Autobiographies In William Earley's The Art Of Self

[1] William Gass addresses the topic of uniqueness versus universality in relation to autobiographies in “The Art of Self.” Gass asks, “What makes me unique? No; what makes me universal; what serves my reputation; what does not embarrass the scrutinizing, the recollecting self” (Gass, 50). He argues that one distorts their story so that it appears more attractive and acceptable because their priority is who they are remembered as by the public. Therefore, he states that autobiographies are, in a sense, fiction, with their main purpose being to tell a unique story. He questions the believability of autobiographies early, arguing that many people have lives that are so dull and uninteresting they feel they must “perform some feat… in order to

elevate himself above mere existence…” (Gass, 46) to be worthy. Gass concludes by saying they should accept that they are human and should stop erasing the aspects of their lives they deem unacceptable. Moreover, autobiographies should include every aspect of self, good and bad, thus producing the most accurate account of who they are. But, this is impossible if one feels that they must do something such as “sailing alone around the world or climbing a hazardous peak…” (Gass, 46). Gass claims autobiographers must stop creating a unique life and therefore, write a true autobiography entailing the raw experiences of the life they lived. In other words, Gass discusses the making of a unique life from a universal life, arguing that universal should be the goal of autobiographies.
[2] Accordingly, in “Somehow Form A Family” by Tony Earley, Earley counter intuitively makes it clear that he is universal. He says “I looked a lot like Opie in the second or third season of The Andy Griffith Show. I was a small boy with a big head. I wore blue jeans with cuffs turned up and horizontally striped pullover shirts” (Earley, 1). The imagery from this scene allows the reader to visualize Earley fitting in with the fashion trends of the 1970s, the simplistic nature of his appearance, and the ordinariness of this appearance during his childhood. He does not try to make himself unique; still, Earley’s life is worthy of an autobiography. In fact, he exaggerates his ordinary life by continuously stating simple facts about his family and neighborhood. One of the most ordinary facts he mentions is “I was the brother in a father-mother-brother-sister family” (Earley, 1). This, in turn, makes his story universal, satisfying Gass’s desire for true autobiography. He displays his normal American life stating, “We lived in a four-room house at the edge of the country, at the foot of the mountains, outside a small town in North Carolina, but it could have been anywhere (Earley, 1). Readers can easily connect with multiple scenes, especially the numerous accounts of Earley watching TV with family. Even though autobiographies are degraded when Gass says, “Welcome to the extraordinary drama of lied-about ordinary life” (Gass, 48), Earley establishes his “mostly true” (Earley, title page) autobiography based solely on ordinary matters. In fact, Earley’s autobiography demonstrates the opposite of Gass’s view: he remembers watching drama on television and only allows the reader to see his truthfully ordinary life. Earley thus challenges Gass’s assertion that unique is the only instinct modern autobiographies have, so writers write only in a way that makes them unique. Earley proves Gass’s point that universal stories are capable of being the goal of autobiography, as it is found that a unique story can be derived from a universal life.
[3] However, Earley does not align well with Gass when it comes to the making of an autobiography. In order for an autobiography to be an accurate depiction of a
universal life, the autobiographer must rely on memory. But, Earley’s memories do not serve the purpose of making his life more unique, and therefore more interesting. Gass considers this as he asks, “How does autobiography begin? With Memory” (Gass, 45). Memory can easily be inaccurate, as one tends to remember only the things they wish to remember. Bad, or unwanted, memories are usually dissected and certain aspects of it are replaced with false accounts that make the memory more pleasurable. Earley confirms that his autobiography begins with memory, and would please Gass by admitting he was “making myself up – as much as I would any “fictional” character (Earley, xvi). In fact, Earley says, “memory and imagination seem to me the same human property, known by different names” (Earley, xvi). Earley acknowledges that his memory of the night of July 20,1969 is inaccurate explaining, “I was faced on one hand with a memory so strong I was sure it had to be true, and on the other hand with an objective truth significantly different than what I remembered” (Earley, xv). But, whether the moon on that night was full or a waxing crescent does not make his story any more or less unique. Thus, as opposed to Gass’s claim that memories are fictionalized to make a life more unique, Earley proves his memories are fictionalized due to the memory simply being forgotten.
[4] Granted, there are memories Earley did not forget and presents clearly.

He continuously repeats that he lives in a “split-level ranch-style” (Earley, 5) house. Initially, it is unclear why he repeats this fact so often but after closer examination, it becomes obvious. In the same way, there is no unique drama found in Earley’s life on the surface, and no intimation of any sort of struggle until half way through the text. This enhances the belief that his life is completely ordinary. Yet, as the repetition of “split-level ranch-style” (Earley, 5) house is analyzed, it is clear that Earley is implying that something much deeper and dark lies within this home, hinting his universal life is also

unique.
[5] This style of home is strikingly similar to the home in which the Brady family, from the Brady Bunch, lives.

