Sisters Brothers wrap up (3 of 3)

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”- Mahatma Gandhi

Not only do I happen to share a birthday with Gandhi, but I very much share this sentiment as well.  I don’t know where I came up with it, or why I share it- I’m not particularly interested in animal rights; I’m not a vegetarian.  I don’t oppose hunting or testing on animals, and yet there’s something about this quote I inherently agree with.

I’ve been thinking a lot about animals in literature as a result of The Sisters Brothers.  Eli’s horse, Tub, is a character as major as any other, especially as a looking glass for Eli’s compassionate side.  More on that in a minute.

This last June, in the best vacation of my life (even though I’ve been to NYC many, many times), I saw War Horse.  I was underwhelmed; hoping for more.  That’s not to say that the puppetry wasn’t spectacular, but the ending was just so… flat.  Nevertheless, it too made me think about this concept of animals.  The first act of War Horse is phenomenal- it really speaks to the ability of our animals, our pets, as manifestations of the best emotional states we have within us.  For those of you who have seen it, consider the parallel relationships Joey (the horse) has both with the boy Albert and the German officer, Mueller.   It is one thing to see boys in love with their horses (no Equus jokes, please), but it is another to see the “good side” of the “bad German” come out when his animal is threatened.  We sympathize with Mueller- he may even in fact be the third protagonist- because of the sympathy he has for Joey the horse.   Take a look at some of this puppetry:

More, from Planet of the Apes and Sisters Brothers  after the jump. Then, I find the same theme getting ready for the upcoming Rise of the Planet of the Apes when I am watching my original Apes series.  From Cornelius’ explanation of how the Apes began to rise in Escape from Planet of the Apes, below:

By the time the plague was contained, Man was without pets; and for Man, this was intolerable.  He might kill his brother, but he could not kill his dog.  [emphasis mine]

Boy I wish I could have found that on youtube.  Oh well.

Finally, we have Tub in Sisters Brothers.  There’s no question DeWitt intends for us to see Tub as a crucial element of the story; Eli refuses to give him up throughout many times in the novel- even to the point where he is blinded.  The first section is even called  “Trouble with the Horses.”  Tub is a constant reason for Eli to behave mercifully, correctly.   Charles understands Eli’s relationship with Tub as little as he understands Eli’s desire to leave killing-for-hire.  When Tub dies, though, so does Eli’s determination to not kill Warm:

Tub’s death proved useful in diffusing Charlie’s upset, concerned as he was for my well-being, offering me encouraging words, a promise to go halves on a new horse, one who would be just as fit as Nimble [here, Nimble is Charlie's horse] or better.  I went along with his comforts, acting solemn and thoughtful, but in truth I was not particularly unhappy about Tub’s passing.  Now that he was gone it was as though my sympathy for him too was gone and I was looking forward to my life without him.  He was a kindhearted and good animal but he had been a significant burden to me; our lives were not suited as mates.  Many months later I became sentimental about him, and this feeling is still with me today, but at the time of his actual demise I experienced merely a lifted weight.

Animals.  Yeah.   On to Tonio Kroger and Slaughterhouse Five and stuff about this year’s classes.

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