Misfits

« A misfit is a person not suited in behavior or attitude to a particular social environment.

The first two texts that I chose shows how being a misfit can cause problems in communication while the last text proves that a misfit is not necessarily alone.

The Dumb Waiter, written by Harold Pinter in 1957 is a one-act play about two professional killers waiting in a basement room for their orders concerning the next job.

Gus is the junior member, and the less intelligent.

During the play, he keeps asking Ben some random questions such as “that’s funny, isn’t it?” or “Who, me?”.

His meaningless remarks lead to a lack of communication that isn’t helping the progression of the action.

For example, when he affirms that the matches “will come handy” and when Ben answers “Yes.”, he needs to response “Won’t they?”.

Gus can be considered as the misfit between the two because of his absurd quarrels.

On the other hand, this play also shows how misfits can be inferior and dependent.

Here, Gus is entirely listening to the orders of Ben.

Ben isn’t doing anything and is playing with the stupidity of his partner: his orders aren’t precise.

Indeed, when he wants Gus “to open the door and see if he can catch anyone outside” he just tells him to “Well, go on.”.

Ben is also rude with Gus.

When they are arguing over the semantics of “light the kettle” and “put on the kettle”, Ben gets angry and is hurting Gus feelings while he says ironically : “When did you last see your mother?” Also, Ben isn’t letting Gus finish his sentences “I don’t know about –”, “Yes-but”.

In the play of Harold Pinter, one sort of misfit is point out: the ones who have a stupid attitude that prevent them to suit in the society.

The crying of Lot 49 is the shortest novel of Thomas Pynchon, first published in 1966.

The novel follows Oedipa Maas, a California housewife who becomes entangled in a convoluted historical mystery when her ex-lover dies and designates her co-executor of his estate.

Just by reading the first chapter, we can already dress an important aspect of Oedipa Mass: she has a lot of culture.

Thomas Pynchon uses the intern point of view that allows the reader to know what she is thinking.

And she is thinking a lot! For example, when she is remembering a hotel in Mazatlan, she can’t stop herself from referring to monuments or music such as Cornell University or Bartok Concerto for Orchestra that shows her general culture.

Her intelligence also allows her to communicate and laugh with herself: “Was that how he’d died, among dreams, crushed by the only ikon in the house? Those only made her laugh”.

This extract shows how a person who is very intelligent and develop can have problems in suiting in the society.

Her meditation about every word pronounced, can make the person who is talking to her, feel uncomfortable or bored.

In each case, the person will try to avoid her or will laugh at her.

That’s why a person with too much knowledge can be considered as a misfit.

The last text that I chose shows how a person with physical default can have difficulty to suit in society but also how he can find a partner with the same characteristics as him that will play the role of a “friend”.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is the debut novel by the American Author Carson McCullers, a woman who was only 23 years old when it was first published in 1940.

The novel is about two man named John Singer and Antonapoulos.

During the incipit, the reader learns that Antonapoulos and Singer have nothing in common: Antonapoulos is obese, sloppy, dirty, lazy, dreamy, and enjoys solitude while Singer is thin, immaculate, intelligent, joyful, and enjoys interacting with others.

However, one main default is connecting them: they are both mute.

We can considerer Singer and Antonapoulos as misfits because one of their senses, hearing, is preventing them from communicating but, like the theme of “Mis-shapes” by Pulp, they are combining their competence to survive.

In conclusion, a misfit is a person not suited in society because of his behavior or attitude.

You can be considered as a misfit if you are under the degree of intelligence fixed by society, or on the other hand, because you are way above.

Being mute, blind, deaf or other kind of default can also lead to a non insertion in the social environment.

However, “misfits aren’t. »