these characteristics of the young bunch. By identifying their qualities and their own relationship with music, he also discovers disconnects between his generation and theirs – clearly marking the passing of time that sweeps away the outside world, leaving the Collyer residence untouched.

Throughout the expanse of Homer‘s depictions of his life, music is a relentlessly active theme. It is through music that the blind brother is able to fruitfully describe the events passed and, in the process, reveal more about himself than could be described directly. Homer‘s love of – and sensitivity to – music also allows him to have passionate relationships with others. This also allows him to explore the changing world through interpersonal experiences with people with whom he interacts. All of this, experienced through the joy of music, weaves the man he is and the life he lives in his entombed home on Fifth Avenue.

Sara Gushgari is a new transfer student in Cornell's College of Engineering, where she has junior status and majors in Civil Engineering. She is a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, and completed her first two years of undergraduate education at Arizona State University. After she obtains her bachelor's degree, she hopes to continue her education in biomedical engineering graduate studies.

Find a photo of the newspapers that filled the rooms of the real Collyer house. How does Doctorow interpret this image? Why does Langley’s “Theory of Replacements” (p. 48) cause him to collect all the daily papers?

Danielle Sochaczevski

Langley Collyer‘s Theory of Replacements is an attempt to salvage the Platonic Theory of Forms in the 20th century American age of materialism and individualism. The theory intimates that individual objects and occurrences are mere replacements, temporary, insignificant manifestations of quintessential Forms. For example, Homer explains, ―When Langley brings something into the house that has caught his fancy – a piano, a toaster, a Chinese bronze horse, a set of encyclopedias – that is just the beginning. Whatever it is, it will be acquired in several versions because until he loses his interest and goes on to something else he‘ll be looking for its ultimate expression‖ (Doctorow 37). Likewise, Langley‘s collection of daily newspapers is an attempt to reveal the ultimate expression of human experience. He is seeking the foundations of ―seminal human behavior‖, the architecture of life in what he refers to as ―God‘s inescapable world‖ (Doctorow 81). Doctorow draws a subtle metaphor between Langley‘s ―eternally up-to-date Platonic newspaper‖ and the Collyer house. As each formal category of Langley‘s ultimate newspaper - such as War, Disease, Technology, etc. - is bolstered by trivial stories from the dailies, every room of the house is filled with extraneous items. Each newspaper that is used to prove the shallowness of experience and the irrelevance of individuals ironically adds to the depth of material in the house. As it becomes increasingly clear to Langley, through his newspaper project, that human experience is rigid and limited, it becomes harder for him to move. He becomes reclusive in his shuttered and cluttered house which symbolizes a magnified version of God‘s inescapable world. Langley is so convinced of his Theory of Replacements that he admits that he and Homer are ―Sui Generis‖. ―Unless someone comes along as remarkably prophetic as we are I‘m obliged to ignore our existence.‖ (Doctorow 176) In

6 this way, Langley views himself as a modern-day ghost, moving fluidly around empty objects, content to be confined to his thoughts.

As easily as Langley dismisses the material, sensible world, his blind brother Homer trusts in it. ―I feel my typewriters, my table, my chair to have that assurance of a solid world, where things take up space, where there is not the endless emptiness of insubstantial thought that leads to nowhere but itself.‖ (Doctorow 207) When Homer becomes completely sightless and deaf he is left with an unremitting Cartesian consciousness which is aware only of itself. His mind is perfectly attuned to the realm of Forms and Ideas, however, he concentrates all of his efforts on staying connected to the world of sense experience. ―With only the touch of my brother‘s hand to know that I am not alone.‖ (p.208)

The final state of the decrepit house, as described in the last few pages of the novel and depicted in the image of the real Collyer house, symbolizes the unraveling of the Platonic/Langleyan Theory of Forms and Replacements. Langley‘s five cent newspaper for all-time would never be completed. In this American age, material objects have become unavoidable and invasive; The here-and-now is more urgent than the eternal; Ordinary people concern themselves with the physical replacements and the daily stories instead of seeking out ultimate Forms and the universal patterns of life.

