Francis Phelan as a Posbnodern Odysseus in William Kennedy's Ironweed

David McCracken

Most of the critics who address Ironweed point out the associations between Francis
Phelan and Odysseus. Loxley Nichols writes that there are some "discernible"
instances, such as Helen Archer's name referring to Helen of Troy, Francis's middle
name Aloysius sounding like Ulysses, and Francis's twenty-two years from home
almost equaling Odysseus's twenty years abroad (46). According to Nichols, both
characters return home "to find a grown son, a faithful wife, and [a] friendly dog" (48).
Anya Taylor posits that both journeys begin with violence but end in forgiveness, and
Daniel Murtaugh notices that both men return home as beggars (301). However, the
most detailed study is by Michael Tierce, who offers a chart outlining relationships
between the plots (248-49). He writes, "Because of the close proximity of Albany to
Troy, New York, Kennedy has a ready-made allusion to Homer" (249). Tierce argues
that the following comparisons (among others) prove that Kennedy is following what
James Joyce terms the monomyth. or what Joseph Campbell defines theoretically as the
circular process of separation, initiation, and return: Francis's visit to the Saint Agnes
Cemetery matches Odysseus's visit to Hades; the Mission of Holy Redemption, where
Helen first appears in the novel, corresponds to Odysseus's episode with Calypso; the
Gilded Cage, where Helen sings, relates to Odysseus's incident with the Sirens; and
Francis's return to Annie imitates Odysseus's return to Penelope (248-49). Tierce
mentions that Gerald, who commands Francis to begin his journey toward "expiation"
(19), correlates to Tiresias, who tells Odysseus how he can appease Poseidon once he
returns to Ithaca (252). Both Tierce (256-59) and Murtaugh (301) see Billy as
Telemachus, Rosskam as Eumaeus, Katrina as Circe, and Annie as Penelope. Several
critics believe that Francis, although not as strong as Odysseus, possesses his ingenuity,
cunning, and resiliency (Clarke 167; Murtaugh 301; Michener 103; Tierce 258).

To readers familiar with this research, my title does not appear to offer anything more
than the obvious. Instead of only summarizing the Francis-as-Qdysseus scholarship, I
would rather acknowledge the connection between the two characters and move on to a
more controversial issue, which is what Kennedy is attempting to accomplish in his
parody of Homer's epic. The answer is illustrated in the novel's enigmatic fina1 scene.
Unlike his ancient counterpart, Francis, as a posbnodern hero, fails to achieve closure at
the end of his journey. He misses his opportunity for total redemption, and he is
Postscript 2 McCracken 3

