Finding the Center of the Earth: Satire, History, and Myth in Little Big Man

Abstract

M I C H A E L C L E A R Y Broward Community College Fort Lauderdale, Florida Finding the Center of the Earth: Satire, History, and Myth inLittleBigMan It is a Western to end all Westerns, with all the Western’s clichés neatly reversed into something quite new.1 It is, of course, a satire on Westerns, told with high humor.2 Berger has in some manner put together a variety of techniques and infused them with a spirit so that . .. it is a functional and successful piece of literature. It is one of the best of American Western novels.3 If Buster Keaton had been a novelist, he might have written Little Big Man.* This sampling of reactions to Thomas Berger’s Little Big Man indicates the variety of opinions regarding the nature and success of the novel. The one area of agreement is that it has a satiric core; beyond 1William James Smith, “In the Vein of Mark Twain,” rev. of Little Big Man, by Thomas Berger, Commonweal, 20 November 1964, pp. 294-96. 2Robert Edson Lee, From West to East: Studies in the Literature of the Ameri­ can West (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1966), p. 156. 3Delbert E. Wylder, “Thomas Berger’s Little Big Man as Literature,” in Litera­ ture of the American West, ed. J. Golden Taylor (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971), p. 74. 4Guy Davenport, “Tough Characters, Solid Novels,” rev. of Little Big Man, by Thomas Berger, National Review, 26 January 1965, p. 68. 196 Western American Literature that, criticism splinters off into theories which espouse romantic, mythic, tragic, parodic, historic, and absurdist interpretations. Such a range of responses implies a literary depth which is verified by close examination. While admitting the plausibility of the various interpretations, I will focus upon the satiric dimensions of the novel, examining Berger’s parody of Western conventions, and then discussing its non-Western satire. It is this latter area which carries Little Big Man beyond the level of mere parody. On one level it is a condemnation of the weaknesses of human nature; on another level, it is a serious indictment of American institu­ tions, culture, values, and even history itself. One of the subjects of debate for readers of Little Big Man is the novel’s interweaving of myth and history. These two elements are apparent in the titles of two essays which discuss the novel in detail: Leo E. Oliva’s “Thomas Berger’s Little Big Man as History” and Delbert E. Wylder’s “Thomas Berger’s Little Big Man as Literature.” These essays and others draw attention to two facts: first, that the novel is historically accurate, Berger having researched sixty or seventy western historical accounts before starting his book;5second, that the coincidences and exaggerations of the picaresque structure distract from the historical reality presented. Brian W. Dippie describes Berger’s unique coordina­ tion of the opposing elements of western fiction: In Little Big Man, Berger is faithful to both the West of history and the West of myth. Each contributes in its own way to the aura of plausibility that so enriches the basic tale. . . . The surface accuracy, the correctness of detail, the verisimilitude that he con­ veys derive from a book-learned, factual knowledge. But Little Big Man rests upon a foundation of myth.6 The opposing values of history and myth are bound together by Berger’s humorous narrative, which has fun with our historical and mythical expectations without denying the validity of either. As Jack Crabb, the one hundred and eleven year-old narrator explains, “I’m telling the truth here, and the truth is always made up of little particu­ lars which sound ridiculous when repeated.”7 Crabb’s narrative follows 5Max F. Schulz, Black Humor Fiction of the Sixties: A Pluralistic Definition of Man and His World (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1973), p. 74. 6Brian W. Dippie, “Jack Crabb and the Sole Survivors of Custer’s Last Stand,” Western American Literature, 4 (1969), 202. 7Thomas Berger, Little Big Man (1964; rpt. New York: Fawcett, n.d.), p. 245. All further references to this work appear in the text. Michael Cleary 197 the picaresque format which...