"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Response to “Emergency” by Dennis Johnson

Wow. A beautiful example of not trying to hard but having language that portrays so much. From the very beginning it is obvious the characters are not in their right state of mind but it’s not just another “drug trip” or “drunk night” kind of story. Johnson uses the pills that, “taste like urine” to define his characters in a way that giving detailed descriptions would fail.

The fact that they work in a hospital, assumedly steal drugs, and also assumedly the entire staff of the hospital knows tells so much of exactly who the two are. They are either respected or ignored, but the importance lies in the fact that they are there in spite of the feelings others have about them. Johnson also avoids the stereotypical “General Hospital” or “Grey’s Anatomy” feeling by allowing the hospital to be a setting and nothing more. It is a job. There are benefits (such as the stolen drugs) and pitfalls (such as having to sleep on a gurney in the nurses station).

When the two protagonists leave after taking the knife out of the married man’s cheating eye they go on quite a journey. Where they both feel called to go tells us so much about them. Johnson doesn’t have to say one is called to religion, possibly alluding to a lifetime in the church while the other craves a carnival possibly alluding to a ‘Peter Pan never wanna grow up’ mentality. We get this information but he shows us without telling us. The mark of true art and a true author.

The rabbits and the hitchhiker also elaborate on the characters. The fact they would go back for the road kill and gut it on the side of the road shows they are either insane and drugged, resourceful and hunters, or a strange combination of the two. The fact the babies are squished shows good intentions murdered by laziness and apathy. The hitchhiker shows juxtaposes a similar question; are they just to drugged up to realize the dangers of driving a hitchhiker or are they kind souls who truly want to help humanity? As Georgie says at the end, his job is saving lives.

Johnson is a master of developing characters through setting, a skill which I hope emulate.

Read his story here:

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1991/09/16/1991_09_16_031_TNY_CARDS_000358114

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