A Multitude of Sins: Under the Radar - Character Development

Richard Ford's A Multitude of Sins is a collection of ten intimate short stories, each of which found me guilty upon turning each page, as if I were reading through diaries detailing first-party accounts of tumultuous relationships. The story that struck me was the unrelenting Under the Radar, where a young woman tells her husband of a recent affair with the host of the dinner party they are travelling to attend. Although the piece is just over ten pages long, it has the impact of three hundred, and led me to dislike both parties in the relationship without resorting to gimmicks or excessive violence.

Marjorie, the despicable wife, displays a great deal of complexity however banal she may be. Ford, after being prompted by an interviewer on which of the stories his readers would've liked him to expand, immediately brought up Under the Radar. We are treated to internal dialogue and given brief descriptions of Marjorie and her husband Steven, but character development becomes especially important given limited space. The protagonist is defined by her actions, and what they reveal about her personality. "She was fond of getting a little tipsy at parties and lowering her voice and sitting on a flowered ottoman or a burl table top with a glass of something and showing too much of her legs or inappropriate amounts of her small breasts." (143) We are made aware of her transgressions in public that foreshadow her affair with the elite Yale-graduate George Nicholson, and although she does little in the car, Ford hints at her promiscuity by describing prior actions. What she does do is force her husband, who after little deliberation strikes her in the nose, to check on a dying raccoon on the highway, before revving up the car and driving off into the distance, never acknowledging her fault in their conflict.

Our lovely protagonist Marjorie's dialogue shows her to be both conniving and obscene. She begins by apologizing, but this is negated by the inappropriate environment to do so. A year later, in a car, on the way to her ex-lover's party? After Steven breaks her nose with a brutal slap to the face, a poor response brought about by his shock at her revelation, Marjorie's true colours begin to show: "I was sorry when I told you... Though not very sorry... Only sorry because I had to tell you. And now that I've told you and you've hit me in the face and probably broken my nose, I'm not sorry about anything--except that. Though I'm sorry about being married to you, which I'll remedy as soon as I can." (150) Marjorie was looking for a way out of the marriage, and Steven was lured into giving her one. She is also highly abrasive, as indicated by her profanity-laden anti-redneck tirade: "So now, will you as a gesture of whatever good there is in you, get out and go over and do something to help that poor injured creature that those motherfucking rednecks maimed with their motherfucking pickup truck and then because they're pieces of shit and low forms of degraded humanity, laughed about?" (150-151) The entire story makes me wonder how destroyed the (by most accounts) docile Steven is after two years of being married to this wretch. With dialogue, Ford shows Marjorie's undesirable character traits that bring out the worst in her husband.

Getting married young, Ford must think, is an ill-conceived idea. "The women who knew Marjorie Reeves thought of her as a bimbo who would not stay married to sweet Steven Reeves for very long. His second wife would be the right wife for him. Marjorie was just a starter." (143) Other individuals' opinions on Marjorie show the relationship for what it is: a confused young man erring in his choice of partner. Perhaps they envisioned a less violent outcome, but the idea of her being a bimbo seems accurate. Steven also bases his decision upon few criteria before rushing to the altar: "He'd liked her bobbed hair, her fragile, wispy features, translucent skin and the slightly husky voice that made her seem more sophisticated than she was, but somehow convinced her she was too." (143) Ironically, the excerpt most telling about the protagonist's personality is that her own husband never focused on personality, but only on physical attributes.

Richard Ford "Dirty Realism"

"The dirty realists, a bunch of writers that burgeoned in the 70s and 80s, were concerned with the dispossessed, the other America, the people at the margins and the trailer parks. In the main, the tone was minimal; spare to the point of inarticulate." - Stuart Evers, The Guardian

As Ford grew into his own by writing a number of successful novels, he was nonetheless frustrated by his inability to write short stories. Then he became friends with famous dirty realists, and being around these writers (Ray Carver, Toby Wolff, and others) helped him figure out techniques to be stronger in this genre. Ford notes that being "pithy" is important. Get in, make your point, let it speak for itself, and get out. Although short stories rarely receive adequate recognition- as demonstrated in the case of Ann Beattie- they allowed him to refine some "dirty realist" techniques. Ford dismisses the term as a marketing ploy, but there are a number of examples in his short stories that do show the influence of his friends.

"A girl dressed in uniform exactly like Louise's waited on the opposite side of the street from where the man was loading cardboard boxes onto the minivan, and where two more cars were parked at the curb. She was in front of what had once been a house but was now a weed-encircled concrete slab with a relic chain-link fence across what would've been a back yard, where an old-fashioned mangle iron sat marooned on its side."- Leaving for Kenosha

To me, this passage stood out as not only the best depiction of life in post-Katrina New Orleans, but as a perfect example of dirty realism. The language may be of a slightly higher quality and contain a couple more adjectives than normal, but captures the essence of "the people at the margins" suggested by Evers. Ford refrains from sensationalizing, and realistically captures the setting and condition of Ginny's residence. The use of dirty realism makes for highly effective prose and adds dimension to Ford's work.

Richard Ford "Writing Life"

Ford is wise when discussing the writing life, and points out that although you may not get any smarter as you age, the result is a "brain full of stuff life has left with you." By drawing from these experiences, Ford believes you can write a successful piece by finding reality within your writing. An interesting segment of the interview has Levin mentioning the prevalence of car scenes in his work, as the self-deprecating Ford admits that he proposed to his wife in a 1962 Chrysler Windsor. A lesson can be taken from this, as Ford strives to create "plausible places for events to occur." Sometimes, Ford says, a writer can include dialogue that seems contrived, because he considers it okay to "continually put in things that don't make any sense."