Danielle Sochaczevski ’15 is from Montreal, Canada. She is in the College of Arts and Sciences and her dream is to write for National Geographic Magazine.

Illustration:

―Newspapers Piled High in a Room,‖ 1947. Bettmann, New York City. Corbis Images

Find and listen to the song “Me and My Shadow.” In their conversation when they are in jail for holding the tea dances, Homer asks Langley “Am I your shadow?” (p. 74). In what ways could this song be the theme song for Homer’s story of the brothers’ lives together?

Lauren Avery

Me and My Shadow

Sitting in the dank mustiness of the local ―Tombs‖ and listening to the screams and moans of the drunken ruffians in neighboring cells, it seems strange that Langley Collyer would begin to deliberate what makes the smooth blues, rhythmic dancing songs, and ―profound‖ lyrics of the time into music. He and Homer discuss one song in particular, ―Me and My Shadow,‖ a beautifully sorrowful song by ―Whispering‖ Jack Smith. However, amidst the noise and the must of the jail, the song carries great significance for the two brothers because it proclaims the steady decay of the brothers‘ lives, and their transition from the ―light‖ of interaction and society into the blackness of loneliness. ―Me and My Shadow‖ is a befitting theme song for Homer and Langley‘s lives because it illustrates the brothers‘ joint descent into darkness, both physically and mentally. This fall from grace leads to lives of isolation from the outside world and also fuels their growing dependence on each other.

―Whispering‖ Jack Smith‘s lyrics describe a world of both light and darkness; the light being filled with people and meaning, and the sole occupants of the dark being himself and his shadow. Loneliness is a pervasive idea throughout the song‘s lyrics, and the lives of Homer and Langley appear to be similarly devoid of the lightness of social interaction. In ―Me and My Shadow,‖ Smith says that ―shades of night are falling and I‘m lonely.‖ Smith also only notes that he ―[goes] out at night‖ and he repeats the phrase ―twelve o‘clock‖ several times to emphasize the darkness around him. For the Collyer brothers, this enduring loneliness appears in conjunction with the ever-growing darkness of their world and the gradual decay of their lives. These ―shades of night‖ manifest themselves in their lives both physically and mentally. For Homer, the blackness comes with his loss of sight and eventually hearing. The deterioration of his senses appear to sever his connections with the rest of the world until the conclusion of the novel, where he has only a table, a typewriter, and a chair to keep him anchored down in reality and out of the ―endless emptiness‖ he fears.

Langley Collyer‘s darkness comes physically from the blackness of the house and from his possessions, and also mentally from his loss of touch with reality. The countless piles of junk to be used in the future and his expanding piles of newspapers for a never- ending project illustrate the collapse of his grasp of time. With the mounds of items in the house that are often described as ―walls‖ and the severing of ties to the electric and gas companies, Langley, who only emerges from the house at nighttime, physically entraps himself within his gloom while shutting others out.

The brothers‘ descents into this darkness and reclusion from the outside world result in great loneliness, which is similar to Smith not having ―a soul to tell our troubles to.‖ As the brothers‘ Fifth Avenue mansion fills, the once steady stream of visitors entering the house trickles down until ―nobody‘s there.‖ At the beginning of the novel, the two brothers craved interaction from both friends and lovers, but just as ―sweethearts having fun‖ pass by Smith ―one by one,‖ even the brothers are never able to maintain a relationship with any of their female companions. Both brothers make many attempts to find love and fulfill their needs for interaction, but all are unsuccessful. For Homer, Jacqueline, Mary Riordan, and even Julia enter his life and exit just as easily. Langley‘s lovers, too, such as Lila van Dijk and Anna simply drift in and out of romance with Langley. By the end of the novel, the Collyers only have each other for solace. In this sense, the two brothers are indeed ―shadows‖ of each other, just as Smith‘s only companion is his shadow due to his transition into the ―night.‖ However, Smith‘s most positive interaction with his shadow occurs when he ―[goes] out at night,‖ and he even refers to the shadow as his ―pal‖ and says that they ―never fight‖ over women at this time. This brief glimpse of positivity can be applied to Homer and Langley because, while their darkness has pushed them into complete isolation, it has also led them to depend upon and appreciate each other much more.

