The reading for this week was Coetzee's Dusklands, of course I went in not really knowing what to expect and with only a vague idea that I would be dealing with some concepts of colonialism. When I finished the book I realized there were many things that troubled me, but one thing that really caught my eye was the juxtaposition between the reactions of the mind versus those of the body under some kind of intense pressure, or stress factor. This post is dedicated to this idea.
In J. M. Coetzee's novel Dusklands, a connection arises between the loss of control of the character's bodies and minds, and the world that affects them. Although the book is divided into two stories, both of the main characters, Eugene Dawn and Jacobus Coetzee, exhibit a struggle for power. The concept of colonialism is embodied both by means of individual struggles and through their fight to control their bodies and impulses. When their loss of control reaches a critical point, it becomes mirrored in the way that they are suddenly overtaken by illness.
For Eugene it is a mental illness which epitomizes his inability to deal with losing power in his life. Eugene means to be a conquering force both in his work place and at home but fails to have any real power over his superior, Coetzee, or his wife, and thus Eugene begins a battle over the control of his mind that threatens the control he exerts over his body. Eugene tells us from the beginning that he is “intense” but “only because (his) will is concentrated on subduing spasms in the various parts of (his) body.” (Dusklands, pg. 5) By this we are able to learn that Eugene prizes the ability to control his body and that he is terrified to lose that control. Similarly when he demonstrates his fear of losing control over the Vietnam Project to his superior, Coetzee, he comments on his inability to control the curling of his toes while trying helplessly to conceal it. Another instance in which this association occurs is when he mentions his wife, Eugene states: “I am also unable to rid myself of the habit of stroking my face. Charlotte disapproves of this tic, which she says betokens anxiety.” (Dusklands, pg. 5) As we move through the novel it becomes evident that Eugene is so concerned with keeping his poise that the concern becomes externalized in the form of tics. The spams that Eugene suffers to control, are not only signs of a growing anxiety that eventually drives him over the edge, they also reflect his worries over the loss of control over the creation of the Vietnam Project. Eugene believes that he is misunderstood by everyone; both his superiors who he believes do not understand his work, and by his wife who both does not approve of his work and fails to provide for him a physical and mental release for his stress. He states, “I am only finding a franker way to touch my own centers of power than through the unsatisfying genital connection.” (Dusklands, pg. 10) Although he fails to mention creativity directly, one can gather that his power is his creative genius, and that not being able to assert himself as man, to his wife, he means to prove he is indeed “the young-bull” (Dusklands, pg. 5) by means of his written work to everyone else. Still, Eugene fails to do either, allowing the situation to culminate in the stabbing of his son, where Eugene loses not only control of his body, but of his mind.
In the second part of the book, Jacobus Coetzee, attempts to appear as a grand explorer set out to conquer the wild Africa that is yet to tamed. He however, finds that taming the wild is much more difficult than he would have expected. Coetzee is unable to assert his dominance over the Namaqua, and his inability to control them as wild people, as untamed savages, is resounded in the way he suddenly falls ill and is unable to take care of himself and his expedition. The cause of his illness, while unknown, is hinted to stem from guilt and fright at the inability to maintain control over the chaos he has ensued. Before his sickness worsens, he maintains lucidity long enough to recognize that he “had fallen into the hands of callous thieves...whose hospitality I had only yesterday insulted” (Dusklands, pg. 76) When Coetzee perceives danger close by, he becomes increasingly ill. For example, after he and his men leave the Namaqua following an incident with the village people, he “(has) bad dreams” and wakes up “shivering and light-headed.” ( Dusklands, pg. 74) As the proximity of the village people increases so does too Coetzee's sickness. Upon noticing “dark little figures following” Coetzee evacuates his “bowels in a furious gush” ( Dusklands, pg. 74) an action that will become involuntary once Coetzee feels he has lost total control over his men and the situation. Unlike Eugene however, Coetzee is able to regain his consciousness safely without harming himself or anyone. However, this is not to say that Coetzee avoids any after effects of his illness. Upon recovering Coetzee discovers an “eruption...forming on (his) left buttock.” (Dusklands, pg. 82) This eruption symbolizes a sort of battle wound obtained in the fight against the Namaqua. However, said wound is meant to be unheroic, not a scar that will remind him of a valiant defeat, but rather something that made him the object of ridicule, and that brought him down from his power position of “tamer of the wild”( Dusklands, pg. 78) to simply a cowering incontinent animal.
