In Tess Gunty’s The Rabbit Hutch, each character lives as if they are already dead, navigating life in a state of apathy. This theme weaves its way throughout the story with the characters in the book showing a kind of detachment from life yet a strong connection to their dying town of Vacca Vale. The characters align themselves with their dying town, essentially killing themselves in the process. Throughout the novel, each character desperately tries to find an identity of their own, but they are largely unsuccessful in finding one outside of the town.
Blandine, for instance, is the ultimate embodiment of such a predicament. She identifies with Vacca Vale to such an extent that she “suspects that if medical students sliced open her body, they would find a miniature Vacca Vale nestled inside it” (Gunty, 136). This town that Blandine says resides within her is quickly deteriorating; in fact, “[t]his year, Vacca Vale ranked first on Newsweek’s bafflingly heartless list of ‘Top Ten Dying Cities’”(108). Despite the gloominess of the town, Blandine adores it, and wants nothing more than to see it stay the way it currently is.
Other characters in the novel also find themselves stuck in a state of emotional and spiritual death within a town that is fading away. Their lives are tightly connected to the town's decline, keeping them in a constant state of standstill. Their shared struggle to break free from the town's decay highlights the bigger issue of individuals trying to figure out who they are when their environment is on the decline. In fact, Jack says that “[i]f [he] ever got the chance to escape, [he] would fucking seize it” (181). The town's economic and social decline mirrors the residents' struggle to escape their own emotional and spiritual rut. Vacca Vale’s downfall mirrors the characters' own inability to rise above their circumstances and move away from their sense of being lifeless.
In The Rabbit Hutch, the characters' attempts to establish their identities outside the town are met with numerous obstacles. The dying town acts as a significant barrier, making it nearly impossible for them to break free from its grip. As the characters tie themselves to the dying town of Vacca Vale, they seem resigned to a life that lacks vitality and potential. Their inability to carve out individual identities beyond the town effectively locks them into a state of living death, leaving them with little to no dreams or aspirations.
I think you're exactly right that Vacca Vale functions as a barrier keeping the characters from finding themselves. The characters are perpetually disinterested in the town, their lives, and what's going on around them. They find trivial things to form hobbies around, like having a crush on Blandine. I think Gunty's vision for The Rabbit Hutch was to engrain the characters into the "dying" town that was (and still largely is) South Bend. The desolate prospects of poverty consume the characters of the novel and manifest in their unhappiness. I agree that they are living their lives as if they are already dead, as they are trapped in the shells of their lives. I do think Blandine's outlook is fascinating, considering that her life would likely improve exponentially if the town was not a result of the rust belt. It takes an eerie resemblance to Stockholm syndrome, as she is enamored with the system that has failed her. She knows it is flawed, but continues to love it.
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ReplyDeleteI really like how your blog post evaluates Vaca Vale as this shadow of death and bleakness that impedes all characters in the novel from pursuing a better life and moving from past struggles. Even someone like Blandine, who, according to Jack, "could go someplace with fancy people with fancy degrees" (181), decides to stay in this dark, retrograde place because, as you imply, it is the only thing she knows and adores. Throughout a life of abuse, neglect, and unpredictability, seeing the only thing that has remained constant and familiar to her, a rotting town, is, in an inexplicable matter, heartbreaking for her.
ReplyDeleteYet, I also think Blandine's fascination for a soul-sucking town comes from her fascination with mystics and their ability to "never stop searching for portals" (254). Through the reading of the mystics' stories and sacrifices, she sees how these young women were able to transform "suffering [into] wonderland" (254) to reach an ecstatic sense of divinity. Since she lacks love and cannot measure her worth, such stories of pure sacrifice may be the only way for Blandine to see herself in a state of happiness. So just like the mystics never "refused to leave the Green World" (255), Blandine refuses to leave Vaca Vale; maybe because she deems the distress of preserving its essence as her sacrifice to somehow open a portal to a better life, the "Beyond" (255).