In conclusion, ―Me and My Shadow‖ is an apt theme song for Homer and Langley‘s brotherhood because it portrays the brothers‘ transition from light and interaction to darkness and solitude, both physical and mental, while highlighting the brothers‘ greater dependence on each other because of it.

Lauren Avery is from Weston, MA and is currently a freshman at Cornell University in the College of Arts and Sciences, where she is an undecided major. She loves nearly all academic subjects and has a very wide range of interests, but is particularly interested in foreign languages and astronomical sciences. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys traveling, skiing, and trying new foods.

Me and My Shadow by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer

Shades of night are falling and I‘m lonely Standing on the corner all so blue Sweethearts having fun Pass me one by one

Guess I‘ll wind up like I always do With only

Me and my shadow Strolling down the avenue Me and my shadow Not a soul to tell our troubles to

And when it‘s twelve o‘clock We climb the stair We never knock For nobody‘s there Just me and my shadow All alone and all so blue

When the sun sets on the far horizon And the parlor lamps begin to glow Jim and Jack and John Put their slippers on They‘re all set but we‘re still on the go So lonely

Me and my shadow Strolling down the avenue Me and my shadow Not a soul to tell our troubles to

When I go out at night With my old pal We never fight about any gal Just me and my shadow All alone and all so blue

And when it‘s twelve o‘clock We climb the stair We never knock For nobody‘s there Just me and my shadow All alone and all so blue.

Illustration:

Vintage Sheet Music—Me and My Shadow—Famous Song. Finsbry's Photostream, Web, http://www.flickr.com/photos/picture-perfect-designs-jewelry/3321207410/

The real Collyers lost their telephone service in 1917, and then their electricity, water, and gas in 1928. In Doctorow’s novel, Homer describes his and Langley’s lives as a battle with “the Health and Fire Departments, the Bank, the utilities, and everyone else” (p. 175). What do the brothers do to enable themselves to survive without these necessities? Do you think individuals today could separate themselves entirely from the world around them?

Rachel Harmon

The Strength of No Illusions

When contesting Langley's possible death at war, Homer says: ―... it was innocents who died, not those born with the strength of no illusions (18).‖ While I am responsible for answering the question of what measures Homer and Langley took to enable themselves to survive without certain allowances, such as running water or electricity, it seems clear to me that, in order to thoroughly address that question, I must consider the question of why they took those measures. I look to Homer's initial estimation of Langley as one who is ―born with the strength of no illusions‖ to begin (18).

Upon first considering the Homer and Langley that are introduced towards the beginning of the book, they appear to be radically different than the brothers with whom the reader finishes the story. Homer is an accomplished and well-dressed fine arts musician, who fits well, as the talented ladies' man, into the privileged New York society in which his parents brought him up (5). Langley, on the other hand, is an educated and brilliant young man who is off to enlist in the war (16). It seemed quite a transformation, from these well-adjusted and reasonably social young men into the self- proclaimed ―principled separatists, recluses‖ who find themselves in the company of countercultural youngsters many decades later (141). It seemed a transformation that was more complex and meaningful than the transformation that occurs to anyone who undergoes the passage of time.

That is, until one considers the fundamental nature of Homer's judgement of Langley as one ―born with the strength of no illusions (18)‖. While the material, mental, and social circumstances of the Collyer brothers certainly undergo a number of radical transformations from the time that they begin to run the household until the end of the narrative, there is a quality that is fundamentally unchanged about them. That is Langley's inability and unwillingness to accept as truth the various illusions that were presented as social imperatives at this time. The ideas that Langley vigorously and thoroughly repudiated ranged from believing that war was a just or effective effort (13) to believing that television was a worthwhile and enlightening invention (108). To complement this was Homer's willingness to follow and earnestly consider the ideas of his brother and his seeming disinterest in following social norms, as exemplified by his relationship with Julia (30).

