The big toe reference is an usual aspect of the novel. At this point in the reading, the missing toe seems to be little more than a foot-note in the story. It wasn’t until after the class discussion today that I found a potentially significant connection with the appendage and the book.
In reality, the loss of a toe is by no means life altering. One might endure some pain, but with the proper medical treatment, no person is going to suffer or die from it. The only negative aspect of the loss is that it could lead to a person not feeling whole. With this feeling in mind, one could feel somehow feel different than he/she used to. In extreme instances, one could feel nostalgic for the deceased toe, and see the obvious difference between the whole foot and the modified one. A friend or acquaintance of this person could see the negativity that this alteration inflicted and fear for their own toe. This may sound ridiculous, but the toe could somehow represent the name of the city in the novel.
Like a single toe, the name of a town isn’t essential and it’s removal wouldn’t mean the death of the of it. And like the people who felt nostalgia for their missing toe, Muttonchops and other town members may feel that changing the name of the town may somehow change it for the worse. In a way, it could alter the wholeness of the town. As we can clearly see, just the idea of changing the name has fragmented the town into those who are for it and those who are against.
There exists a passage where one can parallel the missing toe and town name debate on page 20. It states, “They say you can get used to losing a toe. And he had to agree, it was not up there on the list of truly terrible injuries. Of course his socks looked funny to him. Balance-wise, the toe is not that essential and it had been brought to his attention that his limp was psychosomatic. But there he was limping”(Whitehead, 20). This could be a direct reference to the feelings of people like Muttonchops. On the surface, the changing of a town name doesn’t do it any physical harm. Of course maps and signs will need to be updated, but it’s still more of an inconvenience than a life threatening event. But like the character in the novel, there is still a sense of loss or pain felt from the change/removal. Although Muttonchops has no real reason to dislike the change, he still does. I only hope his reasoning is further explained as the novel progresses.
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November 16, 2007 at 3:19 am
Christine
This is a really insightful blog and I love the parallels you drew between the amputated toe and the town’s name. I know we didn’t talk much in class today about the narrator stubbing his toe, but the story about how it happened was brought up at the end of the section we had to read and I felt like we were only told half the story and if we’re lucky, maybe the narrator will decide to finish it for us at a later date. Sure, I would like to know why a stubbed toe was amputated, but I don’t find that story line as intriguing as the others dealing with the renaming of the town. However, your parallels have given me a new perspective in which to look at the toe in connection with the naming of the town and it will be interesting to see if that continues throughout the rest of the novel.
November 28, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Marina
Nice post, no so nice a picture of a nasty foot!
I like your thoughts about not feeling whole. I think one of the worst pains in the world is stubbing a toe, but on the other hand I don’t think I’ve ever stubbed a toe other than my big toe. Not only do I find it unusual to stub one of the smaller toes, but I think its completely asinine that he has to have a toe removed for stubbing it. But aside from the ridiculousness of it all, I think you have a good point about the toes alter meaning for the name of the town. The toe repeats and the stubbing of the toe repeats. It’s all very odd and suspicious. Maybe he just doesn’t know how to walk correctly?!?