Ting-Che Lin

Contagion
Spring 2014

Contagion: Revealer of Personality and Creator of Nemesis

The voice emerging from his precisely delineated face was, unexpectedly, rather high
pitched (12)

This ironic, almost comical, representation of Buckys appearance resonates with the rest of
novel on Buckys portrayal. One notorious example is shown at the very end of novel where
Buckys strength in throwing the javelin is admired. While the passage alone might seem as a
praise, or even an immortalization of Buckys grace, the combination of the passage with the
statement at the very start of the play, his height, combined with his poor vision, had prevented
him from playing college level [sports] and restricted his intercollegiate sports activity to
throwing the javelin (11), makes the end of play quite ironic. He is being admired for sports that
he is restricted from doing. The ironic representation of Bucky is further shown from the very
first introduction of Bucky, Bucky Cantor, was one of the few young men around who wasnt
off fighting in the war because of his eyesight and height. Despite his apparent strength and
muscularity, he is ironically rejected from the army due to his genetic inheritance: short height
and naturally bad eyesight. This irony reveals the conflict between the ideal that Bucky strives
for and what he is.

This conflict between Buckys ideal and what he is, is mostly reflected from Buckys father and
grandfather. Bucky inherits from his father, who is badly received and a thief, the genetics that
makes up who he is, that is his naturally short height, high pitched voice, and bad eyesight. In
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fact, his natural inheritance is even shown to be comical, evident from his unnaturally pointy ear.
His inheritance is shown to be opposite of the usual ideal of manliness, that is tall, low pitched
voice, and perfect eyesight. However, his grandfather, who is the embodiment of manliness,
tries to raise him in contrast of his nature, the grandfather saw to the boys masculine
development, always on the alert to eradicate any weakness that might have been
bequeathed .. by his natural father. The conflict between nature and ideal is exemplified by the
rat incident. In this incident, Bucky goes against his natural impulse which of course [is] to run
and kills the rat. This incident can be seen as a male rite of passage in which Bucky is required
to kill a living creature and receives a new name, Bucky, which connotes obstinacy and gutsy,
spirited ,strong-willed fortitude. Through this initiation ritual, Bucky officially becomes a man and
takes on his grandfathers teaching wholeheartedly, that is strength and sense of responsibility.
However, despite the completion of the ritual, Buckys natural characteristics, such as short
height and bad eyesight, remain, giving him this ironic and almost comical appearance.

This conflict between his grandfathers teaching and his natural instinct creates a paradox within
Bucky, which is exacerbated in face of contagion, polio. During the polio epidemic and before
contracting polio, Bucky has to make several decisions which challenge his paradoxical
personality. Sometimes his grandfather-instilled manliness prevails, such as valiantly driving the
Italians off, but sometimes his natural desires overcome his nurtured teaching, such as leaving
the disease-ridden Newark to the camp. Furthermore, when Bucky becomes crippled once he
contracts the disease, his personality is further challenged, as his ideal of manliness is
destroyed. By crippling Bucky, the contagion effectively destroys Buckys manliness, which
being physically fit is a large component of, and prevents him from ever reaching such ideal.
This destruction creates a conflict within Bucky which ultimately reveals Buckys hidden
personality, pride and selfishness. Furthermore, the contagion, by preventing Bucky from
reaching his ideal of manliness, traps Bucky in his own ideals, effectively turning Buckys ideal
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into his own nemesis. This entrapment reduces Bucky into the tragic state he is shown at the
end of the novel, the eternal and emotional crippleness and rejection of happiness.

At Indian Hill, educating boys and girls (147).

-Mr. Blomback

The italicized and shows that the director emphasizes that the camp is for both boys and girls.
However, when Bucky hears the directors description of Setons and camps educational
ideology, foundation of all power is self-control and above all heroism (147), his mind,
subconsciously, does not associate self-control and heroism with females. This says two things
about Bucky, his ideal of manliness and also his prejudice towards women. However in the
presence of contagion, Bucky has to choose between following his ideals or his instinct. This
choice, which he has to make, exacerbates the the conflict between his two paradoxical
personalities.

When the director is telling Bucky about the ideology (self-control and heroism) of raising the
children into man, Bucky nodded, agreeing that these were weighty matters (147). By readily
agreeing with the director, Bucky reveals his belief of manliness; he believes that being a man
means having self-control and heroism. This is reflected in Buckys constant desire to be a
hero, such as joining the army. This is shown especially through him defending the playground
against the Italians. However, facing the imminent danger of contagion, Bucky does not uphold
his ideal of being a man; he left the playground. While leaving the playground in face of the
contagion may seems like a smart decision, [it is] prudence in face of danger - its common
sense! (88), it brings Bucky directly in conflict with his manliness. In fact, the contagion brings
Buckys natural instinct, which of course [is] to run, in conflict with his grandfathers and his
view of manliness. This triumph of the instinct of ideal is seen as a defeat for bucky, evident
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from his guilt. He felt guilty because he betrayed his ideal, as he demonstrates no heroism nor
self-control in face of the polio. Not only does he not stay behind and be with the children during
time of hardship, be he could not control his desire to be with Marcia. The betrayal of his ideal
means that he no longer [has] a conscience he could live with (174).

