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LESS THAN ZERO. GENRE: EXISTENTIAL COMING OF AGE TALE “ The 1980s Catcher in the Rye ”. Coming of Age Conventions. Transition (awkward “ in between ” period) Love (confusing, messy, but delightful romantic relationships) Existential choices (dilemmas regarding morality and identity).
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LESS THAN ZERO GENRE: EXISTENTIAL COMING OF AGE TALE “The 1980s Catcher in the Rye”
Coming of Age Conventions • Transition (awkward “in between” period) • Love (confusing, messy, but delightful romantic relationships) • Existential choices (dilemmas regarding morality and identity)
Catcher in the Rye Holden returns to NYC for 48 hours of debauchery after flunking out of prep school. Less Than Zero During his first year of college, Clay travels from New Hampshire to Los Angeles for winter vacation. “Transition”
Catcher in the Rye Holden waivers between adult sexuality and childhood asexuality. Less Than Zero Clay waivers between rekindling the relationship with Blair (his high school girlfriend) and having sex with everyone (girls, guys, complete strangers, etc.) “Love”
Catcher in the Rye Holden is repulsed by the phoniness of the adult world, but he slowly realizes he must eventually grow up and become a part of that world. Less Than Zero Clay’s crux is whether he should remain in LA to live in a world without morals and boundaries, or return to college. “Existential Choices”
WHAT IS EXISTENTIALISM? • WE MAKE OURSELVES • WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OURSELVES • THERE ARE NO EXCUSES EXISTENTIAL SPECTRUM _____________________________________ NIHILISMTRANSCENDENTALISM Life is meaningless and absurd Everything is interconnected Everything is chaotic and random Everything happens for a reason No belief in God, fate, good or evil Belief in a higher purpose/power
To what extent are the characters responsible for their own lives, and to what extent is Los Angeles to blame?
LESS THAN ZERO STYLE POST-MODERN MINIMALISM “The medium is the message”
Postmodern Literature • Postmodern Literature was all about getting away from the illusion of literature. • FRAGMENTED • PARADOXICAL • MAKING FUN OF “MEANING”
Literary Minimalism • “Slice of life” stories • Realistic instead of flowery • Economy with words (no fluff) • “No ideas but in things”– W.C.W. • Shortest short story ever: “For sale: baby shoes, never used.” –Ernest Hemingway
Structure of Less than Zero • No chapters • No conventional narrative story formula • No distinct character development • No definitive climax • No cohesive, linear plot (flashbacks occur)
Diction of Less Than Zero • Conversational, colloquial, crude language “’You’re so full of shit,’ Trent calls out…’Oh Trent, suck my dick,’ Rip yells” (112). • Unsophisticated but not illiterate “Trent and Daniel are standing by Trent’s B.M.W. and Trent’s pulling out the Cliff Notes to As I Lay Dying out of the glove compartment…” (22). • Written in the present tense “I sit at the bar at La Scala Boutique for most of this time, bored out of my mind, smoking, drinking red wine” (23).
Paratactical Sentence Structure • Hypotactical Sentences (that/which clauses) “Lindsay gets up and says that he spots his dealer, which surprises me” • Paratactical Sentences (flat, no differentiation) “Lindsay gets up and says that he spots his dealer and has to go talk to her.”
Perspective • Minimal description; mostly dialogue • The minimal description focuses on brand names, labels, clothing, and band names • Narration is deadpan, matter of fact, robotic
Characters • Characters seem interchangeable, forgettable, hard to keep straight (intertextually and metatextually) • Some characters contribute nothing to the plot • Many characters are bisexual (no sexual specificity)
