I'm sorry Mrs. Thompson

 

Noon Wine by Katherine Anne Porter (1939)

Life was all one dread, the faces of her neighbors, of her boys, of her husband, the face of the whole world, the shape of her own house in the darkness, the very smell of the grass and the trees were horrible to her… How was she going to keep on living now? Why had she lived at all? She wished now she had dies one of those times when she had been so sick, instead of living on for this. (268)

The moment embellishes the idea of death and shows how truly miserable Mrs. Thompson is with her life. What is important about this moment is how it foreshadows the death of Mr. Thompson. Suicide seems to be a poetic motif in many authors’ writings as most display it to be a beautiful rescue. The use of darkness in language argues in favor with naturalism as in you are born alone and die alone.

I’m not familiar with the theme of region but in some sense I guess it would follow from hard labor and tie into some Marxism. Perhaps the land/area is what defines who you are in the world. The farm was nothing without Mr. Helton and once he was gone it would make sense that the farm would go with him.

Why is it significant to the story that Mr. Thompson killed himself? 

American Psycho

"Haw, ha," said Mr. Hatch, "heh, he, that's good! Ha, ha, ha, I hadn't thought of it jes like that. Yeah, that's right! Let's all go crazy and get rid of our wives and save our money, hey!"

This moment, initially presented an instance where Mr. Hatch is "taking the words out of Mr. Thompson's mouth" suggest the possible insanity of Mr. Thompson himself. Confusion about the self and identity is apparent after this moment, when Mr. Thompson does not "know himself what he had said" about Aunt Ida, the straight jacket, or craziness in general. Considering how much he concerned himself with outward appearances, there is an heavy overtone of paranoia that seems to plague Mr. Thompson at all times. The "real" lunatic, Mr. Helton, exhibits silence and emotional seclusion that only serve to emphasize the lack of affection Mr. Thompson shows towards his sons and wife. Mr. Thompson's murder of Mr. Hatch also recalls the Helton fratricide, in its abruptness.

When Mr. Thompson begins to questions the events of the murder, considering the idea that Mr. Hatch hadn't actually stabbed Mr. Helton at all, he is ultimately questioning his own reality, and thus his own sanity. I believe he shoots himself because he really does believe himself to be a murderer, but writes the note, scratching out his wife just as Mr. Hatch suggested in the quote, to keep up appearances of innocence and sanity.

Question: Mr. Thompson, Mr. Helton, Mrs. Thompson, and the boys all prefer inward reflection to sympathetic connection with one another. What factors contribute to this independent attitude in the short novel and how do they reflect larger regional attitudes?

Because I'm curious: Upon brushing up on my Texas history, aside from the comments about the previous farmhands that fit well with post reconstruction Texas, I am struggling to make any connection to Region in this story. Do others feel the story could have been set anywhere in the U.S., not just in south Texas?

In the Sight of God and Men

"All his carefully limited fields of activity were related somehow to Mr. Thompson's feeling for the appearance of things, his own appearance in the sight of God and man. 'It don't look right,' was his final reason for not doing anything he did not wish to do."

This preoccupation with public appearance and opinion is clearly Mr. Thompson's defining characteristic, as well as being an issue of concern to just about every character in the story, except for Mr. Helton and the children. Mr. Hatch tries to use this in an attempt to convince Mr. Thompson to participate in Mr. Helton's capture and it seems to be the sole reason Mr. Thompson drives around the county and repeats his story to all of the neighbors, who are similarly preoccupied with it, or at least that's the impression Mr. Thompson gets. This, along with repeated mentions of "minding one's own business"and the dogged use of the honorifics, Mr. and Mrs., for every character strikes me as a clear indication of the collective personality of the area. There is a universally recognized way of being, living, working, eating, etc. and the price of defying that is high. Public judgment is swift, harsh and immutable.

Do you think that the neighbors are actually as immovably judgmental as Mr. Thompson perceives, or is this a method for communicating his paranoia and personal obsession with appearances?

being friendly with strangers

"He was dead to his other life, he had got to the end of something without knowing why, and he had to make a fresh start, he did not know how.  Something different was going to begin, he didn't know what.  It was in some way not his business.  He didn't feel he was going to have much to do with it." (276). 

Throughout the story, Mr. Thompson is a man concerned about "his own appearance in the sight of God and man" (244).  But these concerns turn trivial after he kills Mr. Hatch.  Before this incident, Mr. Thompson does not go around town explaining and apologizing for his unprofitable farm, his sick, distrusting wife, or his bratty boys.  After the trial, he -- with his wife in tow -- work like salespeople going door to door selling the story he was never allowed to tell at his trial.  But as they make their final rounds, the McClellans tell them that they don't care about "these murder matters" (275).  Finally, Mr. Thompson begins to understand that he can no longer affect his public perception.  And whether he's convicted in the court of public opinion, or whether the public is apathetic toward him, Mr. Thompson feels his future is no longer under his control. 

