In the opening pages of the novel, Henry is gazing out his window, taking in the scene, feeling rather euphoric and “on top of the world” one might say, he sees what at first appears to be a shooting star. Upon further examination, he realizes it is a plane that is on fire. His first instinct is to want to do something, call for help, but he realizes that the fate of those on board will be sealed before any help can/will arrive. At that time, he begins to think about the dangers of flying, and how vulnerable we are while ascending into the sky with nothing separating us from almost certain death than “...a wall of thin steel and cheerful creaking plastic” (McEwan, 14). In this moment, he is briefly aware of his own mortality, though he is in no danger whatsoever. As Zoe Heller so eloquently writes of this account in her review, “In an instant, his illusion over intellectual mastery over his surroundings is shattered and the euphoric visions of civic cooperation are replaced by dreadful imaginings of panic and death.”
Later, and a more obvious example of Perowne’s lack of security is the moment when Baxter, a street thug whom he was in a minor car accident and had an altercation with earlier that day, enters his house with his wife at knife point. “When Rosalind warned of the knife, he [Henry] froze mid-step, in an unstable position.” This reaction is key, because he in this moment fears for his safety and the safety of his loved ones. While things end with Baxter being taken away by ambulance and the members of Perowne’s family get away virtually unscathed, Henry has still no doubt seen his life as he knew it change forever. Its one thing to be shaken by terror happening to others, quite another to have it happen in your own home. To help regain some of the control he lost, and to quell his empathetic nature, Henry decides to go and operate on Baxter after receiving a call from the hospital about him. I do believe this is as much a selfish as it is philanthropic act. It seems to be a great illustration of forgiveness, but Henry certainly has ulterior motives for performing the surgery. He wants control of his life, and this is a way of getting some of it back, and in a way, becoming a victor over Baxter, who victimized him and his family.
2 comments:
Celestine: Corkern I really like how you talked about Henry’s lack of security as a personal attribute. Describing in detail his longing for control presented a different perspective to me because I did not see it that way. When you mentioned “Baxter, a street thug whom he was in a minor car accident and had an altercation with earlier that day, enters his house with his wife at knifepoint,” you discuss how Henry finally fears for his safety and his families as well. Imagining Henry performing surgery is the image I think of here and envisioning the family of the patient in the waiting room worried and not sure what the outcome of the surgery is relates to Henry’s emotions right now, he is not certain what Baxter has plan and how this plan will affect his families future. I agree when you say that Henry performed the surgery for selfish reasons because he was now back in control in is own atmosphere and was delighted on the inside to put Baxter in the victim’s position. However, I think that the unselfish and professional side of Henry wanted to perform the surgery because it felt bad for using Baxter’s disease has a diversion to flee the accident earlier and to distract him from killing Rosalind. Finally in your first body paragraph where you use the quote by Zoe Heller I interpret all the details Ian McEwan put into his novel as showing Henry’s struggle with doing the right thing. Henry is aware that he is capable of saving his patients lives but at the end of the day can he save his and families at the same agility and confidence he uses when performing surgery? It is difficult for him in the beginning because he knows death is unavoidable but in the end his swift thinking and longings for control helps him to save his family.
It is interesting that, until 9/11 and the attacks in England, successful Americans and British never questioned that they were doing the right thing. As rulers of empires (although Britain's has now shrunk) both countries imbued in their successful citizens a sense of entitlement that included the idea that they would never do the wrong thing. Has that changed?
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