The Collyer brothers gradually developed into the notorious dissidents, with stories littered through the newspapers, as they found themselves increasingly opposed to a widely accepted set of values that required an ever expanding degree of compliance. This is why they found themselves trying to survive without basic necessities: because 11 they, as individuals who were fundamentally opposed to many of the policies propagated by this system and its benefactors, would not allow themselves to be dependent on or indebted to what they passionately believed to be an inherently faulty system.

When confronted with the demands that the system made in return for basic necessities, the Collyer brothers did not surrender to a life without water, electricity, or gas. Instead, they endeavored to provide themselves with those necessities, while also eliminating or severely minimizing their reliance on organizations and entities whose policies and procedures they considered, at base, to be immoral and corrupt. They did not wish to be unwilling participants in an unjust system, thereby condemning themselves of the crimes that Langley so perceptively identified and convicted the larger society of. To counter these demands, Langley grew familiar with laws that would make it difficult for these organizations to assure the fulfillment of their demands (171,180), Langley also derived an alternative source of lighting when their electricity was discontinued (195), and the brothers carried out an elaborate and arduous routine to bring water into the house when their water services were ended (197). Homer says of these endeavors, plainly revealing the ultimate aim: ―...the key thing here was our self-reliance (196).‖

The Collyer brothers were not completely separated from the world around them. In fact they were, by means of opposition, thoroughly intertwined with it. While there are not many who are willing to stand on their principles entirely, there are people today who, in small ways, live out the legacy of the Collyer brothers. There are those who refuse to purchase clothes that were created in sweatshops, those who refuse to consume goods that were not produced in fair trade areas, and those who refuse to purchase gasoline from irresponsible corporations. The Collyer brothers were not prototypical activists, they received none of the glory or accolades that some modern activists are afforded, but their life visions were remarkably similar. Homer offers his adroit interpretation of their lives: ―After all, we were living original self-directed lives unintimidated by convention. Could we not be a supreming of the line, a flowering of the family tree (177)?‖ I fail to disagree.

Rachel Harmon is studying Industrial Labor Relations. She is from Champaign, Illinois, but spent the past year working in the Mississippi Delta as a reading tutor. Rachel hopes to one day return to the Mississippi Delta to work in the field of educational reform and/or community development.

In Doctorow’s story, many characters from outside Homer and Langley’s home pass through their house and lives, including Mary Elizabeth Riordan, Vincent the gangster, the Hoshiyamas, Harold Robileaux, and Lissy the flower child, for example. What do the “outsiders” share with Langley and Homer? How do they connect the brothers with the world and the history around them?

Caroline Quaglieri

Living Amidst History

Imagine a museum. Impregnable glass separates hungry historians from the riches that time has left behind. Everyday objects now rusted and weathered are held in the highest of esteem. On display sits a cup someone used for drinking water, with its very own spotlight. And its very own pedestal. And its very own story. Now imagine that the placard that details this little cup‘s story, and every object‘s story, doesn‘t exist. What is left? A room filled with old junk. A room tended to by those few people who know every objects story as well as their own.

Homer and Langley live in such a museum. Thanks to their hermit like status, their knowledge of each object they collected was limited to what Langley‘s wild ravings concluded: a patchwork of paranoid thoughts and snippets from his daily newspapers. But these glimpses did not forge a very strong connection with the outside world. The few outsiders who were able to flit through the Collyer world were truly those who were capable of having the greatest impact. Their very presence in that Fifth Avenue brownstone supplied the brothers with a deep knowledge and understanding of some of our country‘s most interesting times. From Lissy the flower child to Harold Robileaux, from Vincent the gangster to the Japanese Hoshiyamas: the Collyers were drawn to those who lived on the fringes of society. Those people that society scorned for their quirks, their differences, and their ideas were the very people to whom Homer and Langley could relate. And those things and stories that the ―outsiders‖ left behind would become an integral part of the Collyer museum.

