Some people have a journey in life which he or she tends to follow. Some people in life have a search which he or she intends to find. Others have no search or particular journey in life, and just live through life. Binx Bolling, the main character in Walker Percy's novel, The Moviegoer, has a search he wants to find in life. In fact, the novel in whole, focuses on his intentions the most.
It is unknown what exactly Binx's search is, but one might conclude Binx's search to be a search for an important and specific meaning in life. Binx lives an ordinary life as an ordinary individual with a constant routine. Perhaps, he is searching for changes that will positively benefit him.
Although Binx never makes it quite clear what his search is, the Epilogue in the novel reveals clues. On page 237, he says: " For another thing, it is not open to me even to be edifying, since the time is later than his, much too late to edify or do much of anything except plant a foot in the right place as the opportunity presents itself-". It seems as if Binx made the decision to discontinue his search, maybe because his intentions changed. Binx possibly came to a realization that he was never actually himself, that he was always being the person everyone else expected him to be. That probably made him unhappy and he decided to go on a search in the first place.
After continuously searching, he may have stopped searching to find the realization that he simply needed to stop and focus more closely on himself. He appears to have the feeling of not needing to say anything about his search, maybe because what he was searching for the entire time, changed or was already there. Binx seems to be satisfied and content with his direction in life in the end of the novel. He accepts himself and is happy with his life, feeling no need to search any longer.
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I think it’s very interesting to find that you feel that Binx’s search ended because he found what he already had or what was already waiting for him. There are so many different interpretations of the ending and your interpretation is definitely interesting!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that Binx didn’t have a clue as to what the search was on a multitude of levels. How do you search for something when you don’t know what you’re looking for? Though I do find an engaging thought that Binx ended his search because he never actually knew himself – an idea I had never once considered. I really like this thought, mainly because it provides an entirely different thought process from the beginning to the end of the book! If he never knew himself during is search, he could have been searching for something that he never actually meant to find in the beginning.
Stemming from that thought, I do think that he finally turned his convex outlook and search inward at the end of the book when he decided to truly marry Kate. As mentioned in my blog, I do think that his Aunt is the biggest catalyst in this epiphany and pushes him through the door to the normal life as demonstrated by also going through with Medical School.
I really enjoyed reading your post. The thing I want to focus on the most is when you stated that “Binx made the decision to discontinue his search, maybe because his intentions changed. Binx possibly came to a realization that he was never actually himself, that he was always being the person everyone else expected him to be. That probably made him unhappy and he decided to go on a search in the first place.” This so true, Binx lived his life according to what others did. When he set out on his journey for a search, I really think he had no direction of where to begin, or even an idea of what he was looking for. Maybe he just hoped that anything would have stumbled upon him and made his life feel complete or given him the happiness he had longed for. Throughout the story, he referred to movies and various characters, as to explain or reflect upon something that was happening in reality. Maybe Binx couldn’t separate the fake from the real.
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