Additionally, Buckys ideal of God is also brought into conflict by the contagion. In a traditional
Jewish context, God is the ultimate representation of man. In fact, in Genesis 1:27 it is said that
God created man in His own image. So, for Bucky, God should embody self control and
heroism. However Bucky is bitterly disappointed when God took no action during the polio
epidemic, Why didnt God answer the prayers of Alan Michaelss parents? (170). Gods
inactivity in face of disease contradict his idea of heroism causing him to be bitter against God,
God is not to my liking he spends too much time killing children. (260).

Besides the revelation of Buckys view of man, Buckys assumption that the camp is an all boy
camp also reveals Buckys prejudice against women. By subconsciously neglecting girls when
thinking about self control and heroism, Bucky does not believe that girls need to have selfcontrol nor be a hero. In fact, it can even be argued that Bucky does not want girls to have selfcontrol nor be a hero. This personality of Bucky is well-concealed at the beginning of the novel
as Buckys strength is so prominent there is no other hero but him. However, after losing his
physical ability due to polio, he is no longer the invincible hero. This gives a chance for others to
be a hero. This is most evident when Marcia tries to get back with Bucky. Though Marcia might
not necessarily think that she is sacrificing her future potential happiness by marrying the
crippled Bucky, but from Buckys point of view Marcia is sacrificing her future potential
happiness by being with a crippled man like himself. Evident from Bucky saying that Marcia
should save [herself] from [him] (260). By sacrificing herself to be with Bucky, Marcia becomes
a heroine. However, the notion of a heroine is foreign to Bucky and he actively tries to prevent it
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from occurring, by rejecting Marcia. In fact, Bucky even took this heroic role for himself. By
rejecting Marcia, he claims that he sacrifices his desire so that Marcia could have a better
potential life, with a fit man.

And youre not just a cripple! (260)

-Marcia

Buckys repetitive insistence on his crippled physical state let Marcia proclaim this phrase during
a heated argument. Bucky repeatedly insisted to push his love, Marcia, away from him. He does
so by revealing his crippled leg when Marcia declared that she didnt care if Buckys hand was
crippled. In fact, this insistence on physical appearance also implied the importance of being
physically fit for Bucky. Throughout the whole novel, the strength and muscles of Bucky is often
admired, the novel even ended with an admiration of Buckys strength and grace when he is
throwing javelin he seemed to [the children] invincible (280). Not only do the children admire
his strength, even Bucky himself takes pride in his strength. This demonstrated how being
physically fit is vital for Buckys ideology of manliness. So, by taking Buckys physical fitness
away from him, contagion, in essence, takes away Buckys manliness. In fact the contagion
presents conflicting and impossible situation for Bucky. On one hand, he can no longer fit into
his ideology of manliness, on the other his grandfather's teaching is so ingrained in him and his
self worth is so ingrained in this ideology that he cannot simply forget it.

This conflicting situation ultimately leads to the tragic separation of Bucky and Marcia. For
Bucky, his inability to fit into his ideal image makes him undesirable. As such, his insistence for
leaving Marcia is an act of self-sacrifice and heroism, as he urged Marcia to save [herself] from
[him]. Even the way he told Marcia, most women would be delighted if a cripple volunteered to
get out of their life (260), sounds like he is doing Marcia a favor. However, he is not simply
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doing this for Marcia, he is doing this to to save a remnant of his honor (262). In fact, he is
doing so because this is the only way left for him to be a hero or man without the great physical
condition. By rejecting his girlfriend, as mentioned previously, Bucky steals the role of hero from
Marcia. This selfish move reveals tremendously Buckys character and, perhaps, his downfall.
Bucky, despite his lofty ideals, is selfish. This is demonstrated in the main reason that he wants
to return to the playground, which is his sense of duty that is tied to his masculinity or pride.
Even his want to serve the country in war is selfish. Throughout the book, his main reason for
joining the war is because of his masculinity, Mr. Cantor felt he had let [his grandfather]
down (26) because he couldnt join the army, and because of shame, he had never gotten
over the shame of not (130) being in the war. In fact, his selfishness becomes apparent when
the threat of polio becomes imminent, the situation in which he responded by fleeing the
playground.

