Like many other of Delillo's characters Manx does not seem to fit into his present lifestyle. He is uncomfortable in his surroundings and is searching for a new and different set of circumstances. Manx is "unconnected to fact" and habitually forgets.
DeLillo's first mention of Manx is in reference to his absence from the family dinner table. He is not present and they do not know if he will even show up. When he does appear it is with "a tightness that says he's home...stuck to the wall like he wandered in the wrong door and needs to work out the details of his mistake."
We can sense from the dialogue in Manx Martin 1 that Manx is uneasy even talking with Cotter and Cotter in return is careful in what he says to his father so that he will not cross or even step onto his mother's path. The conversation consists of short direct phrases that jump right to the point. It is only when Cotter mentions the infamous Bobby Thompson homerun ball he chased down earlier in the day and now possesses that the dialogue switches and his father seems to come to life. The ball could be what Manx has been looking for. He knows if he can just prove that the ball his son now possesses is the original he will be rewarded a large sum of money. Upon his son's news Manx's voice changes becoming "sensible and thought-out, defining things for the teachable son --we are responsible to our family, not to the vanity of keepsakes and souvenirs."
But is Manx really trying to teach his son or does he have alterior motives? Based on Manx's personality and behavior thus far and Cotter's internal statement that he must stick with his mother or he knows he is dead I would say Manx has other plans in mind when he decides to steal the ball from Cotter in the middle of the night.
Lynette Erbe
In the second section devoted to Manx we learn that Manx does have a underground life. He is apparently in connection with several other men in a stealing operation. This reminded me of not only Goodfellas and it's portrayal of organized crime in the Italian community but also of Jimmy and his inclusion in a gambling operation.
In this section we also find out that Manx remains secluded and tense even around his friends/business buddies. He remains uneasy and unsure of who he is and what he is trying to accomplish. When he tells Antoine about the baseball he immediately feels as if he has lied and regrets bringing the ball to the surface of the table. Wishing he could now take his actions back he puts the ball back into his pocket where he knows it will be safe and retreats himself in hopes of protection from Antoine's negativity about the ball and it's value.
Only at the end of the section does Manx find happiness among the thousands of baseball fans waiting to buy tickets for the World Series. This is ironic to me that Manx finds himself only in an unconnected world of people and things. He does not know anyone waiting to buy tickets and confesses earlier to not knowing a thing about baseball. Most people only feel comfortable in that which is familiar. Manx seems to be the very opposite.
Lynette Erbe
In the Prologue, Delillo takes us to the famous baseball game at the Pologrounds on October 3, 1951 where Jackie Gleason, Frank Sinatra and J. Edgar Hoover ("Jedgar") are present. When discussing why Hoover would be hanging-out with these "crumbums", DeLillo says that, "fame and secrecy are the high and low ends of the same fascination, the static crackle of some libidinous thing in the world, and Edgar responds to people who have access to this energy. He wants to be their dearly devoted friend provided their hidden lives are in his private files, all the rumors collected and indexed, the shadow facts made real."
When I was reading it, I wondered if these three people actually hung-out together. I recently read an article in The Washington Post(December 9, 1998) which discussed Sinatra's alleged involvement with various mobsters and the FBI's and Hoover's investigation of this. It seems that nothing really came of these investigations, nonetheless, it would suggest that Sinatra and Hoover would not be attending a baseball game together. In fact, one year before DeLillo protrays the two of them enjoying a game with each other, The Post reports that:
In 1950, Sinatra sent an unnamed intermediary to seek an audience with Hoover, offering Sinatra's help as an informant in the entertainment world. The intermediary said he conveyed Sinatra's concern about the allegations against him, as well as the singer's desire to help the bureau. The go-between never got to see Hoover, and a deputy agent was noncommittal.
Later, at the bottom of a report on the visit, Hoover's top aide, Clyde Tolson, scrawled: "We want nothing to do with him." Below that is the inscription: "I agree ö H."
This all makes me wonder why DeLillo would have these two together. What is his meaning?? Unfortunately, I do not have the answer.
Elisa Stafford
Manx Martin asks the question which is better - a non-existant father or an under-handed one? Nick Shay spends his life trying to forget his father, to prove that Jimmy's leaving did not affect him. I wonder what Nick would say if Manx was his father?
Manx violates his son's (Cotter) trust by stealing the Bobby Thompson homerun ball, while he is sleeping. He goes to a bar before trying to sell the ball, and only gets $32 for it. As a baseball fan, I don't know if I would sell it, but I certainly wouldn't want it stolen from me.
One of the disappointing aspects of Underworld is that we don't get to see what happens to Cotter. His sister, Rosie, does appear later (earlier?) in the novel but I, personally, would be curious to see what happened to Cotter - how did his father's sin impact the rest of his life?
