Not Wanted On the Voyage Synthesis Assignment
Summary
“When Men Wanted to be Virile” by Joshua Rothman is a deconstruction of the word “Virile” and how the meaning of the word has changed throughout history. He begins the article by pointing out that the word “Virility” has been displaced by “masculinity” and “manliness”, and how the original meaning of virility has been lost. He then takes a look back in history to the times of the Ancient Greeks, who developed the concept of “virilitas”, and how it became the centre of male identity. Originally, the virile man was not just assertive, powerfully built and procreative, but also emotionally and intellectually level-headed, maintaining self assurance, maturity, and courage. He continues by saying that, manliness and virility were separate ways of being. To just be manly is not enough. It is too unpredictable and even worse, unearned, since men are born masculine, they must achieve virility through struggle and competition. In today’s society, we see the word “virility” as misogynistic, since historically it was tied to the idea of male superiority. The author relates to Maurice Sartre to explain why this happened. According to Sartre, it is much easier to have denigrating views towards women than to develop a model of virility based on positive masculine views. He ends his piece by exclaiming how it can be dangerous to just have the one word, masculinity, to describe male identity. He also believes that there are aspects of virility, which are appealing and gender-neutral. He hopes virility can cut itself loose from the misogynistic views behind the word and become a post-gender ethic of controlled engagement, disciplined vigour, deliberate strength, and circumspect outrage.
Feature Article Quotations
• “watching the film “Gladiator,” for example, we readily recognize that Russell Crowe’s quiet, temperate, and deadly Maximus represents the virile ideal, whereas Joaquin Phoenix’s Emperor Commodus is too undisciplined to have true virilitas. Commodus is strong, sexy, intelligent, and undeniably masculine—and yet his passions control him and lead him in idiosyncratic and undesirable directions.”
o When reading this, it is easy to find a similarity between Commodus and Dr. Noyes. Both characters at a high position of power. Yet both men do not know how to control their emotions and passions to create a greater good for the people. In the case of Commodus, he is driven by his passion to become king and becomes obsessed with control. The same thing can be said about Dr. Noyes and his passion for religion. Both men represent the dangers of manliness without virility.
• “only in the past century has the word “virility” been displaced by the more anodyne “masculinity” and “manliness.” This has left us with a tautology, since we must now describe male identity as “masculine”.”
o I thought this quotation was very important because there are some characters in the book which are characteristically masculine such as Dr. Noyes and Japeth, yet we don’t see them as good people. They don’t have good morals or ethics. We see their masculinity in ways of power and aggressiveness. And I feel like this is how today’s society views masculinity. But there are also other characteristics of masculinity in which characters take advantage of, and are more useful. Such as Hannah who uses her intellectual abilities in order to gain power. It may seem like not wanted on the voyage pits feminine against masculine values, yet in fact it’s critiquing the fixed idea of masculine and feminine characteristics. There are men and women who objectify the other and their roles. And this interaction of masculinity and femininity is what allows for some characters to become virile.
• “Could virility cut itself loose from masculinity, leaving behind its misogynistic baggage to become a post-gender ethic of disciplined vigor, controlled engagement, deliberate strength, and circumspect courage”
o Historically virility was only to be applied to males, but the original meaning is so constructive that if renamed and restructured from the current misogynistic views behind the word it can be very helpful to the human race. In Not Wanted on the Voyage this non-masculine virility can already be seen through Mrs. Noyes and her actions and progress through the novel. Many times in the novel we can see Mrs. Noyes putting herself at risk for the good of others. This takes tremendous courage and she is one of the few characters who is able to step up when it is necessary.
Novel Quotations
• “This sort of rage – more of a performance than reality – was necessary to keep Mrs.Noyes in her place” (12)
o This ‘bonus info’ Findley gives, allows the reader to have an insight into Doctor Noyes’ personality. Through this quotation it is easy to see that Dr. Noyes is cold hearted in nature and holds males at a higher position than females. Dr.Noyes did not have to throw a fit of rage towards his wife, but he did so deliberately to try and intimidate Mrs. Noyes. Dr. Noyes’ overly aggressiveness and need for control is actively holding him back from reaching virility because it is an ethic of moderation, in which strong or ‘vigorous’ powers are kept reined in, which Dr. Noyes has great trouble doing.
• “four and four make eight.”
o This quotation is said by Dr.Noyes at the dinner table when he along with Shem, Hannah and Japeth sat at one side of the table, and Mrs.Noyes, Lucy, Ham and Emma on the other side. Now Dr.Noyes did not say this just to state a mathematical fact. He was drawing a line between them. Dr.Noyes separated these people from what he saw as masculine on his side, and the more feminine or different people on the other. So by doing this Dr.Noyes is again trying to create a patriarchal system, which elevates what are considered “Masculine” strengths, and excluding anything considered “feminine.” They therefore have very limited opportunity to gain sources of knowledge since they reduce reason to a hyper-rationality that ignores experience and feeling. Also each individual on Dr. Noyes’ side of the table rely on one aspect of masculinity in order to maintain their power. For example, Hannah relies on her intellectual abilities, Dr. Noyes uses aggressiveness and intimidation to keep his power, and Shem and Japeth mimic Dr. Noyes’ tactics of gaining power.
• “Mrs. Noyes gave birth to a dozen dead children” (340)
o This was said by Dr. Noyes to Hannah when they were discussing the stillbirth of their child. This is another important quotation because when the child is born and it is discovered that it is another ‘ape’ baby Hannah screams since it was below her standards. If not a stillborn child, she would have preferred a ‘normal’ child since it would give her more privileges. After giving birth Hannah does not convert her to Mrs. Noyes’, Lucy’s, Emma’s, and Ham’s acceptance of children like Lotte and Adam. This proves that this motherly love and nurturing trait is not inherent to biology and more of a result of an individual’s personality and experiences.