Thomas Ligotti`s ‘’The Clown Puppet’’, as an American Gothic work, does not
escape the fate of being exposed to the concept of abjection. The abjection in this story is established upon its definition and enhanced by its similarities to the way how main characters deal with abject objects in many popular American Gothic stories such as ‘’The Fall of the House of Usher’’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘’The Haunting of Hill House’’ by Shirley Jackson.
The concept of abjection takes a very significant place in the literature of American Gothic. This small word engorges in itself a vague meaning. According to ‘’ Abject and Grotesque’’ of Kelly Hurley who cites Kristeva in her essay for definitions, ‘’the abject is the place where meaning collapses’’ (Hurley 139). Furthermore, it ‘’disturbs identity, system, order and that does not respect borders, positions, rules’’ (Hurley 138). In other words, the abject can be interpreted as an object or an event that defies our normal sense -our accustomed conventions- and may appeal us to the feeling of disgust, of disturbance and of repulsion. However, the definition is still arguable and can be interpreted in many ways.
The abjection in Thomas Ligotti’s story is nevertheless described through, as suggested by the title, the clown puppet that loathes the narrator. As the light in medicine store where the narrator works turns into reddish-gold color and the atmosphere darkens, the narrator clearly knows that at whatever direction he will be looking to welcome the unwilling puppet, it will appear in the opposite side. Even though the narrator is mentally prepared for the apparition of the puppet, he ‘’always found it difficult to at first look directly at the face of the puppet’’ (Ligotti 57). The narrator cannot face the puppet because its facial expression is bland but at the same time evil. On that small face, the narrator encounters an inexplicable disturbance of expressions -’’a place where the meaning collapses’’ (Kelly 139)-. In addition, the narrator explains that ‘’the expressiveness of a puppet [...] resides in [its body [...] but] never in its face’’ (Ligotti 57). However, this clown puppet expresses ‘’ an unchanging expression of dreamy malignance, an utterly nonsensical expression of stupefied viciousness and cruelty’’ (Ligotti 57) through its blank looking eyes. This terrifies the narrator and makes him repulsed to the incomprehensible puppet, which becomes decidedly an abject figure for the narrator.
Furthermore, confronting to this abject puppet, the narrator ‘’avoided looking at its face and instead looked at its tiny feet which were covered by a pair of pale slippers’’ (Ligotti 57). The way how the narrator resolves the complication is to turn his sight away from the disturbing face. This resembles to the narrator in ‘’The Fall of the House of Usher’’ who also turns his look away from the abject mansion of Usher toward a tarn when he is confronted to the abject architecture of the mansion. Hence, this similitude between the reactions of these two narrators reinforced the fact that the clown puppet is abject. In addition, even though the narrator of ‘’The Clown Puppet’’ is repulsed by the puppet, he is nevertheless attracted to the bizarre behavior of the puppet, who gives him an illegible prescription and who ventures beyond the curtain without any intervention of the narrator who is fascinated by its unusual actions. In parallel, Eleanor in ‘’The Haunting of Hill House’’ experiences a similar event with the abject Hill House. She, who is first disgusted and frightened by the house, feels attracted by the house at the end. Hence, the similitude in the attraction of both main characters toward an incomprehensible object supports the consideration that the clown puppet is abject.
In brief, the clown puppet in ‘’The Clown Puppet’’ is abject according to the definition of abject and to the similitude in the way how characters deal with abjection in American Gothic literature.
WORKS CITED
Ligotti, Thomas. “The Clown Puppet.” Teatro Grottesco. London: Virgin Books Ltd, 2008. 53-64. Print.
Hurley, Kelly. "Abject and Grotesque.” Routledge Companion to the Gothic. Ed. Catherine Spooner and Emma McEvoy. Routledge, 2007. 137-46. Print
escape the fate of being exposed to the concept of abjection. The abjection in this story is established upon its definition and enhanced by its similarities to the way how main characters deal with abject objects in many popular American Gothic stories such as ‘’The Fall of the House of Usher’’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘’The Haunting of Hill House’’ by Shirley Jackson.
The concept of abjection takes a very significant place in the literature of American Gothic. This small word engorges in itself a vague meaning. According to ‘’ Abject and Grotesque’’ of Kelly Hurley who cites Kristeva in her essay for definitions, ‘’the abject is the place where meaning collapses’’ (Hurley 139). Furthermore, it ‘’disturbs identity, system, order and that does not respect borders, positions, rules’’ (Hurley 138). In other words, the abject can be interpreted as an object or an event that defies our normal sense -our accustomed conventions- and may appeal us to the feeling of disgust, of disturbance and of repulsion. However, the definition is still arguable and can be interpreted in many ways.
The abjection in Thomas Ligotti’s story is nevertheless described through, as suggested by the title, the clown puppet that loathes the narrator. As the light in medicine store where the narrator works turns into reddish-gold color and the atmosphere darkens, the narrator clearly knows that at whatever direction he will be looking to welcome the unwilling puppet, it will appear in the opposite side. Even though the narrator is mentally prepared for the apparition of the puppet, he ‘’always found it difficult to at first look directly at the face of the puppet’’ (Ligotti 57). The narrator cannot face the puppet because its facial expression is bland but at the same time evil. On that small face, the narrator encounters an inexplicable disturbance of expressions -’’a place where the meaning collapses’’ (Kelly 139)-. In addition, the narrator explains that ‘’the expressiveness of a puppet [...] resides in [its body [...] but] never in its face’’ (Ligotti 57). However, this clown puppet expresses ‘’ an unchanging expression of dreamy malignance, an utterly nonsensical expression of stupefied viciousness and cruelty’’ (Ligotti 57) through its blank looking eyes. This terrifies the narrator and makes him repulsed to the incomprehensible puppet, which becomes decidedly an abject figure for the narrator.
Furthermore, confronting to this abject puppet, the narrator ‘’avoided looking at its face and instead looked at its tiny feet which were covered by a pair of pale slippers’’ (Ligotti 57). The way how the narrator resolves the complication is to turn his sight away from the disturbing face. This resembles to the narrator in ‘’The Fall of the House of Usher’’ who also turns his look away from the abject mansion of Usher toward a tarn when he is confronted to the abject architecture of the mansion. Hence, this similitude between the reactions of these two narrators reinforced the fact that the clown puppet is abject. In addition, even though the narrator of ‘’The Clown Puppet’’ is repulsed by the puppet, he is nevertheless attracted to the bizarre behavior of the puppet, who gives him an illegible prescription and who ventures beyond the curtain without any intervention of the narrator who is fascinated by its unusual actions. In parallel, Eleanor in ‘’The Haunting of Hill House’’ experiences a similar event with the abject Hill House. She, who is first disgusted and frightened by the house, feels attracted by the house at the end. Hence, the similitude in the attraction of both main characters toward an incomprehensible object supports the consideration that the clown puppet is abject.
In brief, the clown puppet in ‘’The Clown Puppet’’ is abject according to the definition of abject and to the similitude in the way how characters deal with abjection in American Gothic literature.
WORKS CITED
Ligotti, Thomas. “The Clown Puppet.” Teatro Grottesco. London: Virgin Books Ltd, 2008. 53-64. Print.
Hurley, Kelly. "Abject and Grotesque.” Routledge Companion to the Gothic. Ed. Catherine Spooner and Emma McEvoy. Routledge, 2007. 137-46. Print