Response to Maddie on Re: Re: Tropic of Confusion

I don’t necessarily like or dislike the narrator. I do appreciate his blatant honesty and I do appreciate the style in which Miller writes this ‘song’. I was re-reading the very beginning today and there is a line in the paragraph in which Miller states that this is not a book but it is a song; the line states that this is a spit in the face of art. This makes me think that all of this ’tropic of confusion’ style of writing, pornographic content, lack of a clear, causality plot line and anti-hero protagonist is Miller’s way of saying something similar to what the artist said – the one with the upside down urinal he put into an art exhibit. I think the message is who are we to say Miller’s thoughts, experiences, emotions and this work is not the way it should be done or it shouldn’t have this content in it or that content. I see this entire book as Miller’s way of challenging the norm – in plot structure or lack of, sexual content, stream of conscious style of writing and characters who do not have a clear cut role (as good guys or bad guys).