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
As soon as they arrive in Chicago, Binx feels attacked by the city’s “genie-soul.” It feels as if “five million personal rays of Chicagoans” and the city’s smell overwhelm him before he even ventures outside the train station. He wishes someone could tell him the history of the train station; it should be someone’s job, so that a newcomer doesn’t become an Anyone.
No matter where one goes, one must “master [the genie-soul] first thing or be met and mastered.” Binx believes that Southerners are especially susceptible to the sadness of Northern cities. They grow up living in haunted Civil War towns and confront ghosts wherever they go. Chicago’s fierce wind and cold spaces make up its “genie-soul.” He also remembers coming here with his father after Scott’s death and feeling unable to embrace the father-son intimacy his father longed for.
Binx grew up sensing very specific “souls” of places and finds sprawling Northern cities lacking such obvious “ghosts” that can be quickly mastered. Chicago’s “ghost” manifests on a less human scale, which is in keeping with the anonymous feeling of a big city. Binx’s memories of Chicago are also associated with an inability to find intimacy.
Themes
Binx and Kate head to the conference hotel, where Binx is quickly swept into a welcome reception and is cheered by the spirit of brotherhood among businessmen. But he soon grows weary of this, and he and Kate wander across the city in search of Harold Graebner. He lives in a neighborhood called Wilmette which seems to be lacking a “soul.” Binx is distracted all the time by Kate, musing about the “sickness” of being stuck between Christian and pagan views of sex.
Binx’s feelings for Kate are complicated. He can’t obsessively fantasize about her like he used to do about his secretaries, since he actually knows and cares for her intimately as an individual. By “sickness,” Binx means that he feels stuck between value systems: he’s neither Christian nor pagan, so he doesn’t feel right about either indulging or denying his sexual desire for Kate.
Themes
Harold Graebner is wealthy and lives in a new suburb. Binx finds Harold to be a simple, good-natured fellow. Binx and Kate visit Harold for about 20 minutes. Binx admires Harold because he acted heroically in Korea, though Harold is matter-of-fact about his war experiences. Harold’s wife is beautiful but stands holding the baby during the visit, never asking the guests to sit down. The visit is awkward and restless, and Harold seems uncomfortable when Binx talks about the war. Binx feels he brought bad memories with him and that it’s better if he leaves.
The Graebners live in one of the new, sprawling suburbs that Binx finds to be lacking in any apparent “soul” or identity. The Graebers’ life, or at least the brief glimpse Binx gets, seems to reflect this generic lifestyle, and old war memories have no obvious place here—meaning they struggle to connect. The visit to the Graebners also seems to confront Binx and Kate with a picture of married life they can’t imagine fulfilling themselves.
Themes
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Binx and Kate go to the movies and see a Paul Newman film about a cynical man who regains his youthful idealism. Kate clings to Binx the whole time and wails along with the Chicago wind as they walk home to the hotel. She feels like something is about to happen. When they get back to the hotel, they receive a message from Aunt Emily, who is furious—nobody knew where Kate had gone. She demands to know why didn’t Binx tell them he was leaving, but Binx can’t remember.
The Paul Newman film typifies the movies’ approach to Binx’s search—a person questioning the world and later accepting it. On this particular day, this theme of the search’s abandonment has a prophetic feeling. Aunt Emily’s call further signals that things in Binx’s life are about to change significantly.
Themes
