LOST MEMORY OF SKIN

Russell Banks

Part five, chapters; one - five

Both the Kid and the Professor are presented in the first chapter of this section as having no comprehensive narrative to their lives. I find it interesting that these characters are so comparable, even with seemingly different lives.

When the Professor goes missing, it makes things even more interesting in that we seem to have no clue who the Professor actually is. There is doubt as to homicide v. suicide, as well as the Kid's own doubt as to the validity of everything the Professor has told him. He even thinks about asking the writer for help in figuring out whether the video could be real.

Is the shackling of the Professor to the van supposed to make uncertain as to the truth behind the Professor's death? I have done so much second guessing in this book, that I fear the end will leave more questions for me.

I also felt left with a lot of questions. I wondered if the Writer was actually some kind of government agent, who may even have killed the Prof. However, I'm hoping that the Kid will find some justice some how. Or, at least continue to develop and perhaps live a better life.

I felt Banks used the prejudice and bias of the reader to his full advantage in this novel. The men under the causeway were convicted sex offenders, the reader was never told what exactly their crimes were. They may have been convicted of indecent exposure, or, rape. They were homeless sex offenders and I felt as a reader I was supposed to despise them. Then, there is the professor. He was educated, nicely dressed, lived in a nice house, married with children and even though he exhibits bizarre behavior, I’m not supposed to really doubt him, even though the professor gives me cause to distrust him. But I did distrust him, and I did see him as a sex offender. The cops were after him, he didn’t need to speak to his parents, he knew what the cops were asking about, they were closing in on him and he committed suicide. I never believed for one minute the elaborate web of lies he conjured up. He was pathetic. The professor was the most educated, most nicely dressed, most articulate, most despicable most offensive and certainly the most dangerous predator in the entire novel.

I really want Kid to have a better life as well. I want him to continue to live in the swamp and stay connected to the owner and his wife. I think it could be good for him to live away from the other homeless men as he seemed to feel the need to pose more as this hardened man when he is really still much more of a hurt child.