The outsiders reminded Homer and Langley of the wars, the castes, and the kinds that existed outside. They reminded them of why it may have been safer to stay inside their four walls; protected from the turmoil and strife of all wars. And ultimately, they reminded the brothers of what they were giving up by doing so: being a part of the vibrant history they merely observed. Harold‘s ability to be a successful, heroic, and patriotic African American in a country that was so unwelcoming was truly indicative of the strength of a race and an individual. His final Victory Record serves to remind this. Lissy‘s powerful feelings about love and freedom were revolutionary in their peacefulness, exemplified by her Buddhist novels and feet-washing bowls. The Hoshiyamas offered a different culture, one that was ancient and poised in its practices and culture, like their miniature figurines, even in the face of discrimination. Vincent and his cronies represented a change in the economic landscape of our nation, a vigilante type of financial and social dealings, which led him to use their kitchen table as a makeshift hospital bed after faking his own death. The period in which the Collyers lived, in a city and country that was a global landmark, was a time of change and 13 growth. The melting pot that our country is known as today was just beginning to be stirred. And it is people like Homer and Langley‘s houseguests who were the main ingredients.

The Collyer home, filled with rubbish, was in actuality a museum in desperate need of organization and records. A museum is of no use without the stories that connect each display to its history. Otherwise, all that is left is a heap of antiques. Each person that the brothers met helped give a story to the things they collected, as well as the brothers‘ lives. They helped bring life, color, and history to a home filled with people who had given up on living.

Caroline Quaglieri is a sophomore transfer studying Biology & Society and French in the College of Arts and Sciences. She hopes to become a genetic counselor. Caroline lives in Old Orchard Beach, Maine with her family.

Describe some of the women in Homer’s life, from Julia to Jacqueline Roux. Which of his female companions do you think, in the end, is most important to Homer? Why does he love her?

Edbert Cheng

Edbert Cheng is a freshman student at Cornell, currently seeking a Bachelor of Architecture. He enjoys writing, drawing, and traveling in his free time. Born in Hong Kong, China, he currently resides in Saint Louis, Missouri.

He chose not to have his essay published on line.

When Langley comes back from the war, Homer puts Langley’s Springfield rifle on the fireplace mantel, saying that this object represents “almost the first piece in the collection of artifacts from our American life” (p. 24). Find three or four other objects from the real Collyer’s house that symbolize their “American” life. What makes these objects “American”? What makes Homer and Langley an American novel?

Raphael Agundez

Amidst the labyrinths of towering newspapers, the rusting remains of an obsolete vehicle, and the rows of seemingly identical typewriters, one can find the aspiring warehouse where Homer and Langley abide. Dangling over the mantelpiece like ―Christmas stockings‖ lay the genesis of the Collyer‘s clutter, two rifles symbolic of their respective wars. By coinciding such iconic historic situations with the accumulation of clutter, Doctorow provides a means by which to critique contemporary situations in the distant past through the Collyer‘s confrontation with American consumerism. Thus, in Doctorow‘s Homer and Langley the title characters are employed not only as a means by which to portray separation from American life and society, but also the deconstruction of the American dream by means of its source—excess.

Perhaps the most iconic of the factual Collyer‘s excesses are the newspapers that seemed to consume their house like a plague. Indicative of American journalism, the prints portray the key moments of American experience around which the novel is anchored. Mimicking the themes of excess and clutter, the many newspapers with their daily events seem to transcend themselves as the many chapters of the Collyer‘s daily lives that form the narrative structure of the novel. However, Doctorow seems to critique the journalism as being the need of popular culture to consume information, whether true or false. Doctorow‘s artistic license in the lives of the Collyer brothers, which evoke truth, can therefore be seen as a counterweight to the false ―truth‖ of American journalism.

The author further provides a veiled critique on society‘s needs as consumers through the portrayal of the Model T within the confines of the house. One of the most distinguishable pieces discovered when the estate‘s contents were removed in 1947, the Model T is a piece of American iconography that represents both the American dream of abundance, as well as that of freedom of choice. Indicative of the pioneering efforts of the assembly line, the vehicle portrays the glorification of consumerism provided by mass production. Furthermore, with the arrival of the aforementioned car, consumers in rural areas were no longer confined by locality in their pursuit of goods. In an ironic twist of this consumer freedom, Doctorow portrays the Ford, as well as the excess of goods, as a means of constriction to the Colleyer brothers rather than liberty.

