I thought one of the best scenes in the book thus far was the enormously funny one where all the Ennett House patients are cheering on Gately as he is kicking the butts of the Nucks. He is throwing punches, kicking, kneeing these men (even through the pain of having been shot in the shoulder), in a total adrenaline rush, and everybody is crowded around watching. I loved the detail. Joelle was screaming something unintelligible from the window (that was not her room!), Ken Eredy was holding his keys in the air, Lentz was either hiding behind the car or Gately, and all the cars were idling in an awkward U turn in the street. I loved how once Gately started really hurting/maiming these guys, everybody else decided it was safe for them to join in. Bruce Green saved Gately by putting one guy in a headlock, Lentz pummeled the guy while Green was holding him, the girls starting stabbing one fallen dude with their stilletos, and Joelle shimmied down from the window (in her nightie) to join in and help Gately. It was such a ludicrous, delightful scene. Has anyone seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? I kind of pictured all of those odd patients in a frenzy when I was reading this. All of those colorful personalities working toward a common goal, each in their own way, it was amazing!
The Butt-Kicking
By Surgiomcsurgexc - Posted on 27 March 2007 - 7:36am.
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It's really funny you compared this scene to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, because whenever I read about the Ennet House, that's kind of what I picture. I haven't seen the movie, but the descriptions seem to be very similar to Kesey's descriptions (or at least, those that I can remember). I wonder if Wallace wrote some of his descriptions to mirror those in OFOTCN? It wouldn't surprise me . . .
Yeah, I must admit I have not read the book. However, the movie's images were very potent (and hopefully following what the author had in mind).
I really was reminded of the later scenes in A Clockwork Orange during some of the episodes at Ennett House. Very disturbing stuff. My dad wouldn't let me watch that movie for years even though it was his favorite. I brought it home during a college break and watched it with my then-boyfriend and my little sister flipped out, telling me we aren't allowed to watch that. Except I was 19.
Yeah, that scene was pretty awesome. It's interesting that Gately feels more alive and determined than he has has since his sobriety while he's kicking the shit out of some guy. When he's getting ready to go after the guys chasing Lenz, he feels "a glow of familiar warmth, a surge of almost sexual competence" (612). We know Gately's had a pretty violent past (perhaps quasi-addicted to violence), so it's interesting to see him realize that he's still very attached to his hyper-masculine fighting side. I don't think it mattered why he was fighting, he just jumped at the chance to feel alive again.
The comment you made about Gately's quasi-addiction to violence and attachment to hyper-masculine activity reminds me of Fight Club. There is no purpose to fighting, it's just an adrenaline rush and a way to let all the internal aggression out.