Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Moviegoer, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Value Systems
Women, Love, and Sex
Modern Life and the Search for Meaning
Loss, Suffering, and Death
Summary
Analysis
On Friday, Binx goes to St. Bernard Parish with Sharon. When they squeeze into Binx’s little car, Sharon is politely detached, clearly killing any hope of flirtation. When they meet Mr. Sartalamaccia, Binx learns that his worthless inheritance has changed. It’s now surrounded by a housing development and a shooting range. Binx points out the features of the property to Sharon, recalling camping there with his father and uncle before the duck club was built.
Binx hopes that when outside of the office environment, Sharon might be more receptive to his advances, but she quashes his dreams. The buildup of the swampland surrounding Binx’s property shows how modern development is encroaching even in rural areas, obscuring specific family histories in favor of generic sprawl.
Themes
Mr. Sartalamaccia interrupts Binx’s account, declaring that he built the duck hunting lodge, not Binx’s family. Binx’s uncle had walked into Sartalamaccia’s store and offered him $1,000 to build the lodge on the spot. Sartalamaccia now owns the adjoining development and has done well for himself; he wants to add the Bolling property. He points out the canal that’s being built to the Gulf; it will steeply increase the value of the land. Later, Sharon tells Binx that he was clever to get Sartalamaccia talking and learn the increased value of the property. But Binx had genuinely enjoyed hearing the man’s story, and he takes pleasure in the money they will both earn from the transaction.
It turns out that Binx’s childhood memory isn’t quite accurate. But even though his family property is going to be swallowed up by a housing development, Binx is unsentimental, taking pleasure in the specific details of the story as well as the financial gain. Binx’s lack of sentimentality and appetite for money both reaffirm that he isn’t a romantic.
Themes
As they drive home, Binx can’t stifle a groan at the sight of Sharon’s beauty. He pretends it was just a stitch in his side, then offers Sharon 10% of the money he’s made, crediting her with getting him to see Sartalamaccia in person. She is skeptical, especially since it turns out that Binx didn’t need a copy of the deed, and refuses the money. Binx is filled with desire for Sharon, who remains as aloof as ever.
Binx is still more obsessed with Sharon than with anything else. For her part, Sharon continues making it clear that nothing, including money, is going to win her over.
Themes