Along with the dream of abundance, American consumerism is further defined by the dream of novelty, in which ever-changing fashions broaden experience in purchasing skills and market awareness. The numerous collections of typewriters hoarded by the Collyers represents such surplus merchandise that become eventual relics of western consumer society. Essentially garbage, Doctorow exposes the 16 fruitlessness of Langley‘s struggle to buy the definitive model. Thus, through the continuous cycle of buying belated models while newer versions are produced, one‘s consumerism is rendered essentially obsolete.

Through the juxtaposition of a physical deformation versus a psychological one in the portrayal of the two brothers, Doctorow establishes an environment whereby American consumerism can be viewed objectively. Spanning the majority of the twentieth century, the brothers offer only their humble experiences with respect to the milestones of American history that surpasses them. What makes the novel ―American‖ is perhaps not the iconic events that take place, nor the brothers separation from the norms of society, but rather the fact that their consumerism, an ideal in the American dream, is what is the decisive factor in their separation from society.

When not preventing his dorm room from looking too similar to the Collyer residence, Raphael Agundez is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he is currently enjoying the change of pace and seasons offered at Cornell. Although undecided at the moment, he is exploring his interests in the fields of philosophy, history, and film.

Homer’s last words in the novel are “my brother” and his first are “I’m Homer, the blind brother.” In this novel, how is brotherhood defined? Is this a conventional or a unique definition of what it means to be brothers?

Sarah Fiskin

My Brother’s Keeper

Cain killed Abel. Langley killed Homer. It‘s not a popular view of brotherhood, but it is an old one. The relationship between Doctorow‘s strange, reclusive brothers seems heartwarming at first, the two of them banding together and protecting each other from an insensitive, broke, encroaching world. But in fact, their relationship is an ugly creature, born from insecurity, laziness, and a destructive co-dependence that is the cause of their eventual downfall. It is clear even from those first few words, ―I‘m Homer, the blind brother,‖ that Home doesn‘t exist on his own. He is incapable of defining himself for his readers except in relation to his brother. There is no denying that there is love between them, but the Collyer brothers abuse the traditional notion of brotherhood and turn it into a shield behind which they can avoid the harsh realities of life. Langley justifies his hoarding and reclusiveness as necessary to care for his brother and provide him with everything he needs, while Homer avoids confronting Langley‘s mental fragility by humoring him and deferring to is dismissal of everything outside their Fifth Avenue apartment in order to keep peace in the house. Not only that, because he is an invalid, Homer feels inferior around his brother and bows to him even in areas he should not. Their relationship is degenerative until finally, at their inevitable end, it is sad but not surprising that the death of one brother means the death of the other. They‘ve built up their façade of brotherhood so much that it becomes all they have and towards the end of their lives they have to cling to it even more as it slowly drowns them. When visitors such as Mary Elizabeth, Vincent, or Lissy come to the house, homer is usually the more willing to accept the newcomers, and Langley the more hesitant. But, in each situation when their delicately balanced situation is threatened, they band together even more closely. After Vincent, they came together in outrage. After Mary Elizabeth, they came together to share their grief. And after the hippies, they came together in the silence and denial that marked their relationship. Though Doctorow does not present a sweet, conventional view of brotherhood, it does have its moments when one cannot help but feel their love, like when Langley runs Homer‘s fingertips over the braille keys of his typewriter pulling him back from the abyss of his consciousness, his last tie to the world.

Sarah Fiskin is from Los Angeles, CA and since she is currently very undecided about a major, she is taking a wide array of classes that appeal to her including biology, several languages, psychology, and law.

Find images of the real Homer’s funeral, and describe the scene. Do you think Doctorow’s novel could be understood as a “real” memorial to Homer? How would Doctorow want Homer to be remembered?

