Libra Essay

            One of the most infamous shooters in American history is explored in Don DeLillo’s Libra. The use of motion, minor characters, and secrecy all explore Lee Harvey Oswald’s solitary nature as portrayed by DeLillo.

            The entire excerpt is told in a series of flashbacks. These flashbacks are not of any one subject matter. They float and vary from neighborhood girls to riding a train. At first, the girls he imagines are light creatures laughing and reminiscent of summer. Next, the audience is struck with an image of an unkind mother. Perhaps, an alchoholic, he names her Maurgerite before mother. This subtle distinguishment is indicative of distance between them. This is unusual as most children could be described as having close relationships with their parents.

            As the flashes progress, the connection between motion and theme become more pronounced. It culminates with a wild train ride. The rush of trains hurtling down tracks feels to the subject like almost a euphoric experience. This constant jumping of scenes, subjects, and even the Oswald himself distances him from everything by allowing us to observe no attatchments.

            The characters Oswald encounters in this segment are incongruous, but each hold a certain meaning to Oswald and the story overall. The first group of people he passes are giggling school girls. Observing their whispers and seemingly secret language, he cannot quite grasp their full meaning. They may speak in English, but to Oswald they aren’t comprehensible. He is on the outside of their tightly-knit group, alone.

            The next person Oswald encounters is Maurgerite, his brisqe mother. Her blatant disregard for her son makes it clear they are not a cohesive family unit. The use of Margerite instead of Mother makes it clear he doesn’t regard her with the normal feelings a child has. Further along, Oswald observes homeless men. They appear to the boy as men who perpetually exist on trains. This correspons to Oswald’s later stated motivation for riding trains, which is because he can and enjoys it. His obvious happiness could be contrasted with the beggars unhappiness because they are both train-riders. Oswald sees in the ragged men a reflection of himself as an outsider.

            Finally, secrecy or indifference separate Lee Harvey Oswald from the normal population in this excerpt. Secrecy has two very distinct and prominent sides in this story. The first is the idea that everyone has secrets that are constantly being hidden from the boy. The girls in dresses all whisper their mysteries to each other, keeping Oswald in the dark by himself. His mother doesn’t explain her desire to leave him, she keeps her motives close and attempts to abandon the young man.

            The other aspect of secrecy is the one within Oswald. He holds a smile all to himself when strolling past girls. His journey though this excerpt culminates with a stealthy train ride. No one is around to witness his dangerous actions between train carts. All of his doings belong to Oswald and the train rides are his ultimate secret, kept from the rest of the world. This solitary activity pushes away others because it is designed for one and Oswald has no intention of opening it to the people he knows.

            Every action and image in this excerpt is a reflection on the distance between Oswald and normal society. It serves as a method to reflect Lee Harvey Oswald onto paper and describe his disturbed personality.