'A Commentary on ‘Idols’ by Tim Gautreaux Essay\r'

'‘Idols’ is centered upon the supporter’s amoral attitude towards sprightliness, which in turn hits him to ingest l championliness as well as macrocosm un fitted to maintain the envisage of spirit in his expectant-grandfather’s augury. Gautreaux chooses Julian, the athletic supporter, to be an arrogant and envious temper to demonstrate the sorrowful lifestyle as a result of unreasonably wanting too a good address and the bet of being spiteful to others who are good- resulted. His confidence proves he is vitality in a hallucination because he totally feels superior as a result of his â€Å"good fortune” save he is non appreciative of this fortune because he thinks he will be with it forever †he inadequacys a sand of reality. Also, Julian’s self-superiority gives him inferior to others because he holds only a minimal amount of comity and appraise in himself. This is how Gautreaux explores the theme of worthiness in his story as he makes us enquire who is to decide somebody’s worth.\r\nGautreaux portrays Julian’s address to be a man of great arrogance. An exaggerated sense of self- sizeableness is suggested as the protagonist â€Å"considered himself at least wealthy in knowledge, to a greater extent so than the shopkeepers and record clerks he dealt with”. This notion proves to be far-fetched considering that Julian is merely a typewriter repairman of who has show upset competence in some(prenominal) other palm of go, including minor manse renovations. He seems almost in denial around his true self and does not want to admit into consciousness that he is parallel to any ordinary man. In addition, Julian is depict to be an envious mortal. Gautreaux communicates how his quality normally â€Å"disparaged mickle who owned large plates” yet stored the memory of his stem’s entrance hall deep in his heart. possibly Julian held feelings of jealously for individuals who had a great deal of m nonpareily because â€Å"the only extra m unmatchabley he’d ever had was a hundred buck win on a scratch-off ticket”.\r\nJulian’s entire plan to restore the entrance hall â€Å"the way it was” is a flaw. He wants to â€Å"hire gilded help” which leads him to having a cheaply construct menage †one gets what one pays for. As a result, his theater is unavailing to withstand bad weather as the toilet â€Å"had shattered and fallen away from the news report” and the light fixture â€Å"popped off in a shower of blue sparks”. This foreshadows Julian’s ignorance and partiality as the tin would not be able to look as glamorous and high-classed as it whitethorn have done in the past considering his lack of budget.\r\nJulian looks for a â€Å" creaky old railcarpenter horrific for work”. When he finds Obie, it is apparent that the broken- pile old man is actually Julian hi mself. He feels similar he would be â€Å"granting a upgrade” to the carpenter hardly in actual accompaniment Obie was better off not working for Julian hence when he departs without a word, Julian is the one calling and â€Å"begging” to speak to Obie. Obie is portrayed as a realist from these actions as he knows when it is necessary to make a motion on, however Julian is overly refer with reservation an visualise of himself to in time encounter that he is backing in his imagination.\r\nObie seems to be a world powerfully built man who throw out endure physical disorder actually well considering all the tattoo work â€Å"from his shoulders down to his waistband”. He does not cause any trouble in the mansion and shows respect towards his employer regular when treated poorly. For instance, when Obie asks Julian’s intuitive feeling on the railing just after Julian told him that he would only be willing to air out him to his doctor’s appointment â€Å"if [Obie paid] for the gas”. He is depicted to be a thoughtful person and merciful towards his married woman when she decides to â€Å"run him off”. His kind of constant analysis of why the marriage went wrong(p) and his questions to Julian if he has â€Å"ever been married” suggests that he is cease slightly thinking nearly her which shows a very wooly side of a seemingly severe man.\r\nThis is get along emphasized when he uses â€Å"a soft and rhythmic voice” while he recites a section of the bible on the phone. He excessively shows respect to his wife as he does act superior to her in their relationship but sooner allows her to â€Å"beat [him] with a broom”. This proves a sense of empathy indoors his personality as he allows her to verbalize her feelings in the way she wishes and does not hold it against her. Overall, Obie is depicted to be a strong built but softhearted man who tries to be realistic about his dec isions as he is backup for the future. Similarly, Chance Poxley is a realistic man however he inhabits to a greater extent for the moment as sees social functions come as they are.\r\nHe is very direct and does not allow for Julian to be condescending to him. He replies, â€Å"unless I confounded my guess, you can’t afford [Obie] anymore” to Julian when he is asked where the carpenter has gone to. This demonstrates he is not afraid to speak his mind to Julian. When Poxley first visits the mansion he observes the place and asks what Julian does for a living. With the answer, Poxley replies â€Å"for your sake, I hope typin’ comes back in style”, which suggests that Poxley is a man with a sense of bodily fluid but is also sensible in the root of what can be achieved. Julian, out of the three, is a man living in imagination. He everlasting(a)ly ignores sensibility and lets his desires fuck off over him. He does not pay direction to others around him , even when they are trying to admonish him of his own downfall. Julian’s character is convertible to that of protagonists in traditional Greek theatre: a flaw in the character that leads to his downfall.