Throughout the majority of Meridian I had silently but distantly disliked Truman, appreciated Meridian, and couldn’t fully understand Lynne’s character.
My distaste for Truman swelled after Lynne’s rape, when he confronts Tommy Odds and asks why Odds raped his wife.
This conversation, about Odds raping Lynne, should not have been about race, and was certainly not about atoning for sins. The next couple pages make me sputter with anger, so much so that I find it difficult to develop a coherent argument without snapping the book closed and throwing it somewhere.
Truman asks, “Why did you do it, man” (177). Okay, we’re off to a good start. Lynne’s husband wants to know why she was brutally attacked by his friend; perhaps he is looking for revenge or for information that would provide closure.
Tommy Odd’s ‘explanation’ for his actions begins with “Because your woman ain’t shit.” Okay, stop there. The right move would be for Truman to A) Punch the selfish, abusive, egotistical and misogynistic asshole in the face, or B) walk out before letting him finish his selfish, abusive, egotistical and misogynistic sentence. But Tommy Odds continues to speak, “She didn’t even fight. She was just laying back waiting to give it up.”
Truman weakly tries to ‘defend’ his wife (he’s defending his wife for being raped?? Why is this conversation happening after this man assaulted her??) and says she felt sorry for Tommy Odds, and the two banter back and forth over this point. The ship is sinking and I know it by this back-and-forth whiny dialogue—
If Truman were ever going to spit upon his wife’s rapist, the two wouldn’t be going back and forth debating whether or not Lynne felt sorry for him. If he were actually going to be a supportive husband, he wouldn’t be engaging in such a stupid argument over whether or not Lynne felt sorry for Tommy Odds because of his skin color. Why is a discussion being had over race? He just admitted he raped her. It frustrates me that I’m writing this. Lynne did not deserve being raped, and the fact that Truman condones it by not following points A or B makes me want to vomit and shake and then murder his character off.
And then it gets even worse! Tommy Odds tells Truman that he raped his wife and the mother of his child out right, and that she “ain’t been fucking [Truman], she’s been atoning for her sins” (179). What?? In this sneaky, abusive, disgusting sentence Tommy Odds has switched the conversation from the fact that he raped another innocent human being to why she deserved the rape and why the reader should feel sorry for the two. Yes, Truman, I did sexually assault your wife, but that’s not a big deal because she’s only been fucking you because she feels bad that white people are racist.
I do not understand why this chauvinistic pig needs to exist within this book, and it infuriates me that he is allowed enough textual space to ‘defend’ the rape and make the assault about race and his own struggles.
So, okay, Tommy Odds is a sexist asshole and what will logically follow is Truman’s A) Punch in the face, B) walking out or C) explaining why Odds is an asshole and then walking out. Rather, Truman goes with D) none of the above. “’That’s not true,” said Truman, sounding weak, even to himself” (179). What is this whiny, melodramatic sentence? I picture Truman weakly and dramatically looking off into the distance, mumbling to himself, “no, it can’t be true,” and secretly oozing over the fact that suddenly the rape is now a reason to feel sorry for himself. I cannot tell if Truman is just also a misanthropic misogynist, or if Walker is intentionally trying to make a statement about Lynne’s character, and wants the reader to be frustrated with her?
Tommy Odds continues to whine about how difficult it was for Lynne to feel sorry for him, and how he subsequently needed to rape her because of this, and then finishes with “I should have killed her” (179). Truman weakly responds with a “no—
“ and finally turns away. Tommy Odds has raped his wife and then threatens to murder his wife and the two make it about themselves, why she deserved it, and why he was allowed to rape her because she feels sorry for black people. Is the book trying to desensitize the reader to the weight of Odds’ actions, and the word “rape”? Or are Tommy Odds and Truman simply abusive, horrifyingly self-righteous bigots?
I cannot tell how feminism would engage this book, as I can’t tell if the misogyny is intentional. Moran expounds upon the development of feminism in Interdisciplinarity: feminism “has been founded on an impatience with the power arrangements…and the way that the experience of women is devalued or excluded” (Moran 92). Is Lynne yet another example of women being devalued and excluded? Or are the characters of Truman and Tommy Odds merely parodies of themselves?