Emma Court

The first photograph of Homer Collyer‘s funeral shows a typical burial scene: a grave- faced crowd dressed in black, a priest with Bible in hand, and an oak coffin with the obligatory flower arrangement (View of Mourners at Funeral for Homer Collyer). But the second photograph comes closer to capturing the true atmosphere at Homer Collyer‘s funeral. The so- called mourners gawp at the proceedings: some peer into the coffin, shocked, disgusted, one woman points, her neighbor‘s mouth is open wide, and two women smile and gossip behind their veils (View of Crowd Attending Funeral for Homer Collyer). This hardly funereal ambiance can perhaps be best explained by the crowd‘s composition: out of the 53 mourners, 17 were cousins, two were neighbors, three were detectives, and about 30 were reporters and photographers (Lidz 125-126). This was clearly an event that did less to commemorate Homer‘s death than to appease the curiosities of those with a macabre fascination about how he had lived.

Doctorow clearly wanted to go beyond the fracas and sensationalism surrounding the Collyer brothers, evident even at their funerals. He put aside the initial instinctive reactions of shock and horror, treating his subjects, but especially his narrator Homer, with a tenderness and sympathy not found anywhere else. This is reflected in his characterization of Homer, who is sensitive and insightful, and the reader‘s growing affection for him slowly expands to his brother Langley as well, whose eccentricities are harder to explain away.

Despite his blindness and increasing reclusion, Homer meets and interacts with an extraordinary amount of people, who he learns from and loves and sympathizes with. There was Mary Elizabeth Riordan, who ―was feeling her way through music as 19 through life, a parentless child trying to regain a belief in a reasonable world‖ (42); Harold Robileaux, who ―was young enough to believe that the world would be fair to him if he worked hard and did his best and played his heart out‖ (Doctorow 58); The Hoshiyamas, whose ―presence and unflagging industry gave me the illusion that my own days had some purpose‖ (Doctorow 83). And finally there was his brother Langley, whose ―eternally current dateless newspaper‖ (Doctorow 49) ―seemed to give him the mental boost he needed to keep going- working on something that had no end other than to systematize his grim view of life‖ (Doctorow 51). Doctorow‘s book shows that beneath the gross and the grotesque of the Collyers‘ lives, there is a raw, heart- breaking humanity.

Homer and Langley ultimately tells the story of a man who was slowly but surely paralyzed, both in body, in spirit, and eventually in memory, by his circumstances. Late in the book, Homer realizes that ―the stoning of our house by children, rather than being an episode incidental to our major concerns—our increasing isolation… and finding ourselves in a circle of animosity rippling outward from our neighbors to creditors, to the press, to the municipality, and, finally, to the future—for that was what these children were—rather than being of minor significance, well, that was the most devastating blow of all. For what could be more terrible than being turned into a mythic joke?‖ (Doctorow 200).

Doctorow is in many senses the Collyers‘ revisionist in shining armor, reclaiming their story from those who made a mockery even of Homer‘s funeral. This is not a thing that can be done through more standard memorial procedures, like a concrete statue or a cold stone building. Thus Doctorow‘s book checks the ringing despair inherent in Homer‘s question, ―How could we cope, once dead and gone, with no one available to reclaim our history?‖ (Doctorow 200). If only all obituaries were written in so gentle and loving a manner.

Works Cited: Doctorow, Edgar L. Homer & Langley. New York: Random House, 2010. Print.

Lidz, Franz. Ghosty Men: the Strange but True Story of the Collyer Brothers, New York's Greatest Hoarders. New York: Bloomsbury, 2003. Print.

Emma Rabin Court is from New York City, and she's studying Industrial and Labor Relations here at Cornell. A member of the Cornell Forensics Society and a writer for the Cornell Daily Sun, Emma plans to go into public policy or government when she graduates.

Illustrations:

―View of Crowd Attending Funeral for Homer Collyer.‖ 1947. Photograph. Bettmann, New York City. Corbis Images. Web. 17 Aug. 2011. .

―View of Mourners at Funeral for Homer Collyer.‖ 1947. Photograph. Bettmann, New York City. Corbis Images. Web. 17 Aug. 2011. .