Manipulation and Blame in Libra
Lee Harvey Oswald is the center of the manipulation in Don DeLillo's Libra. For the assassin of John F. Kennedy he is ruled in real life to be a lone gunman by investigations. But, Don DeLillo tells an alternative story where Oswald is a pawn of a larger conspiracy. The plot to assassinate Kennedy, kicked off by Walter Everett Jr., Larry Parmenter, and T-Jay Mackey, relies on having a scapegoat to take the blame. Oswald is viewed as this person after his attempt on General Walker's life. Not only is he viewed as capable of being understood by the people as a lone acting American turned crazy by communism, but also as a manipulatable subject. Parmenter clearly articulates their intent to manipulate on the phone to Everett Jr., "'We could put him together...If he thinks he's operating on the left, pro-Castro, pro-Soviet, whatever his special interest, we'll help him select a fantasy" (DeLillo 75). One reason Oswald is susceptible to their future manipulation is his social isolation. He struggles to find his place, fleeing to the USSR then back to America, and his draw to the radical ideology of communism leads him to be easily influenced by a promise of a purpose. They anger Oswald with fake anti-Castro documents and pamphlets then use that to get him to join the plot to kill the president. While Oswald is the central character who is manipulated, Jack Ruby's manipulation by the mob also plays a large role in DeLillo's story. On the contrary to Oswald, the mob uses Ruby's extreme patriotisms to rope him into killing. As well, they use Ruby's debt to the mob as a reason for him to follow their instructions. With Ruby's manipulation they were able to effectively kill Oswald before he was able to speak and shift blame, revealing the true players in the assassination plot.
Once it was sure Oswald was going to be a shooter all Everett and the other conspirators needed to do was ensure he was seen as a lone shooter. As well, the conspirators want to put the blame on Fidel Castro. Everett and T-Jay Mackey blame Fidel Castro for them losing their jobs and career after the downfall of the bay of pigs invasion. Blame always needs a place to go and that is apparent throughout the novel. Once Oswald is caught and arrested for the murder of President Kennedy, the American people place their blame on Oswald. With their blame focused on Oswald they seek more answers. But, when Ruby kills Oswald the blame shifts towards him. The focus of scrutiny then lies on him and the people seek to link the assassination with him. The need for placing blame on tragedy is apparent with all the conspiracies surrounding the JFK assassination. Conspiracies are created to fill the gaps in facts to place blame on someone or some organization. DeLillo's telling of the JFK assassination comments on conspiracy theories and blame. The central goal of a conspiracy, as depicted in Libra is to manipulate the narrative and shift blame. However, the novel also suggests that while conspiracy theories may attempt to assign blame, they ultimately obscure the truth rather than reveal it. In this fictional portrayal, we see how the manipulation of information serves to create and perpetuate narratives that may never fully uncover the reality of events.
Among the core fictional plotters in this novel--the veterans of the Bay of Pigs who are so eager to unseat Castro--there's a lot of blame to go around. One of the puzzles surrounding the official story of the Warren Commission report (Oswald=lone gunman) has to do with why Oswald would view Kennedy as a prime target, given his political views. As we discussed in class, General Walker makes a lot more sense as someone Lee would see himself as diametrically opposed to--and DeLillo suggests that Lee hopes Castro will feel the same way, and be impressed with Lee as a "freedom fighter" and assassin of Walker. But Oswald is on record as having generally positive views of Kennedy, in addition to seeing all these parallels between his family and the president's. In DeLillo, the plotters worry that they won't be able to get Lee worked up enough about Kennedy to take action.
ReplyDeleteBut the Bay of Pigs "true believers" all DEEPLY resent Kennedy (as revealed in various internal monologues and conversations in the novel), and Mackey in particular goes a step further with the original "near miss" plot precisely because he resents Kennedy so strongly and wants revenge. In their view, the Kennedy administration left them hanging--they had promised air support for the invasion that never arrived, and the plotters were left to be arrested or shot on the beaches. Mackey takes this personally, and HE has a much stronger motive to go after Kennedy than Oswald. In the novel, Oswald seems to be doing it mainly because they assure him it's his ticket to Cuba.