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| Stephen Raleigh Byler |
Intruders take many forms in Stephen Raleigh Byler's novel
Searching for Intruders. They are known and unknown, inside and outside, metaphorical and literal, small and big, perceived and real. They take the form of cockroaches, cancer, even change. Byler's main character, Wilson, responds to these intruders in different ways, sometimes shying away, sometimes responding, almost always with a tone of fear or frustration. Perhaps this is normal, as intruders may not always seem to be normal problems in our lives to deal with. In fact, it might seem that many Mennonite communities are especially sensitive to this. Historically, you could probably say that Mennonites have kept to themselves and formed tight communities, working at keeping out intrusion from government or persecutors.
The intrusion aspect of the novel caught my interest, but so did the fact that his book is a part of our session on Mennonite masculinity. I find it interesting that this book, written by a male author from a Mennonite background, is so different from the work we have read by women writers. It is much darker, and contains more episodes of violence, whether physical or emotional. This seems to conform to gender stereotypes pretty well, and makes me wonder if this is because Byler, as a man, actually experiences more violence or if it is just easier or even more acceptable for him to write about it.
I was also captivated by the intrusion aspect of Byler's novel. But I think my dislike of Wilson made me interpret the "intruder" part of the title as being Wilson himself. Over and over in the book, I got the impression (and sometimes Wilson voiced it himself) that Wilson is intruding in others' lives -- Melody's, Alethea's, his abusive father's.
ReplyDeleteEspecially in the moments where Wilson narrates his feelings during/after sex with lovers. First it's about the first time he and MElody have sex (pg 121 --..."which almost made me feel like i was violating her"), and then when he and Alethea have sex after the policeman comes (pg 214 "I felt like I was invading her, almost violating her").
And thinking this just makes me hate Wilson even more.
I like how you linked the theme of intrusion with Mennonite masculinity. I found some of the most shocking and violent parts of the book coincided, for me, with references to Mennonite culture: the shooting the heads in the Amish pasture, the tennis coach and team's verbal violence against women coupled with the boy's Mennonite last names - these produced a visceral reaction in me, something like horror. I felt like the narrator, by including these details, was intruding on and violating my own idea of what is sacred/wholesome. Like you said in class, "You don't mess with the Amish."
ReplyDeleteI still wonder what effect these details have on the book's non-Mennonite readers. I imagine it would be a more muted reaction, with less recognition (especially of ethnic surnames).....something on the scale of what I feel and recognize when I'm reading Jewish literature.
Sara, this is intriguing--especially the part about the narrator "intruding on and violating my own idea of what is sacred/wholesome." This connects with Sarah Rich's response, "Writing and Violence," to Julia Spicher Kasdorf's essay, "Writing Like a Mennonite." She quotes Kasdorf as saying “The one who disturbs a perceived truth is felt to be an agressor”(180).
ReplyDeleteGreat thought. I also did see more "violence" in this book as compared to the other books, short stories, or poems that we have read so far in class. It makes me think how the other books will appear to us when reading them and when we are done reading them.
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