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Chapter 3, Section 5
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
Later that morning, back at the camp, the women talk in the kitchen while Roy and the children waterski on the bayou. Lonnie, still dressed in his Sunday suit, chats with Binx on the porch. Binx enjoys Lonnie’s plodding, laborious speech; every word seems to mean something, even “I love you.” Binx tries to discourage Lonnie from fasting during Lent. Lonnie explains that he’s fasting in order to overcome a habitual sin: he envies Duval for being dead. Binx understands—Lonnie believes that Duval gets to see God face to face, and Lonnie doesn’t. Even though Lonnie knows that Binx doesn’t really believe this, he’s delighted that Binx is willing to discuss such things on his terms. Binx encourages Lonnie to meditate on the Eucharist instead of fasting.
Binx enjoys talking with Lonnie because there’s no disparity between what Lonnie says and what he means; he’s truly at peace with his life, so his life’s meaning—living for God and eventually dying to be with God—is transparent, with no search required. In fact, Lonnie is so fervent in his goals that he envies his dead brother for already achieving it. Even though Binx doesn’t share Lonnie’s beliefs, he respects his brother’s sincerity.
Themes
When Binx visits on Sundays, he and Lonnie always have a religious talk, then take a ride together, and then Binx playfully boxes with Lonnie. When Binx kisses Lonnie goodbye, Lonnie tells him that he’s still offering his Communion for Binx’s soul. Binx tells Lonnie he loves him.
Binx’s shared rituals with Lonnie show that he’s capable of deep caring and even finding joy in “everydayness,” even if he doesn’t think of it that way. Lonnie prays that Binx will come to believe in God, too.
Themes