Another flaw in Buckys personality that this conflicting situation created by the contagion
reveals is pride. The contagion took away his physical ability, however it also paralyzes him
emotionally, evident from how Bucky considered himself a gender blank (246) and how he
could never show his withered arm and withered leg to anyone (246). This long lasting
emotional damage results from Buckys refusal to give up the teaching and ideals of his
grandfather. This refusal can be more readily understood as Buckys pride. Bucky always takes
pride in his manliness, as such he can never accept being crippled, leading to emotional
damage. This pride not only damaged him emotionally but prevents him from marrying Marcia.
As mentioned previously Bucky does not marry Marcia because he wants to preserve his honor.
In fact he does so because of his ideal of masculinity, and if he is weak enough to [marry
Marcia], he would suffer his final defeat (262). However, he cannot allow that due to his pride.
In a sense, pride is the tragic flaw of Bucky.

Dont make things worse by scapegoating yourself (272)

- Arnie

Arnie, the narrator of the novel, tries to help Bucky, who is at a very sorry emotional state at the
end of the novel, by pointing out that Bucky is a totally blameless one (272) for the events that
happened during the polio epidemic. However, this phrase is deeply ironic, just like the
appearance of Bucky. Scapegoat, traditionally means someone who is singled out to take the
blame of an event and is usually done to absolve one from blame. However, in this case, Bucky
is scapegoating himself for the blame. For many, the havoc that had been wrought both on the
Chancellor playground and at Indian Hill seemed [is] a malicious absurdity of nature (273).
However, for Bucky, these incidences seems like a great crime of his own (273). Buckys
excessive need to take responsibility can be seen from the teaching of his grandfather who
[teaches] the boy that a mans every endeavor was imbued with responsibility (23). However,
in this case, Bucky is taking this responsibility to the extreme. In fact, his level of responsibility is
even compared to God, either its terrible God who is accountable, or its terrible Bucky Cantor
who is accountable (260). His excessive responsibility seems almost obsessive, even feeling
responsible twenty seven years after the epidemic.

The narrator hints on reasons for Buckys obsession when he states, he would not have been
so quick to blame himself for the cataclysm if he had manfully seen the epidemic through
to the end (274). This sentence reveals that Bucky feels responsible because he feels guilty for
leaving the playground for Indian Hill during the epidemic. In fact, it is shown that Bucky feels
responsible because, if he had stayed in the playground, he might have been able to do
something like [going] to Ronnies funeral (196). Even if he isnt able to do anything
meaningful, he believes that his presence in the playground might bring something, it isnt a
matter of doing - its a matter of being there! (197). This guilt or defeat haunts him everyday
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and is translated into responsibility. This runs parallel to the reason why Bucky refuses to marry
Marcia. Bucky refuses Marcia so he could be a hero himself, and he has to do it to compensate
for his lost of manly physiques and keep on being a man. The same is happening here: Bucky
needs to compensate for his loss of manliness by feeling responsible, so he can still live up to
his grandfathers teaching and feel like a man. In a sense, due to the contagion, Bucky
becomes trapped by his own responsibility, scapegoating himself. His sense of responsibility
becomes his downfall, making his ideals of manliness into his nemesis.

Indeed, contagion seems to turn Buckys ideal of manliness into his own nemesis, not just the
sense of responsibility. Due to the contagion, which brought irreversible damage to Buckys
physical manliness, Bucky tries to compensate by adhering to his principles. Evident from Bucky
turning Marcia away to be the hero and maintaining his manly principles by scapegoating
himself, compensating for his crippleness. However the irreversible damage also means that it
is impossible to compensate for the damage, causing Bucky to be trapped by his own principles.
This entrapment causes Bucky to be condemned. Nothing he does matches the ideal in him
(273).

Conclusion

Contagion in Nemesis not only reveals the personality of Bucky but also turns Buckys own ideal
of manliness into his nemesis. Buckys paradoxical personality, reflected from his upbringings, is
brought into conflict by the disease. The disease presents Bucky with several situations in which
he must choose between the teaching of his grandfather and his natural instinct. Each choice
becomes an internal battle of personality for Bucky, exacerbating the difference between his two
opposing identities. Furthermore, when Bucky contracts polio, which permanently takes away
his proud physique, he is left with an ideal of manliness which he can never reach. His
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subsequent reaction, such as turning away Marcia, reveals his proud personality and his
selfishness. However, more importantly, polio not only damages Bucky physically, but also left
him emotionally crippled. The awful emotional state of Bucky reveals his entrapment by his own
ideals. The contagion, by making Bucky impossible to fit into his ideal, makes Bucky
compensate by upholding and being trapped by his own principles. This principle, which Bucky
tries desperately to uphold, traps him and ultimately reduces him into a tragic state, as shown at
the end of the novel. In a sense, the contagion turns Buckys strive for the ideal manliness
against himself, into his nemesis.