Christmas is Not What it Used to Be:
The Coming-of-Age Morality of White and Black in The Sunset Limited
The
Sunset Limited is a story about the discrepancy between what people want and
what they get. It follows the conversation between two men as they describe
their lives, experiences, and world views. First, White is a nihilistic and
suspicious scholar whose education has led him to be disillusioned with America’s
hypocritical values. The second man, Black, is a pious and poor working man
guided by Faith. This piece focuses solely on a single
conversation, and in it we learn much of the character’s
pasts and views. White has already
experienced his epiphany and Black is on his way to having his. It is interesting to note, too, that in both
cases education is at the root of disenchantment.
White
is an armchair professor who has spent his whole life learning, yet has nothing
of value to show for it. No friends, no family; White is utterly alone and in
despair. His lifetime of education has turned him into a dreary cynic with no
beliefs or passions. Though the reader does not witness White’s
disillusionment, it is clear from his dialogue that he has experienced a change
in his morality and beliefs. When Black asks him what he values, White responds
with: “Probably I don’t believe in a lot of things that I used to believe in”
(McCarthy 24). This statement reveals a change in character; the professor used
to have values which he no longer adheres to. “The things I believed in don’t
exist anymore. It’s foolish to pretend they do” (McCarthy 27). And education is
the root cause of White’s (albeit negative) coming-of-age: “”It’s what
education does. It makes things personal (26)… I’ve been driven to finally face
the truth. The more one knows the unhappy one is likely to be" (McCarthy 81).
The Sunset Limited chronicles White’s growing anger
at society and descent into despair. He wasn’t always the suicidal cynic
portrayed to the reader. But now he knows everything, and feels nothing. Whereas
White’s coming-of-age occurs before the action of the novel, it can be surmised
that Black’s epiphany will occur after the ending lines.
In the
beginning of the story, Black steadfastly preaches his Christian beliefs. It is
significant that the first personal story he discloses to White is his Calling:
“And I’m laying there and I hear this voice. Just as clear. Couldn’t have been
no clearer. And this voice says: If it was not for the grace of God you would
not be here” (McCarthy 49). Black is a religious man with true Christian
beliefs. At least at the start of the play he is. As his
conversation with the Professor advances, Black listens to profound scholarly
critiques of his religion and reality. He asks White to detail his beliefs on the
power of education, and his response inspires Black’s first waves of religious
doubt: “No… It’s the first thing in that book there. The Garden of Eden.
Knowledge as destructive to the spirit. Destructive to goodness… It gives
people the unhealthy illusion that they can outwit the devil” (McCarthy 111).
This scholarly critique plants the seed of disillusionment within Black’s moral
ground. He has now begun to grow into a
nihilistic, pessimistic stalk that is the modern man. His Faith has been poisoned
by the virulent, yet factual argument proposed by the Professor. After White
storms out of the tenement, Black collapses on the floor and expresses his religious
doubts as he pleads for God to give him a sign: “That’s all right. If you never
speak again you know I’ll keep your word. You know I will…. Is that okay? Is
that okay?” (McCarthy 143). Losing his
faith, Black is left in a silent room alone with his disillusionment. The
professor’s eloquent argument inspired an epiphany which will lead to Black’s
subsequent change.
The
Sunset Limited shows the effect and cause of disillusionment, and
consequent evolving world view of Black and White. The professor demonstrates a
character who is already embittered by society, and workingman represents a
character on his way to such disillusionment. Both experience jaunting life
experiences: White has lost his passion, and black has lost his Faith. Like J.
Alfred Prufrock, the men will be forced to bite of the manner with a smile, and
come to terms with their newly devolved sense of reality. But would it have
been worthwhile? Worthwhile for these men who now posses knowledge, but lack
conviction. The Sunset Limited is a play about what men want, and what they
get. They want truth (Truth?), and instead they receive disillusionment.
Famous Quotes Related to Disillusionment
"Wisdom comes by disillusionment"
George Santayana
"IT is only a step from boredom to disillusionment, which leads naturally to self-pity, which in turn ends in chaos."
Manly Hall
"Living in an age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned. The perfect life is spread before us ever day, but it changes and withers at a touch."
Joseph Priestley
"The longer you stay in one place, the greater your changes of disillusionment."
Art Spander
"The novel is born of disillusionment; the poem, of despair."
Jose Bergamin
"I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all."
J. D. Salinger (Holden Caulfield)