I found myself almost laughing at the irony of James’ characterization of John Marcher as an entirely unselfish character amongst a world of greed. James introduces the character of John Marcher as a man haunted by the anticipation of “something” happening to him. He does keep this so-called secret to himself and in this secrecy decides that “this was why he had such good—though possibly such rather colourless—manners; this was why, above all, he could regard himself, in a greedy world, as decently—as in fact perhaps even a little sublimely—unselfish (pg).” Throughout the story it becomes increasingly clearer to the reader that he is in fact entirely selfish in his life by using May Bartram as simply a means to his own motivations. It becomes incredibly clear once May becomes sick and Marcher’s immediate reaction is “it showed him that what was still first in his mind was the loss she herself might suffer. “What if she should have to die before knowing, before seeing—?”” In this moment, Marcher reveals the hand he always held that he believed May existed solely in pursuit of his anticipation rather than existing for her own life.
From reading the Chesnutt stories and discussing the presence of satire in some stories, I had a hard time deciding whether I thought his characterization existed as a satirical comment on people who self-declare as “unselfish” being the most selfish or whether it was truly believed. I think you could argue both sides, perhaps he is being unselfish by only subjecting May to his obsession, but I think the description appears as irony.
This is a really good point. It is interesting how similar this irony is to that in Daisy Miller. Winterbourne considers himself as unselfish, worried about Daisy for her own sake, but it becomes clear that he is only looking for personal gain, as he finds it acceptable for her to be alone with him at night, but considers it a scandal when she does the same with Mr. Giovanelli. Likewise, Marcher considers himself unselfish, worrying about how she will never get to see him be attacked by the “beast”, when it is clear to the reader that he never took any interest in her life other than ensuring she was watching him. The selfishness of James’ male protagonists is something they themselves are not conscious of, making an ironic point about the self absorption of these young men.
Hi Eliza! I agree, I also found the characterization of Marcher to be quite interesting, especially when it came to his selfishness. I was particularly aware of this in his last few conversations with May in which he barely acknowledges the pain and suffering she’s going through in favor of berating her and insisting she tell him more about his own fate that he can’t figure out himself. As you say, his only thought to her suffering is his worry that she will miss out on his suffering and ordeal that she has spent essentially her whole life waiting to see. From the way I read the story, it seemed as though James purposefully exaggerated this aspect of his personality in order to effectively drive home the fact that Marcher couldn’t get out of his own way throughout the story and truly did not appreciate May until after her death.
I think that a lot of the ways that John Marcher is being seen as selfish, relates a lot to the values/social norms of the 19th century. A lot of it comes from the ideas that women should be subjecting to men, so John was acting in the way where he believed May was supposed to “belong” to him and he was supposed to have a certain amount of power over her. The point that you made saying, “in this moment, Marcher reveals the hand he always held that he believed May existed solely in pursuit of his anticipation rather than existing for her own life,” I think reflects the ways that he entirely believes that Mary should be there to be his “sidekick” for lack of a better term. He seems to think very highly of himself as seen in the quote that you chose“this was why, above all, he could regard himself, in a greedy world, as decently—as in fact perhaps even a little sublimely—unselfish.” He also describes himself as a “little sublimely”, and the work sublimely means: “to a very high degree or standard that you admire very much,” representing somewhat of a superiority complex that makes me think that he thinks May should be admiring him and since he is a “very high degree”, she should want to be his. I’m definitely not saying that he isn’t a selfish character, but this was another view I had on it.