Jedediah Berrys Inheritance

Chiril Anca-Georgiana MA in American Studies 2nd year Written by the 2010-William L. Crawford Award-winner Jedediah Berry, in a style that is hard to characterize accurately, the mind-twisting short fiction entitled symbolically Inheritance approaches the eternal issue of the oppressive parental authority in a highly mysterious and metaphorical manner. The fantastic story focuses on the life of an ordinary history teacher, Greg, who finds in his fathers basement, after his death, an uncanny, hirsute animal which is invariably referred to as the beast all throughout the story, as its real identity is never revealed but only suggested to the reader. Although the reason why the beast is left there in the basement, dirty, injured and half-starved, is not made explicit and Greg is unaware of its existence until his fathers death, we understand that it is a sort of inheritance from his father. Now Greg not only has to deal with his fathers death, but also with this more-than-strange creature, which gradually absorbs the lives of all those around it, especially Gregs wifes, who even struggles to teach it how to speak. Despite all efforts, the beast cannot be trained to lead a normal life and cannot adapt to the requirements of a domestic lifestyle, therefore needs to die, as it represents too greater a threat for the neighbours and the people around it. The short story is filled with expressive symbolism and, obviously, the main focus is placed on the beast character. Although not a human character, and furthermore, an ambiguous-identity character, the beast is suggestive of fear. Generally speaking, the scriptural beast, as presented in arts and literature, is associated with fear and evil. It is a symbol of the powerful innate human evil that people constantly have to fight back in order to suppress. In psychology, the first level of the human psyche, the subconscious or the id, is associated with our most primitive, basic drives and instincts that cannot be fully controlled by the superego, the organised level of the psyche that criticises and prohibits its own impulses, instincts, feelings or actions.

Therefore, in the present short story, the beast can be interpreted as an embodiment of Gregs subconscious, father-figure-related fears and frustrations. During one of Phils visits into Gregs office, while looking at some old photos, we learn that Gregs father, Lyle, used to fight in the war and according to the photobased description we understand that he was a rough, rigid man (with his arms around his buddies, always grinning, sometimes pointing straight at the camera as if to say, "Hey, you there!"). The patriarchal image that Greg had in his mind was carved out of fear rather than love, and the fact that they did not get along nor talked to each other is also made obvious in the end of the story when we are told that for many years Greg passed by his fathers house at night without visiting (Greg used to drive past the house at night, if he had to go to the store for something. And sometimes the kitchen light would be on, and he'd wonder what his father was doing in there taking in a cowboy movie, probably, or a gin and tonic. But Greg never stopped and went in). One cannot tell for sure if his father had always been like this (a real macho) or if the war had turned him into the cruel, heartless man, but one thing is for sure: Greg still suffers great trauma on this matter even long after his fathers death. One example that best expresses the personal psychological trauma is the fact that, during history classes, Greg spends much more time on the holocaust, the atomic bomb and World War II than the curriculum allows and insists on these units greatly. Therefore, we can deduce that there was a sort of conflict between Greg, who seems to be a vehement opposer of war, and his father, whose entire life revolved around war, as war is like a drug to anyone who experiences it. Ideally speaking, war is supposed to destroy evil, re-establish peace, justice and harmony, at a cosmic, social and spiritual level. However, throughout time, war has developed many unwanted forms and has dramatically changed its basic purpose of re-establishing order. Moreover, we can interprete the beast as suggestive of the disastrous effects of war. The war causes long-term catastrophic effects both at a psychological and physical level, and the people who take part in a war (aggressors or aggressed) are all its victims. The starvation, dirt and injuries of the beast are suggestive of the physical mutilation that the war may cause, while its inability to adapt to the normal, domestic type of life represents the psychological handicap that people suffer during and after the war, that impedes them from returning to their normal, everyday routines. The word beast would normally make us think of something fearful, powerful and evil, 2

but this particular decayed beast makes us feel pity and compassion instead. Just as Gregs brave and rigid father was eventually kneeled by an overwhelming illness, the beast was stripped off its fearful characteristics and left to the mercy of others. Although it still has some aggressive attempts, it eventually becomes a puppet on a string that the others manipulate (e.g.: Gregs wife even teaches it how to speak). In the end, the episode when Greg eventually has to kill the beast is a very touching and yet symbolic one. Killing the beast, the embodiment of Gregs personal trauma, is like finding a way to deal with this issue and maybe even to put an end to it. The beast was the last reminder of his authoritative father so he had to kill it in order to move on. Another important symbol in the text is Gregs wife, Lilith, and particularly her name. According to the Dictionary of Symbols (vol.2, p. 220), in the Cabbalistic tradition, Lilith is the name of the woman created before Eve, together with Adam, not out of his rib, but right out of dust. She considered herself Adams equal and after a fight between the two, she spoke Gods name and ran away, taking the devils side. According to another tradition, Lilith is the first Eve, which Cain and Abel fought over for, because she was not their relative, being created independently from Adam. Lilith would eventually become Eves enemy, by generating unlawful love relations and troubling marriages. She usually represents the hatred against family, couples and children, as she could not integrate within the human existence, the interpersonal relationships and communitarian relations. Berrys Lilith, however, displays a protective fascination with the beast and manifests an obsessive maternal care with this strange creature. She could be interpreted as the embodiment of the obsessive and possessive maternal figure, and at a point, she could be viewed as an ideal mother figure, if she didnt love a beast. Unlike the mythical Lilith, she is a loving and understanding wife and a potentially good mother, if she werent so obsessively caring. Another important character is Abe (most probably short for Abraham), one of Gregs and Gregs fathers best friends. The Dictionary of Symbols (vol.1, p.163) reveals that Abraham was a biblical patriarch who was ordered by God to leave his polytheistic country and head for an unknown one (Canaan), towards which He would guide him. Here, with his pure faith in God, he set the basis for the monotheistic culture. He was even asked by God to kill his own son and he wouldve been willing to do so, if it hadnt been for God Himself to stop him. Abraham symbolises the man chosen by God to guard the sacred legacy of faith, like a New Adam, and is also 3

associated with the concept of faithful man. His name means father of the crowd, because although he was married to a sterile wife and had no children, became the father of an uncountable posterity. Jedediah Berrys Abe represents an alternative father figure for Greg or a surrogate father. A little bit younger than Gregs father and a little bit older than Greg, he is a friend of both and, thus, represents a mediator between the two, a link that brings them together somehow. After Gregs fathers death, he somehow replaces the father figure, but in a friendlier way. He offers Greg advice and tries to guide him in his most frustrating and difficult moments (such as the killing of the beast in the end). Perhaps what Greg was actually looking for in a father were friendship and understanding and not authority and imposed respect. Jedediah Berry manages to transpose an ordinary personal drama, such as a conflicting father-son relationship, into a wonderful metaphor that overwhelms with its rich, poetic and sensitive symbolism. I really enjoyed reading this fantastic short story, not only because of the aesthetic pleasure, but also because it is stimulating and mind-twisting, and doesnt offer everything on a silver platter. References: - Chevalier, Jean; Gheerbrant, Alain Dicionar de simboluri, vol. 1(p. 220),2 (p.163), Editura Artemis, , Bucureti, 1994. - http://www.writertopia.com/profiles/JedediahBerry