Throughout Diaz’s novel, Trust, we see the same series of events and storyline told from multiple perspectives. As a reader, every re-telling seemed to be more believable than the one preceding it, until details started to arise that contradicted other recounts. Only after all four perspectives had been shared did I start to create an opinion on what story I believed was the most accurate: a combination of Ida’s and Mildred’s perspectives.
When we finally got Ida’s perspective, I began to get an idea of the real Bevel and who to trust in the novel. Ida is able to give us the most unfiltered view of who Bevel is. Of course, she’s writing this manuscript of Bevel for her job, but her story is the most believable because she doesn’t have anything to prove. Vanner was writing his novel to make a good story and gain reputation; Bevel wanted the manuscript written to make him look better than he was in order to counteract Vanner’s book; Ida gives us the outside perspective of who Bevel is and his motivations from a point of view that’s not Rask/Bevel. One of the biggest surprises from Ida’s perspective was the force at which Bevel tries to make Mildred into a passive figure and focus the story on only himself (which is an even bigger shock when we learn of Mildred’s influence in her perspective). When Ida provides suggestions on how to better “flesh-out” Bevel’s life or get more information about Mildred, Bevel disregards it as a “pointless exercise” and that Ida should write “decisive pages, not mush,” or that she should add a “feminine touch” (Diaz 267-268). This perspective of Bevel is driven by money and power, which he claims complete credit for, and is a mix of the first two Bevel’s that seems much more believable.
Mildred’s perspective then is the most interesting because we discover that she is the main factor behind lots of Bevel’s success. In earlier recounts, Rask states that his ability to “fly blind during the times when the ticker was unable to keep up with the trading volume” (Diaz 149) is a pillar of his prophet-like reputation. Mildred, however, reveals that it was her who was acting as his pilot during these situations. When the ticker would fall behind, she would instruct Bevel on how to conduct the trades, making an “incalculable fortune” (Diaz 381). She even goes so far to say that “where there’s a ventriloquist, there’s a dummy” (Diz 382). It’s Mildred that was pulling the strings behind Bevel’s operation, and even while she’s in the hospital in Switzerland, we get stories of Bevel calling to ask for Mildred’s opinion and advice on what he should do. I believe her story and recollection of events because it fits with the information that Ida has found about Mildred through the documents. Their stories line up and have evidence, unlike Rask and Bevel’s. The documents that Ida finds describe Mildred’s financial statements of her charitable work being very organized and well-thought out. This would make sense because Mildred says that she was the one conducting business behind the scenes for Bevel all along.
The difficult part about the novel, and honoring the title, is asking yourself the question: which story do I trust? Bias distorts the stories of Rask and Bevel through the first two perspectives, but Ida and Mildred’s perspectives seem clearer. Ida has nothing to prove to others, and the corroborating details from Mildred’s documents and perspective make their collective story the most trustworthy.
I found your insight really interesting for a variety of reasons, and appreciate you taking the time to bifurcate and combine the perspectives provided by Mildred and Ida. Similar to our class discussion, it becomes clear that Andrew Bevel's own personal accounts of himself become highly untrustworthy- from the way he describes how he made his money to the way he described his marriage. As Bevel mentioned himself, he is able to use his means and resources to bend reality to his favor.
ReplyDeleteWhat would also be interesting to explore and understand is why did Mildred allow Bevel make exaggerated claims about his prowess and capabilities, so much to the point other characters in the book outside Mildred and Ida do take Bevel's description of himself at face value? Was this due to the social climate, where men did not expect much from women? I find this interesting because not only does Bevel make outlandish claims that we later find out are not his own accomplishments, but even after Mildred's death, he continues to widen the perceived gap between himself and Mildred (and other women such as Ida).