Don DeLillo takes every popular conspiracy theory surrounding JFK’s death and compiles it all into Libra. It is a chilling novel, showing how a few angry CIA agents managed to plan a major historical event due to their bitterness and even more chilling to think about how this possibly could have actually happened, with those actually responsible for JFK's death never being caught. Libra also takes a deep dive into Lee Harvey Oswald’s personal life. I always believed Oswald’s motivation for the assassination of the 35th American president was due to his communist views. However, reading through Libra makes me think that Oswald’s main goal was simply to get attention, which somehow is far worse than differing political ideology.
As we discussed in class, Oswald clearly wanted to go down as a major historical figure. He desperately wants to be different from the crowd. Sometimes when reading Libra, I felt like Oswald mainly became a communist so that he could stand out of the crowd. We see him praising communism to his fellow marines while stationed in Atsugi, and he quite literally acts like a redditor. He clearly thinks he knows better than everybody else, and always tries to insert some sort of “well actually” comment into his conservations. One theory I had for why Oswald would end up the way that he was because he did not grow up with a father. The lack of a parental figure during childhood might have driven Oswald to crave more attention then one normally would.
One might wonder how different would history have been if Oswald had received an amount of attention he thought was adequate enough. I personally think that JFK would not have been murdered, at least not by Oswald. Unfortunately though, he never did get enough attention and decided to change the course of history so that he could finally get some. What is ironic is how Lee Harvey Oswald spent his entire life trying to become the center of attention, and when he finally achieved that, he died just two days later.
Interesting post, Rohail! I like how you connect his constant desire for attention to his lack of a paternal figure in his early life. I think it really humanizes Lee, explaining the motives behind why someone would become a murderer. I think it really demonstrates that people aren't necessarily evil by nature but are influenced by aspects of their environment, which leads to those evil acts.
ReplyDeleteNice post! In retrospect, the redditor comparison is accurate. Lee believes he is superior to everyone and uses this to gain attention, but in truth, he is the one who is being played and manipulated. He attempts to be different in order to create controversy. However, when he finally becomes the center of attention, it is short-lived.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think DeLillo is tasked with the hard job of depicting an accurate version of Lee from the records. However, I think you do a good job summarizing how DeLillo portrays Lee in the sense that it almost seems like Lee isn't very smart but also smart at the same time. Overall, Great post!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Rohail! Great anology in drawing Oswald to the "Redditor" analogy - he has a large superior complex despite the novel centering around the manipulation of Lee.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of things that had to come together in order to create a scenario where Oswald shot Kennedy. One of those things is Oswald's attention-seeking behavior. Looking at all the things that needed to happen in order for Oswald to be in the right place at the right time, and with the right intent necessary to kill the president, it's astounding. It definitely feels like he did not act alone.
ReplyDeleteVery good post Rohail. Prior to reading Libra, I had heard the name Lee Harvey Oswald as the assassinator of JFK, but never knew his intentions behind it. After reading Libra, I became aware that he was an attention seeker, chasing validation his whole life, only to receive it and die a couple days later.
ReplyDeleteHi Rohail,
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think of the possibilities of history if Lee had murdered Walker and fled to Cuba rather than go after the president. I also think someone else would probably have killed him, but this is heavily molded by DeLillo's narrative of multiple shooters and a complex, evolving plot. Had you posed this question before reading Libra, I would have been inclined to say that Kennedy would not have been killed at all.
Good post Rohail, you did a great job of highlighting Lee's narcissistic tendencies. I agree with your point about his fatherless upbringing, which has an observable impact on his interactions with characters such as Alek, Ferrie, and de Mohrenschildt. Constant pursuit of validation makes Lee easily manipulable, and the desire for public attention may very well have been the critical factor in his decision to carry out the assassination.
ReplyDeleteGood post Rohail. In the end, regardless of how much Ferrie influenced and manipulated Oswald, it was his own narcissistic tendencies and desire to put his own name into history that led him to take the shot on president Kennedy. Without this necessity for validation, he might not have even gone to the USSR, chasing a country that would recognize him better.
ReplyDeleteThe balance of communism and need for attention in Lee's motivation might not be an either/or, in his case: his conception of Marxism centers around the idea that the force of "history" is what makes an individual life meaningful, by "merging with the struggle." So Lee's desire for (often negative) attention, in DeLillo's rendering, is closely connected to his desire to have some impact on history, or to push back against the dehumanizing effects of late capitalism, which render him and his mother "zeroes in the system."
ReplyDeleteI had never made the connection before, but he does act exactly like a Redditor would-- a trait that makes him quite dislikeable in my opinion! The last point you made also hits hard. He never gets to fully soak in all the attention he receives after the assassination. But maybe that is the punishment he deserves.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said in a previous comment, one of Lee's "paradoxical" aspects is his inability to gain historical significance despite that being his constant life's goal. Psychologically, there is undoubtedly a plethora of issues, and it makes you wonder about nature vs. nurture & what history would have been like if he had a father.
ReplyDeleteI had a really similar idea to the 'original redditor'. He really does seem like the type of guy that would revel in being 'quirky' and politically edgy. It's really crazy, though, how a somewhat nobody dude like that somehow found his way into crazier and crazier situations and then eventually in a situation where he could shoot the US president. I think after reading Libra, you get this new perspective of Lee Harvey Oswald that, even when you separate fact and fiction, both makes all the sense in the world and no sense at all.
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ReplyDeleteI find it interesting to think of Libra as the compilation of every JFK conspiracy theory. The novel also delves into Lee's personal life which does challenge the belief that his communist views drove his involvement in the assassination. Instead, Libra is suggesting that Oswald's main goal was to gain attention. And interestingly, Lee does kind of represent a redditor because of this desire to gain attention, and lack of father figure.
Nice job Rohail! This connection with Redditors is one that I never made, but it makes a lot of sense. Lee's selfish personality is what ultimately led him to shooting the President, no matter what strings were pulled for it to happen.
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