destined to be an egocentric drunk who will continue to make self-destructive choices. the famous Twelve Steps, the most traditional and widely practiced method of recovery
The critics take for granted that Kennedy is mythologizing Francis, but they do not in which people admit powerlessness, turn their wills over to a Higher Power, and take
discuss how recovery theory demonstrates that his actions are actually antithetical to personal inventory of their lives. Steps number eight and nine call for amends: "Made
Odysseus's. Francis is certainly an "existentialist hero" (Michener 128), and, a list of all the persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them
unfortunately, he is left at the end of the novel with an intoxicated vision of Annie and a all" and "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so
recognition that his life will be a constant struggle against an uncaring, unsympathetic would injure them or others" (59). Gerald mystically pushes Francis toward making
universe. amends:
[He], through an act of silent will; imposed on his father the pressing
Most readers do not consider The Odyssey as a story about redemption. Wise Odysseus, obligation to perform his fina1 acts of expiation for abandoning the family.
credited with the idea of building the Trojan Horse, is known mostly for his cunning. You will not know, the child silently said, what these acts are until you
However, during several occasions, he is ruled by pride. This occurs most notably have performed them all. And after you have performed them you will
when Odysseus tells Polyphemus that he has indeed been the one who has blinded him. not understand that they were expiatory any more than you have
Polyphemus throws a boulder, almost capsizing Odysseus's boat. Like the other understood all the other expiation that has kept you in such prolonged
Greeks, Odysseus must pay the price for Cassandra being pulled from Athena's temple. humiliation. Then, when these fina1 acts are complete, you will stop
This, described briefly when Hermes commands Calypso to let Odysseus return to trying to die because of me. (19)
Ithaca, and blinding Poseidon's son precipitate the additional ten years of wandering Before this, Francis reasoned that his drinking was not why he dropped his son: "I had
that he must experience after the Trojan War (Book 5 between lines 114 and 134. In four beers after work that day. It wasn't because I was drunk that I dropped you. Four
other words, although Athena's favorite, Odysseus must ultimately prove that he has beers, and I didn't finish the fourth" (18-19). The remainder of the novel traces the
enough courage, honor, and determination to defeat any enemy and overcome any process of Francis trying to assume responsibility for the child's death, making amends
obstacle, which he does successfu1ly. The impetus of Francis's journey is not the to those he had harmed, and, significantly, attempting to forgive himself for his past
kidnapping of the world's most beautiful woman or the expulsion of a princess from a actions.
goddess's temple; instead, his is the result of kiiIing Gerald. The first time Francis fled
Albany was when he murdered Harold Allen during a trolley strike in 1906. The Francis has a capacity for booze and a propensity to drink. According to the narrator,
second time was in 1916 when, while changing Gerald's diaper, Francis dropped his he did not "get sick from alcohol. . . he did not vomit. He drank anything that
son. For twenty-two years, Francis has lived with the guilt of Gerald's death and the contained alcohol, anything, and he could always walk, and he could talk as well as any
remorse of leaving his family. While away, he has become an alcoholic hobo, and his man alive about what was on his mind. Alcohol did put Francis to sleep, f1na1Iy, but on
need for easy money to fund his addiction causes him to return to Albany. In The his own terms" (5). There is a hint that Francis is ready for, even anticipating, recovery:
Odyssey, there are certainly instances of substance-induced intoxication. Odysseus must "Now he wasn't drinking. He hadn't had a drink for two days and he felt a little bit of
pull his men away from the lotus-eaters, Odysseus blinds Polyphemus after he has all right. Strong, even" (6). Rudy Newton serves as Francis's drinking buddy, and with
imbibed wine, Circe has the special concoction to turn men into swine (remember that cancer, Rudy has decided to "wine [himself] to death" (7). Francis enables Rudy to this
Hermes gives Odysseus moly as an antidote), and Elpenor dies because he drunkenly end, but there is a clear indication in the process that he might be at a place to get sober.
falls off a roof, but Odysseus himself remains fairly sober. On the other hand, Francis is Bluntly, he has reached "a," but ultimately not "the," bottom:
a down-and-out lush. and his meeting with Gerald at the beginning of the novel Francis felt healthy and he liked it. It's too bad he didn't feel healthy
provides him with an opportunity to address his resentments and to make amends. when he drank. He felt good then but not healthy, especially not in the
Basically, Francis has a chance to get sober. morning, or when he woke up in the middle of the night, say. Sometimes
he felt dead. His head, his throat, his stomach: he needed to get them all
The setting of Ironweed is Halloween, All Souls' Day, and All Saints' Day in 1938, about straight with a drink, or maybe it'd take two, because if he didn't, his
the same time the Oxford Group was promoting abstinence from alcohol and trying to
restore morality in American culture. In 1936, Bill W. and Dr. Bob began Alcoholics
Anonymous, and the Big Book, the A. A. bible, was published in 1939. This introduced
Postscript 4 McCracken 5

