SELMA FRAIBERG
with Joseph
K.
But he is not afflicted with their disease; he does
not torment himself with unanswerable questions, and he cannot
bring himself to atone for a crime that cannot be judged. There
are no heroes in Joseph K.'s courtroom. K. submitted to the knife
and others are consumed by their disease. But Trueblood became
a hero because he refused the refuge of mind-sickness, and his man–
hood refused the axe. He
did
not bargain with
God
in the wilder–
ness, but fairly judged his own worthiness to live and manfully
returned to his living.
Now of course Ellison is not writing a case for incest. Mr.
Trueblood's prosperity is a bitter joke, and to understand the joke
in all its complexity we need to study the conduct of God, Himself,
during this case. For it strikes us that
God
showed a considerable
disregard for the conventions of the incest tale. His judgment
appears to be far more lenient than that of Trueblood's human
judges. He stayed the hand of Kate Trueblood when she brought
the axe down the second time and was satisfied that the sinner
should bear his judgment in the unhealing sore, the mark of the
axe's first blow. When Kate, posing as God's wrathful instrument,
demanded the sacrifice of Trueblood's manhood, God gave no
sign when the axe descended for its first blow and seemed
to
wait for the sign from Trueblood. Trueblood's instinctive turning
aside was the affirmation of his manhood, and God, approving,
stayed the hand of Kate when she was about to bring the axe down
for the second blow.
When Trueblood goes forth into the wilderness we are given
no sign as to God's intentions. The myth supports the interpreta- •
tion that
God
looks favorably upon wandering in the wilderness
for crimes of various classes, but when Trueblood decides to go
home and face
his
crime and assume his masculine prerogatives,
God approves and rewards him by causing
him
to prosper.
This
suggests to me that God is sick of naked and sightless fools wander–
ing in the wilderness and that any man who wants to go home
and face up to things may get
His
blessings.
Both Mann and Ellison have created in their incest tales a
heroic image of man that is entirely modern-"Freudian,"
if
you
like--a man who rises above the myth by acknowledging the un–
conscious motive. Both Grigorss and Tmeblood refuse the
refuge