Meredith Walker
From 1911 to 1964, the Polo Grounds was home to three Major League Baseball teams in New York City. The New York Giants, perhaps the most well-known of the three, played there for 46 years - from the opening in 1911 until they left for California in 1957. The New York Yankees shared space with them for the first 11 of years of the stadium - Yankee Stadium opened in the Bronx a year later. Finally, while the Mets, an expansion team, waited for their brand-new Shea Stadium to be completed in Queens, the Polo Grounds hosted two seasons of Major League Baseball. Alone and abandoned, the Grounds were torn down in 1964.
Meredith Walker
After reading Don DeLillo's account of the 1951 Championship game at the Polo Grounds, I couldn't help but wonder what actually happened to the Thompson homer. Did DeLillo make up a fictional account or was his tale of the homer an attempt to recreate history? In the 1997 article, "One Degree of Separation" in the Village Voice I found my answer. According to Bobby Thompson, "The catch was made by someone in the stands. There were dozens of pretenders, but the ball I hit was never returned."
John Lee Smith, a fan sitting in the stands on that fateful day, offered a deeper insight into the mystery. "I thought it was going to hit me in the head," he recalled recently. "He had a kind of hook on the ball, so it came in a couple of seats from where I was." Smith saw the ball veer toward a young black "around 11 or 12," with a glove and Giants cap, standing in the aisle. "This little buddy--he'd been standing there, I don't think he had a seat--had been hollering at [Giant] Monte Irvin the whole game. I that that was his hero. Low and behold, the ball came right to his glove. He reached I'd say about a foot above his head. Perfect Gold Glove catch. Then he ran up the steps and disappeared. Once he left the premises there was no way he could authenticate it. He needed us."
It appears from these two accounts that DeLillo attempted to recreate the past with description of the Polo Grounds and his character Cotter. Cotter, like the unknown ball catcher, was a young, black child and an energetic baseball fan. Both appeared to have jumped the gate in order to watch the game-Cotter actually finding a seat, while the unknown standing throughout. In addition, as Smith points out, with no ticket stubs, both Cotter and the mysterious catcher needed the men they were sitting or standing around to verify their stories. Without that, they had nothing.
Sarah Doran
"There's something he can get from his father that he can't get from his mother," DeLillo writes when describing the relationship between Cotter and Manx. This something, I imagined, was going to be a role model and a friend but instead the stiff relationship that Manx has with Cotter becomes more evident when Manx steals the baseball from his own flesh and blood. One should not think that Manx's first time stealing was a fluke because his family despearelty needed money, but rather understand that Manx has stolen shovels, spends money on alcohol, and sells the ball for a mere thirtysome dollars.
Cotter needed a father, a friend, a confidant in this rough world someone who would motivate him to be good, to succeed and to be a leader. Instead, his father steals from him not only a materialistic posession but his son's trust and love.
Martin, a poor African American lived during time of severe racism which resulted in treating American citizens as second class citizens. As Martin wanders the street late at night, the sense of loneliness, despair, and selfishness is evident to the reader. Perhaps this character lives underworld, as he lurks around to late night pubs and wanders the streets of New York listening to street preachers, being accosted for theft, and peeping at the families who wait to buy baseball tickets to the upcoming baseball game.
Manx Martin was one of my favorite characters because I fell in love with Cotter during the prologue. Cotter's character develops as we watch him meet a peanut vender and befriend his neighbor in the stands. His young spirit and passion for baseball is evident as he runs on a wild chase to protect the winning ball that he fought so eagerly for. I couldn't wait to find out who Cotter will tell and what he would do and when Manx is introduced I was curious about their relationship and I couldn't wait to see what Cotter was going to "get from his father" that he wouldn't "get from his mother". Unfortunately, what he gets from his father is not fatherly love or protection.
Very often the people I portray can't help but be in that way of life. They're bad and they're doing bad things. And we condemn those aspects of them. But they're also human beings. I find that often the people passing moral judgement on them may ultimately be worse.
-Scorsese on Scorsese
Amy Eichenwald
In DeLillo's prologue there was so much excitement and commotion that as readers many of us skimmed over the part of someone having a heart attak and being carried away. We were awe struck rather than disgusted by Weegees photos. As a class, we did not find fault in Valeri's shooting of Warhol becuase of her own unsuccessful life. And now we focus our attention to GOODFELLAS, a movie we are so desperately attempting to link to a family or community that we are overlooking the murder, the betrayal, and ithe distrust of fellow "goodfellas".
The first scene of the movie is the scene that stands out in my mind. Henry, a well dressed, calm and complacent man is driving a car. His friend sit quietly and peacefully at rest when they are suddenly disturbed by a...flat tire! Soon we find out the flat tire happens to be a dead body. The scene ends in red with loud music playing in the background. I am eager to find out what is going to happen to Henry and his co-workers and throughout this curiosity I am not angry of disgusted with the individuals. Scorses writes in SCORSES ON SCORSES about his desire to create characters that people would side with and not be abgry at their dishyst which is something that happened to me.