brain would overheat trying to fiXthings and his eyes would blowout. tells Jack, "We battle sometimes, but only when he drinks. Then he goes haywire" (81).
Jeez it's tough when you need that drink and your throat's like an open Reassuringly, Jack says to Francis, "You could have twenty bucks in your pocket at all
sore and it's four in the morning and the wine's gone That's tough. times You could have everything you want" (81). Francis drinks because of his
Tough. (8) . guilt, but that guilt defines him as a person, and for him, it is easier to drink than to
Gerald has given Francis the chance to confront the nightmares that cause him to drink work at not drinking. Helen finally yells, "God, Francis, you were all right till you
excessively. All of the people who have inspired his flight, even ones who were only started on the wine. Wine, wine, wine" (84). This is also probably true.
ancillary to his violent actions, will also give him an opportunity to make solemn
restitution, which is not an easy task. Whereas Odysseus is the wise warrior who Although Gerald's prophesy makes recovery available, Francis must decide he wants it.
conquers physical obstacles to return home, Francis is the depressed dipsomaniac who Unquestionably, his flashbacks enable him to take a personal inventory of his past, step
must fight psychological foes to achieve peace within himseU. four in the A. A. steps, and the ghosts will help him to complete steps eight and nine.
Fiddler Quinn, Harold Allen, Rowdy Dick Doolan, Daddy Big Dugan, Aldo Campione,
Two events in the novel make Francis consider the risks of making amends. The and the others are persons with whom Francis must make amends. Anya Taylor claims
Mission of Holy Redemption is the standard 1930's shelter that caters mostly to drunks. that Ironweed does not emphasize sobriety (113). I disagree; I think the chance for
When Francis arrives, he notices Sandra, who is passed out in front of the church. sobriety is at the heart of the novel. Drinking is clearly connected to dysfunctional and
Francis remembers that Reverend Chester, himself once afflicted with a "whiskey seU-destructive behavior. Tony Cellucci and Richard Larsen include the novel in a list
condition" (33), will absolutely not let her inside. Confronted by Chester, Francis says of works that "effectively illustrate the negative consequences of alcohol abuse and
sharply, "I'm sober" (32) and asks for soup. When Pee Wee admits his abstinence, addiction." They describe Ironweed as "an exceptionally frank, meticulous depiction of
Francis questions the benefits of sobriety: "Pee Wee was off the juice. . . and full of down-and-out alcoholics in an Irish-American community." Citation? However,
energy, running the mission for Chester. Pee Wee was peaceful now, no longer the Kennedy makes sure to show what Francis was like before his dissipation. When
singing gin-drinker cripple, dry, yeah, but at what cost?" (40). At the Golden Cage, Francis notices the Daugherty house, he remembers when Katrina introduced him to
Oscar Reo informs Francis that he has been sober a while. Francis thinks to himself, wine. She offered him a taste, and he declined,. saying he preferred ale (103). Earlier,
"here he was, disguised behind a mustache, another cripple" (49). Francis compares his she asks if he has any of the "minor vices" (103), such as drinking whiskey.
life to Reo's, and he may be admitting powerlessness over drink and taking personal Prophetically, Katrina comments about wine: "You will learn to like it" (108).
inventory of his past: "The insight raised in Francis a compulsion to confess his every
transgression of natural, moral, or civil law; to relentlessly examine and expose every The climax of the novel is when all of the ghosts come together at Annie's, and Francis
flaw of his own character, however minor. What was it, Oscar, that did you in? Would has his greatest chance to make amends. After the initial surprise of seeing Francis,
you like to tell us about it? Do you know? It wasn't Gerald who did me. . . . how come Annie says, "Gerald, he'd be twenty-two now" (158). Francis mentions going to their
nobody ever found out how to fIX it for us?" (50). Francis fails to realize, however, that child's grave, beginning to confess to Annie what he has told no other person, not even
he must fix things himself; he must take responsibility for his own actions. He has a Helen. This is the crucial moment in Francis's chance at redemption, and in turn,
chance to accomplish this, but, sadly, he will forfeit the option. sobriety. As Penelope, Annie has rejected all suitors, only going to the movies with
friends and family (161). Francis questions why she did not tell anyone, not even Billy
The scene at Jack's illustrates the extent of Francis's alcoholism. While at the Golden and Peg, about the cause of Gerald's death, and Annie offers a common-sense reply:
Cage, Helen asks Francis not to drink, and, of course, he drinks beer (64). Jack tells "Wasn't anybody's fault" (159). She gives Francis complete forgiveness and total
Francis, "I think you could be a charmin' man, ; ..if you'd only get straight. You could absolution. She comments, "It's over" (159). Every event in his journey has led to this
have twenty dollars in your pocket at all times, make fifty, seventy-five a week, have a point, but Francis still questions his ability to let go of his guilt: "Everything was wiser
beautiful apartment with everything you want in it, all you want to do is drink" (70). than coming home, even reducing yourself to the level of social maggot, streetside slug.
Jack is essentially intervening, and Francis has no choice but to listen. Ironically, Jack . . . But then he came home. . . . He is home now, isn't he?" (160). To answer the next
makes these statements while he and Francis are drinking muscatel. Helen curses at sentence, "Why isn't he?" is essentially to explore why he is unable to embrace
him, "You're drunk, Francis. . . . Stay drunk for the rest of your life. . . . All you want is recovery, or simply want to stop drinking. Even the singing of The Day o/Wrath (Dies
to guzzle wine. You're insane!" (SO). She is correct. Similar to an abused spouse, Helen Irea) l:IYthe forty-nine shades does not insure his own spiritual awakening. Francis
 6 McCracken 7
Postscript