So I'm curious: In this story, to what extent is the importance of public opinion created by Mr. Thompson's psychology, and how much of it is an actual feature of South Texas life?

Guilty Verdict

"Every time he shut his eyes, trying to sleep, Mr. Thompson's mind started up and began to run like a rabbit, it jumped from one thing to another, trying to pick up a trail here or there that would straighten out what had happened that day he killed Mr. Hatch...he knew that it was not right...killing Mr. Hatch was wrong from start to finish" (276-277).

"Guilt" is the overarching theme in Noon Wine. Mr. Thompson constantly tried to convince himself that what he did was the right thing to do; however, he knew deep-down that killing Hatch was an evil act. The expressions on the faces of his neighbors, wife, and sons were what stopped him from denying the immorality of his action and come to the terms that he was in fact, guilty. The guilt inside his head is what ultimately leads to his suicide. 

Question of Faith

"Mrs. Thompson bowed her hear: 'for these and all Thy blessings.... Amen,' she whispered weakly, and the Thompsons sat there with their eyes down and their faces sorrowful, as if they were at a funeral" (276).

I chose this passage because it is the last prayer the family says together before Mr. Thompson commits suicide and it so happens to be very similar to the first prayer we hear from Mrs. Thompson, only by this point in the story, it is like they are saying a prayer at a funeral and it turns out they were.

The sporadic religious comments that occur throughout the story actually makes the ending with Mr. Thompson committing suicide really interesting. Because by the time Mr. Hatch comes into the story, we really start to get a clear picture of Mr. Thompson as a religious man who will defend Mr. Helton. I love the parallel between Mr. Thompson's murder and Mr. Helton's. It's not the murder itself that I find so interesting though, but how both men dealt with it. Mr. Helton bared it for nine years without confiding in anyone, while Mr. Thompson kills himself within weeks. By the end of the story, both men could be considered "looney."

Obviously Mr. Helton had found peace in life after he murdered his brother, but it seems impossible for Mr. Thompson, who appears to have more faith in religion throughout the story. My question is which man (Mr. Thompson or Mr. Helton) was more religious?

Denial, Denial, Denial

"Mr. Thompson knew he had the ax in his own hands and felt himself lifting it, but he couldn't remember hitting Mr. Hatch. He couldn't remember it. He couldn't. He remembered only that he had been determined to stop Mr. Hatch from cutting Mr. Helton" (273).

At this point in the story, the trial is over but Mr. Thompson spends a lot of time convincing himself he attacked Mr. Hatch out of self-defense instead of killing him because he initially disliked him. Mr. Thompson's repetition of "couldn't" emphasizes his denial. It is almost as if he is fabricating his own memories. He does not want to accept the truth of his actions so much so that he uses his wife as a reinforcement when he tells his story to his neighbors. Still, no one believes him. In fact, his own wife sees him as a murderer and blames him for ruining their lives (270). Mr. Thompson calls himself a murderer (272) but he cannot own up to his terrible deed. Instead, he chooses to forget or reject the memory, therefore destroying his reputation in the eyes of his neighbors. His guilt torments him, eventually leading to his self-inflicted death.

If Mr. Thompson had pled guilty would the results of the trial have made a difference? Is Mr. Thompson's denial solely to preserve his position in his small society or is it because he really didn't believe that he could kill someone?

Basic Instincts II: South Texas

When Mr. Hatch threatens to inform Mr. Thompson's neighbors about his refusal to assist in the arrest of the lunatic Mr. Helton; a moment of hesitation and panic settles into Mr. Thompson. We learn that:

"Mr. Thompson knew almost before he heard the words that it would look funny. It would put him in a mighty awkward position" (266).

Mr. Thompson kills Hatch out of a purely instinctual need to preserve his own reputation and livelihood. Far earlier in Katherine Anne Porter's fifty page short story, we discover that for Mr. Thompson "it was his dignity and his reputation that he cared about [most], " and given that fact it makes sense why he kills Mr. Hatch in a trance like state (244). Mr. Thompson's only passion in life was his reputation; he thinks his cow farm is emasculating, he had lost interest in his wife, and he thinks his boys are doomed for failure. Which means the favorable opinions of the people in his region or county wake him up in the morning and keep the shotgun pointed away from his head. So when Mr. Hatch jeopardizes his very existence and position in his region, Mr. Thompson rationalizes killing him by hallucinating Mr. Helton's stabbing. The desire to save his reputation, transforms into a county-wide PR campaign that fails to garner support and sympathy. In a creepy irony, Mr. Thompson ends up in an "awkward" position right before he shoots himself. 

Had Mr. Hatch been a Black man, do you think he would have been tried and do you think he would have lost his reputation? Why does Mr. Hatch introduce himself as a descendant from this small South Texas county?