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Chapter 3, Section 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Moviegoer, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Value Systems
Women, Love, and Sex
Modern Life and the Search for Meaning
Loss, Suffering, and Death
Summary
Analysis
Binx finds his half-siblings eating crabs on the screened porch. The children call for their mother. Binx’s eldest brother, Lonnie, is overwhelmed with excitement. He is 14 but small for his age, the oldest since his brother Duval was drowned last summer. Lonnie is Binx’s favorite. He, too, is a moviegoer. Binx and Lonnie get along well because Lonnie knows that Binx will never feel sorry for him. Binx admires Lonnie’s devout acceptance of his sufferings (Lonnie believes that he can offer his pain as a sacrifice to Christ) and the overall serenity of his life.
Lonnie represents a different approach to life’s meaning—especially the meaning discovered through suffering—than other characters in the novel. Lonnie not only accepts but embraces his sufferings, finding purpose in them (offering them as a sacrifice for the benefit of other people’s souls). Though his suffering is arguably harder than other characters’, he also appears to be happier.
Themes
Binx’s mother comes out and kisses him hello. Binx sometimes shows a special affection for his mother, but at such times she tends to look away and draw attention to one of Binx’s younger siblings instead. Even though Binx has not visited for six months, his mother acts as though his sudden appearance unremarkable. Binx finds that his mother avoids anything unusual or mentally stimulating; she always regarded Binx’s interests as an eccentricity. Binx introduces Sharon, who is good-humored and immediately comfortable around the children.
Though Binx’s mother loves him, she’s uncomfortable showing emotion; in fact, she withdraws from strong expressions in every part of life and isn’t interested in challenging herself, unlike her son. Her reaction to Binx’s arrival shows that she accepts life as it is.
Themes
Binx enjoys visiting the Smiths at their fishing camp; their Biloxi house is too worn and dreary for him. After dinner, the children run around showing Binx their treasures and telling him about their adventures. Binx’s mother brings fresh crabs and beer for him and Sharon. Since Lonnie is disappointed about a trip to the movies that fell through, Binx offers to take him. Later, he asks his mother why Lonnie looks bad. She explains that Lonnie just recovered from a bad virus and even received the last rites; he wasn’t dying but believed it would strengthen him physically and spiritually. Sure enough, he got out of bed within half an hour.
Lonnie is well acquainted with suffering and is even matter-of-fact about it. His quick recovery after receiving the last rites suggests that this embrace of suffering makes him more resilient in the face of it, especially compared to characters like Binx and Kate, who struggle to come to terms with suffering and are more haunted by it as a result.
Themes
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When Binx’s mother talks about God, he thinks she speaks as if God is mainly a device for managing life’s shocks. He feels that her faith is more of a bargain she’s struck with life, blunting both the good and the bad as a result. Duval’s death only deepened this; she no longer aspires to anything, wanting life to be easy and ordinary. Darkly, Binx’s mother tells him that Lonnie, who’s already underweight, intends to fast during Lent.
Up to now, the main value system Binx has contended with is Aunt Emily’s stoic outlook on life. While visiting his family, he encounters Catholicism. Binx doesn’t take his mother’s faith very seriously, but his objections aren’t on theological grounds. Rather, she wields faith like a protective shield, sheltering herself from experiencing life directly.
Themes
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Binx and Sharon take Lonnie and two other Smith siblings, Thèrése and Mathilde, to see Fort Dobbs at a drive-in theater, which is nearly empty. Lonnie is happy and gives Binx a knowing glance during scenes that he knows they both enjoy. Sharon is happy because she thinks Binx is unselfish for bringing Lonnie to the movies. For his part, Binx is enjoying the “rotation”: an experience of something new that surpasses one’s expectations. It’s the difference between visiting a new place, on one hand, and getting lost and discovering a hidden valley en route, on the other. This is one of the finest “rotations” Binx has ever experienced. He, Lonnie, and Sharon overflow with shared, unspoken happiness.
Binx’s trip to the movies with Sharon and the Smiths is a good example of the role that movies play in his life. For Binx, it’s not just about watching the movie, but about the context surrounding it: Binx’s and Lonnie’s shared favorite scenes, Sharon’s attractive presence, the atmosphere of the empty theater, and the movie itself. All these things create an experience that goes beyond the story on screen.
Themes