finally offers a direct apology: "I'm so ... sorry, and 1 know that don't cut no thin' .1 version shows the opposite. A drunken Francis throws the bottle of Green River
know it's just a bunch of words. . . 1 can't make it up. . . . 1 never stopped lovin' you and whiskey off the train after he has had a vision of Annie pouring breakfast tea. 1 believe,
the kids, and especially you, and that don't entitle me to no thin', and 1 don't want based upon his behavior in the previous sections of the novel, Francis stays on the train.
nothin' for saying it, but 1 went my whole life rememberin' things here that were like Francis had the opportunity to make amends, but he never fully completed them; he
nothin' 1 saw before. . ." (162-63). When Annie asks Francis if he wants to "come home offered his forgiveness by his own rules, not the ones Gerald originally laid out. U he
permanent" (174), he tells her "I see it couldn't work, not after all these years" (174). returned to Annie, he might quit the booze. However, Francis has basically stopped
trying to deal with his past. He simply gives up and resorts to comfortable, predictable,
Francis's flight to a flop house and a hobo village demonstrate his inability to change. familiar behavior: getting drunk. Francis's hallucinations on the train, particularly his
With money from Billy, he purchases two bottles of muscatel and two bottles of Green ongoing dialogue with Strawberry Bill, are not magical realism; he is simply inebriated
River whiskey (192), and he and Rudy get drunk. At Fennessey's, Francis commands and trying, the best he can, to forget. Critics who are optimistic about the ending point
Moose, "Have a drink, . . . Don't be afraid to live" (194). Intoxicated, he sees a vision of to one line as proof: "divine harmonies. . . impelled Francis to leap off the train and
four women blurred together, two of them Sandra and Katrina. In a Btof rage, he hits seek sanctuary under the holy Phelan eaves" (225). Unfortunately, Francis does not act
Little Red and thus returns to his previous malicious behavior. At the village, an on this feeling. Unlike Odysseus, he is not blessed with a goddess's intervention to
inebriated Francis remembers Annie telling him about Danny's room where a cot is set restore peace in his homeland. Francis loses his two closest friends, Rudy and Helen,
up. She offers this bed for his next visit (212), but this is, of course, only a pipe dream. and leaves most of his issues unresolved in Albany. As always, he runs away,
When he tells the others about dropping Gerald, they, who are drunk as well, do not physically and psychologically. An ending with Francis and Annie together would be
pay attention. In other words, his second confession is not acknowledged. Instead of nice, but the reality is that Francis, as an alcoholic unwilling to change, is incapable of
seeing the purpose behind the testimony, Michigan Mac simply says, "You can't figure returning to Annie. Francis must reach an even lower bottom, the bottom, before he
women" (214). Dosing off, Francis asks, "What makes a man a drunk?"; he is given a truly confronts his resentments and makes amends. He has not made the personal
precise answer: "Wine. . . What you got in your hand" (214). At this point, Francis decision to wage an all-out assault against his past. Francis, as a postmodem Odysseus,
gives up on recovery: "He concluded that he was not capable of making a right does not finish his journey successfully, nor does he really understand what is
decision, that he was a wrongheaded a man as ever lived. He felt certain now that he necessary for him to bend his own bow and vanquish his inner enemies.
would never attain the balance that allowed so many other men to live peaceful,
nonviolent, nonfugitive lives" (215). Most important, he decides to maintain his guilt
Works Cited
and not to accept the redemption bestowed by Annie. He still wants to wallow in his
own misery: "My guilt is all that 1 have left. U 1 lose it, 1 have stood for nothing, done Alcoholics Anonymous. 3rd ed. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Wide Services,
1976.
nothing, been nothing" (216). This makes his chance at recovery nearly impossible.
Cellucci, Tony and Richard Larsen. "Alcohol Education via America Literature."
The end of the novel reinforces this conclusion. In an interview with Kay Bonetti. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Spring (1995): 65-73. SIRS. Coker College
Kennedy refused to "go on record" as saying whether or not Francis returns home (qtd. Library. 3 Mar. 2004 <sksI3.sirs.com>.
in Reilly 77). However, the writer told Peter Quinn the ending illustrates "a moment of Clarke, Peter. "Classical Myth in William Kennedy's Ironweed." Critique 27.1 (1986): 167-
76.
redemption out of sin. Francis cleanses himself" (qtd. in Reilly 77). Paul Griffin, Peter
Oarke, and Edward Reilly argue that Francis returns to Annie (qtd. in Michener 149). Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. Western Literature in a World Context:
Daniel Murtaugh claims that Francis is not redeemed or resurrected but damned: The Ancient World through the Renaissance. Ed. Paul Davis, et al. Vol. 1. New York:
Francis stays on the Delaware & Hudson freight train, traveling into a dark distance St. Martin's, 1995: 156-326. .

