The novel Blackwater clearly falls in the realm of Realism, although the main character does exhibit signs of Romanticism. Although we are told that, “Kelly Kellerher knew about politicians, she was no fool,” (40) it is apparent that Kelly still believes that, if the circumstances are correct, people can rise above their lot in life. Notably, Kelly fights with her father over the policies of Ham Hunt and worked diligently for the doomed presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis because she believes that the right politician in office can help to change the world. Kelly is optimistic and wants to believe in the innate goodness of people. She is astounded when Dukakis loses to Bush because it seemed “self-evident to her that anyone sho saw or heard him must naturally reject him, for how transparently hypocritical! how mean! how crass! how uninformed! how evil!” (42). Kelly firmly believes that the good will be rewarded and the bad will be punished.
Even though her Romantic beliefs falter after the election, it is evident that Kelly still has faith in the innate goodness of man. Throughout the novel, Kelly believes that The Senator will come and save her. Even though he literally kicked her to save himself, Kelly continues to convince herself that “he had been with her, and he was gone and now she was alone but he has gone to get help of course” (74). Throughout chapter 19, Kelly repeats this sentiment as a mantra. “He will be back to help me of course. . . Don’t doubt me, Kelly. Never. . . There is only one direction, and he would come to her from that direction. She knew” (75-76). Kelly holds onto this faith all the way up until “the black water filled her lungs, and she died” on the very last page of the book.
Kelly’s Romantic optimism is so strong that it almost convinces the reader that the outcome will be the one that we want, not the one that is realistic. But, after all, Blackwater is rooted in Realism. As much as we want to believe that Kelly, a good person, will indeed be saved, we know that that is not how the world works. The Senator was not, as Kelly first described him, “tall broad-shouldered handsome man, big bearlike man, gray fizzled curly hair, a famous face yet a comfortable face, a sunflower face, a kindly face. . .the blue eyes so blue so keenly so intensely blue a blue like washed glass” (105). He was, in reality, “not a handsome nor even perhaps a healthy man exactly: his skin was very flushed, unevenly mottled, tiny broken capillaries in the nose and cheeks, and his eyes, that distinctive blue but the lids were somewhat puffy, the large staring eyeballs threaded with blood” (116). This description belies the truth - no matter how hard Kelly wants to believe that The Senator is a good man with real interest in her, he is just a middle-aged man in the middle of a divorce who is used to women giving him want he wants. In the end, The Senator has no innate goodness in him, just ruthless ambition which causes him to hide from passing motorists instead of asking them for help in saving Kelly. His quest for power and control lead him to not only give Kelly up for dead, but to blame it all on her, saying “The girl was drunk, and she got emotional, she grabbed at the wheel and the car swerved off the road” (147).
Overall, the novel Blackwater is rooted in Realism, in the knowledge that people in power will do anything to stay in power, even if that includes stepping on the people that get in their way. The Senator personifies the way in which the rich and powerful get what they want, whether it be sex with a beautiful young woman, or someone to clean up their mess when things go awry. The novel shows that it doesn’t matter how idealistic the players of the game are, the brutal realities of life will always win out in the end.
Source: Oates, Joyce Carol. Blackwater. Plume Books: New York, 1993.
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