\r\nAt the extraction of the story, Julian confuses Chance Poxley’s sense of humor for brainlessness and â€Å"turned to walk out” because he had trivial sedulousness with uneducated people. This proves that Julian is too concerned with himself to try to associate himself with or understand others. Julian’s self-superiority is simply illustrated from this, which almost makes him seem like a laughingstock as he is living in a complete dream world. Also, when Julian attempts to fix the mansion but later watches it fail, it indicates that his ignorance leads him to diminution into some sort of psychosis †he seems to have a distorted perception of reality as he strives to convince himself and Obie that he’ll never leave the house â€Å"in a million years” even after a house-shaking crash.\r\nThe character’s finding to make a statement in life through with(predicate) ownership of the â€Å"the only grand thing in his family’s history” is reinforced as he yells into the receiver in response to the idea that it â€Å"might be time to sell out”. This reaction highlights his desperation to maintain his ancestor’s dilapidated mansion. Julian is also depicted to be a man in great denial. This is conveyed through the rejection of his fate possibly being to lose the house and that maybe he truly belongs in the â€Å" resinous apartment next to an iron foundry”. Although Julian recognizes his â€Å"good fortune”, he barely shows any appreciation for it but is more obsessed with having it repaired, maybe to make him feel immortallier.\r\nHe is an imprudent top dog to Obie throughout the entire time of which they knew each other, charging him for the car’s petrol and phone calls to his wife even when he is in true despair. Despite the dirty treatment, Obie stays on the phone with Julian in effort to make Julian come to his senses and realize that he can not live in the past any longer. Julian’s demarcation as a typewriter repairman echoes his desire to live in the past as it is apparent that he can not accept that times change. Also, the occurrence that he can bear to lose his wife to an impoverish job but is so desperate to keep the mansion proves his moral decline and his crosstie to secular needs rather than true values. Gautreaux incorporates Julian’s heartless actions to illustrate his selfishness and greedy temperament in order to emphasize his demise.\r\nThere is a fundamental theme between reality and conceive of that is depicted through what each main character aspires to: Obie aspires to reunite with his wife whereas Julian aspires to maintain his impersonate as the mansion’s homeowner. This signifies t hat Julian is contain in a materialistic world to make subject matter of his life however Obie is simply heart and soul with finding spiritual meaning †religion and love. Obie is a realist as he recognizes his obligation to proceed with life, he removes the tattoos to express his change in identity, but Julian is still lingering in the past with his ‘typewriters’ unable to accept the nature of the real world. In addition, he considers altering his surname from Smith to Godhigh, which illustrates the character’s reverie because he is not thinking about what is real but only what he wishes for.\r\nHe is not able to accept that time border on then, may not ever be able to develop into a more complete person. Julian tries to complete himself through ownership of the mansion but does not realize that what he in reality needs to do is accept what’s in front of him. Another theme present in the story is mercy. Julian is an imperious character throughou t the story and is condescending to his employee, Obie, thinking he has every right because he has more money. In return, his dream house is burnt to ashes. Although he does not believe in a god, perhaps this outcome was a sign to indicate that Julian has not been forgiven and therefore has not received mercy. However, Obie’s tolerance and patience to Julian’s imprudent treatment could be associated somehow to why he was forgiven by his wife and granted a new identity in life.\r\nGautreaux titles his short story ‘Idols’ to express the admiration within the two main characters. The word matinee idol denotes an image or representation of a god whom one reveres: both Julian and Obie revere something. Obie is covered in ‘fine-line tattoo work’ from his shoulders down to his waistband and his wife refers to these tattoos as idols. Perhaps she believes that the tattoos are of more importance to her husband than she is herself †that he worships them more. This is suggested as she tests his love for her by asking him to get rid of ‘all [his] idols’. In another sense, Obie’s tattoos could be his idols for he immovable to engrave them into his body, thinking they would be with him forever (similar to constantly feeling the presence of a higher power with you). The pain he endures to get inked suggests a train of great devotion.\r\nHowever, Obie’s devotion to his wife is undeniably greater than that of his idols because he removes them as she wishes. He states that when one gets ‘older and older’, you need ‘less and less’ which indicates his contentment for his marriage and thinks it is all he needs. Whilst Obie makes this remark, he is tone ‘out the door toward the big house’. The big house, on the other hand, is Julian’s object of worship. Looking out the door symbolizes looking past the surface to find a deeper meaning in something. ‘Deep in his heart’ Julian had stored the memory of the old mansion which proves that the house is what he greatly admires and is to an extent his representation of a god.\r\nIt is ‘the only grand thing’ and together with its Doric pillars, Julian somehow feels like a god living in it. Contradictory to Obie, Julian associates a god like figure †an idol †to his mansion, a materialistic want, which demonstrates the difference between values each character possesses. Obie seems to have found a new idol other than his tattoo whereas Julian, an old man who has experient all of life, is still caught up in physicalism and considers material possessions more important than spiritual values. This is further emphasized as Obie removes his idols with his own free will in order to â€Å"move on down the road” but Julian refuses to give up the mansion so looses it unwillingly from a push aside which suggests both of their fate.\r\n'