(qtd. in Michener 149). B. R. Johnson and Anne Mills King concede that the ending is Ironweed.Dir. Hector Babenco. Perf. Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. Vestron, 1987.
just inconclusive (qtd. in Reilly 77). A summary in the Literature ResourceCenter leans Kennedy, William. Ironweed. New York: Penguin, 1983
toward return: "Francis considers leaving Albany for good but decides to stay. He Michener, Christian. From Then Into Now: William Kennedy's Albany Novels. Buffalo, NY:
returns to the Phelan home, where he takes refuge in the attic and plans eventually to University of Scranton Press, 1998.
move downstairs to the cozier room of his grandson Danny" ("William"). The movie Murtaugh, Daniel. "Fathers & Their Sons." Commonweal 19 May 1989: 298-302.
Postscript 8

Nichols,.Loxley. "William Kennedy Comes of Age." National Review 9 Aug. 1985:46-48.

Reilly, Edward. William Kennedy. New York: Twayne, 1991.
Taylor, Anya. "Ironweed, Alcohol, and Celtic Heroism." Critique 33.2 (1992): 107-20.
Tierce, Michael. ''William Kennedy's Odyssey: The Travels of Francis Phelan." Classical
and Modern Literature 8.4 (1988): 247-63.
"William Kennedy: Ironweed." Characters in Twentieth-Century Literature. Vol. 2. Gale,
1995. Rpl in Literature Resource Center. Coker College Library. 13 Feb. 2004
<http://galenet.galegroup.com>.

Coker College