We see early on in Libra that Lee is incredibly interested in Communism. He devotes painstaking effort in reading Das Kaptial, The Communist Manifesto, going word by word, believing that "the tougher the book, the more firmly he fixed a distance between himself and others." And it does set a distance between him and everyone else - he's a Communist in a capitalist nation, and he acknowledges it. But he doesn't seem to fully understand what that entails.
Lee is young - a teenager, barely brushing his twenties as we follow his story - and still holds fantasies in which he joins a Communist pod and goes on missions leaping roof to roof like a spy in an action movie. It's not that we don't understand Lee's fantasies, but he seems to be overly immersed in him fantasies and expectations, not really seeing the world around him for what it is. Yes, Lee sees that he is a Communist among a bunch of anti-Communist capitalists, but he still brags and is visibly proud of his Communist beliefs without realizing the consequences. Rather, he does consider the consequences, but utterly romanticizes them. Jail? Great! I'll just be like Stalin and Lenin, thinking deep thoughts in my jail cell and having an old wise man teach me life lessons!
As a child, these fantasies are simply fantasies. The problem is once Lee has become a young man and is in the Marines. His ramblings about Communism may not be able to be written off as simply a child with a new hobby. His fantasies also have a possibility of becoming a reality. As a legal adult, he is capable of making his own decisions - like finding a Russian tutor and having her help him defect to the USSR. But he needs to get more information on the U-2 spy plane, which could land him in big trouble if he is caught. He's so blinded by his delusions and the promises of Communism which he read in Das Kapital and other texts that he's willing to take the risk he doesn't fully realize exists.
We know that Lee will eventually return from the USSR when his delusions are broken after being sent to work in a factory. But, I wonder to what extent he has woken up from his fantasies. Seeing the direction that DeLillo is going, the character Lee most likely ends up shooting JFK because he still holds on to some of those delusions. But what delusions does he still hold on to? What exactly broke through to reality, and how? Thoughts?
I think Lee's disillusionment with Russia is like that of any child growing up. Being such a loner as a chid, Lee matures more slowly--it's been proven that social interaction speeds development. If Lee invests his childhood hopes and dreams in the communist ideal and then finds out it isn't all he was promised, it's not hard to see how his inner child is terribly upset and rebels by attacking the capitalist figurehead, Kennedy.
ReplyDeleteCommunism offers an interesting alternative viewpoint—which Lee latches onto. When he becomes disillusioned with the fantasy of Stalinism, he loses interest with Russia, but we still know we defects to Russia.
ReplyDeleteAn idea can be a very powerful motivator. Once you have one, it is really hard to get rid of. It can even change your very own personality. It is sort of like a virus. It seems to me that Billy has caught this virus and it is effectively controlling him. He has become convinced that capitalism is bad, and that communism is the way to go. He believes that in order to escape capitalist America, and be accepted by Russia, he must do something extreme.
ReplyDeleteI feel like communism becomes attractive to Lee because of his negative circumstances when forming his personal philosophy in America. In addition, we see from a young age that Lee is very idealistic and he is determined to act upon those ideals (seen when he reads Das Kapital of all books with a reading disability). I don't really think Lee is depicted as that deluded but just disillusioned with America which clashes totally with his personality. Perhaps the Soviet Union gives him less disillusionment which is why he keeps those "delusions" until the JFK assassination.
ReplyDeleteI think when we take the Lee disillusionment narrative and pair it with Win's similar disillusionment, there are a striking amount of similarities. Both characters quickly become wary of the ideas they so vehemently supported (killing Castro for Win and Communism for Lee). We see Win's specifically turn into an obsession. I personally am curious to see how Lee reacts after defecting from Russia, and seeing how the two roads of vengeance culminate in JFK's death.
ReplyDeleteI think DiLillo is trying to set the stage up for a child who doesn't have a group he identifies with and is generally neglected so he deflects to the soviet union to find a community.
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