In Writer's Craft, I've aimed to improve my writing without taking away some of my strengths, and I find Ford puts this struggle that young writers have quite nicely: "Don't short circuit a part of yourself." This quotation echoes similar remarks from visiting authors Michael Winter and Cathy Gildiner. Earlier this month, I wrote a draft of a tattoo piece that just didn't feel right, so I instinctively changed it and am pleased with the final product. Jonathan Franzen compiled a list of "Rules for Writing," one of which states, "Write in the third person unless a really distinctive first-person voice offers itself irrestisibly." Ford would likely concur with this rule, as he claims he had no difficulty in finding the voice of Frank Bascombe, which is evident given the trilogy he sculpted around this character. Finally, Ford points out the importance in "well-chosen language" to avoid becoming wordy, another common issue I've had with my writing.

Richard Ford "Politics"

Ford's recent article "Gov't on Our Minds" objectively points out American apathy towards midterm elections and how regardless of one's political stance, there is a need for "less government in daily lives." He even mentions Democrats' "tepid achievements." His writing is smart, witty, and provocative. Quite frankly, I wouldn't use any of those three adjectives to describe the usual political commentary, but I found Ford's mature viewpoints unique. After reading this, I expected him to elaborate further on these unique ideas in the Levin interview.

Don't get me wrong: I admire Ford's writing tremendously. However, that doesn't grant him permission to conduct snarky character attacks on George W. Bush or make a number of generalizations not up to par for someone of his intellect. I'm a centrist, and even if I were an avid Tea Party member or staunch liberal, I'd consider calling the president a "moron" childish. He states almost with certainty that the Republicans stole the election, and that Gore was "egregiously lax" by not calling for a recount. This comes off as nothing short of spiteful, and I find there are too many cynics these days who can rant about problems, but never raise solutions. I never supported Bush, but couldn't even fathom saying that he didn't offer prompt aid to the people of New Orleans because "African-American people weren't Republicans." A shout-out to Mr. Levin on this as well, as he leads Ford right into the answer with his nice little remark on "people you don't need to rescue." I understand his frustration directed towards the Bush administration, but constructive criticism would've been welcome.

Richard Ford "Post-Katrina New Orleans"

In "A City Beyond the Reach of Empathy," Richard Ford delves into a number of his thoughts concerning post-Katrina New Orleans. The experience of watching New Orleans evokes nostalgia, as he recalls a fight between his parents at Antoine's restaurant, a trip on the Algiers Ferry with his mother, and being mugged by a young man on Coliseum Street. Ford worries about the safety of the individuals he encountered in these situations- even the young man who pulled a silver pistol on he and his wife- in the wake of disaster. Perhaps Ford realizes the gravity of the situations best when he remarks: "Our inept attempts at words run only to lists, costs, to assessing blame." At times, it feels as if he considers New Orleans dead, reminiscing on traditions like the city's inimitable joy surrounding Mardi Gras. The overriding theme of the articles is uncertainty, and Ford wonders how the city will rise after Hurricane Katrina. "Today is a beginning," he points out rather optimistically, although to this day he condemns the lack of governmental support given to individuals hoping to return to their homes and begin anew.

His short fiction piece "Leaving for Kenosha" centres around the story of a thirteen-year old girl saying goodbye to her classmate, who just a week into the school year is moving to Wisconsin. More importantly, the story is set in New Orleans, two years after Katrina, where everyone is still impacted by the disaster. It reads quite similarly to acclaimed sportswriter S.L. Price's brief commentary (in a 1997 article on athlete Randy Moss) on how the town of Huntington, West Virginia was still coping after the 1970 plane crash that killed seventy-five players and coaches of the Marshall University football team. Everyone hurts long after impact. The scene of impoverished individuals scouring a Wal-Mart as Walter Hobbes guiltily searches for an appropriate greeting card is powerfully written, as is the description of he and Louise's eye-opening trip into the "demolished neighborhood" where Ginny resides. Two years later, and people continue to struggle. "Letter writers had predicted that everything would soon be restored and become even better. So far that hadn't happened." Ford's story offers a compelling perspective on the wreckage that was New Orleans years after the disaster.

Writers' Trust Fiction

Of the five excerpts, I was most impressed with Michael Winter's The Death of Donna Whalen. Part of my decision may be related to his fantastic appearance at last week's readings, which included him wearing a pair of ridiculous pink jeans, but ultimately, his unique style shone through. The poor grammar employed by the narrator adds a sense of authenticity, and immediately draws the reader in. Winter also does a fantastic job of adding suspense in only five hundred words. The plot revolves around an innocent man convicted of stabbing his girlfriend thirty-one times, and I find it extremely effective that we learn of Sheldon's alcoholism and an event that preceded the brutal murder. The ultimate test is whether the excerpt makes me want to go on an Indigo run to purchase the novel. In the case of Donna Whalen, it certainly does.

Room, which was awarded the prize just a few hours ago, earns an honourable mention. Emma Donoghue opts to take a humourous approach to her excerpt, which is understandable given the adorable five-year old narrator. "Was I minus numbers?" He asks when considering his age. Most people would cringe if faced with the task of writing through the perspective of a child, but Donoghue appears to have embraced it. The dialogue is realistic, and the descriptions echoed my thought process at a young age. I gain an understanding of the close relationship the boy and his mother have cultivated in the confines of a room, but am also aware of a dark undertone: "The air's always different if he came."