Friday, May 11, 2012

Lee, Le, Li....

I find DeLillo's use of Lee's name throughout the novel is very interesting especially how well it all ties in with as character and are historically accurate.

Lee takes on many different aliases throughout the procession of the novel. This last and most important one to me is Leon. Leon is the alias who will be carrying out the assassination and is the one in cahoots with the other conspirators. Leon is also the name would go down in history if Lee had not been a recognizable figure and had people who knew him such as Ferrie and his family.

I also really appreciated the title Libra and tying in of the astrological sign and that Lee was a Libra. Considering that the astrological sign of the Libra is all about balance it somewhat ironic. As a  character Lee is not very balanced at all. He is more negative that positive. He is definitely more unorganized than organized. His organization prevents him even more from being balanced. Which in the end leads to his demise.

I have never really been one to believe in astrology and horoscopes but in Lee's case, I would say that it plays a role. His unorganized acts in the Kennedy assassination and the few hours after leading to his arrest make this very apparent. Lee fired his shots too early, leading to the plan not going the way it was supposed to. His cockiness and failure to comply with a policeman leading to him murdering the man also shows how unorganized he was. Lee didn't have a plan for escape. He paced for some time in a back alley rather than just leaving the scene of the crime and going far away. If Lee had been balanced which is the main theme of his zodiac sign he would have been more organized and would have gotten  away. I'm not saying that he would have gotten away with the murder of President Kennedy, but it might have taken longer for him to get caught.

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