Watching the Brady family allows Earley to escape from the complexities within his reality. His desire to be a part of the Brady family is made evident as he intertwines his life with their fictional life. He says, “Shelly had a crush on Bobby Brady; I had a crush on Jan. Jan had braces, I had braces. Jan had glasses. I had glasses” (Earley, 9). He is trying to determine his compatibility with their family based on similarities between himself and members of the Brady Bunch. Next, he says, “Their daddy was an architect. Our daddy lived in a trailer in town with a poster of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner on the living room wall. The coyote held the Road Runner firmly by the neck. The caption on the poster said “Beep, Beep your ass.”” (Earley, 9). Here, the reader learns there is something less than desirable occurring within Earley’s real life. The fallacy within his ordinary family is shown by this comparison of Mr. Brady the architect, to his father, whose description gives off a bad connotation. In addition, the fact that his father lives in a trailer shows that Earley’s family is broken. He states, “I lay in bed at night and imagined being married to Jan Brady but having an affair with Marsha. I wondered how we would tell Jan, what Marsha and I would do then, where we would go. Greg Brady beat me up. I shook his hand and told him I deserved it. Alice

refused to speak to me” (Earley, 9-10) Earley is fantasizing about being a part of the Brady family, yet it is dim and strange, strengthening the idea that Earley’s life is indeed unique. He makes it difficult to separate fiction from nonfiction with his made up Brady family life, supporting Gass’s assertion that “instead of actual adventures, made up ones are fashionable” (Gass, 48).
[6]Yet, Earley concurrently challenges this claim by presenting multiple actual adventures and events in his life. He says, “we watched Cannon, a Quinn Martin production and Barnaby Jones, a Quinn Martin production, which co-starred Miss America and Uncle Jed from The Beverly Hillbillies. Daddy finished the new part of the house and moved out soon thereafter” (Earley, 8). Earley then proceeds to talk more about TV shows he and his family, minus his father, watched. He briefly mentions drastic changes in his life, and spends no time on the emotions felt after these events occur. The purpose of the TV in Earley’s life was exposed plainly when Shelly, his younger sister died on Christmas Eve. “That night I stayed up late and watched the Pope deliver the Christmas mass from the Vatican. There was nothing else on” (Earley, 15). Here, there is a shift from the type of TV shows he normally watches; this is the first time he is watching a religious program. It can be inferred that Earley is expressing TV is his form of religion. Following Shelly’s death, a change in Earley is seen as he talks about returning home and only mentions negative things, then quickly resumes his discussion of television shows. Gass states, “the autobiographer tends to do partials, to skip the dull parts and circle the pits of embarrassment” (Gass, 45). While Earley only briefly touches on the ‘dull parts,’ these are the details that add validity to his autobiography make it clear that his life is unique.
[7] It would be plausible for someone to argue that Earley’s autobiography is tailored to please the public eye, and thus the universality is inaccurate. Gass and Earley both agree that autobiography stems from narcissism, which would cause autobiographers to shape their story in a way that best presents them. Autobiographers
want to be liked by the reader, and are described by Gass as being “high on the saddle of self” (Gass, 46). However, Earley openly attempts to avoid this stating, “I hesitate to use the designation personal because it has come to suggest, with some justification, a certain contemporary predisposition toward narcissism” (Earley, xviii). He includes details in his autobiography that are very personal but not in a self-satisfied way. These details, such as his father moving out, his neighbor passing away, and his sister dying, are unfortunate and are not things readers would hope for in their life. Also, the fact that Earley uses the television to escape from his reality proves that he is not high on the saddle of self. The universality in Earley’s autobiography rises from this lack of self-absorption, which Gass argues is the problem of modern autobiography.
[8] On the same note, Gass asserts that self-absorption is a result of autobiographers asking, “What gets left out?” “What is saved?” (Gass, 49-50). Details that make the writer seem ordinary are left out; those that make the writer appear extraordinary are saved. So, if only extraordinary events are saved and included in an autobiography, it is clear that the autobiography is not an accurate depiction of a life. No life is without dull moments, yet they are classified as ordinary. Inclusion of only extraordinary details surely leads to a unique story, thus supporting Gass’s claim that unique is the current goal of modern autobiography. But, it should be noted that the inclusion of the ordinary details has the ability to create a much more accurate extraordinary story. No two people’s ordinary lives are the same, which equates to every life being unique in some way. Earley has already accepted this idea and applied it in “Somehow Form a Family” promoting Gass’s plea to move towards including ordinariness, or universality in autobiography.
[9] Furthermore, Gass says, “When we remember a life we must remember to remember the life lived, not the life remembered” (Gass, 52). In a way, he is saying that one must remain honest with themselves and present their lives the way it truly was lived as oppose to the way they wish it were lived. The ordinariness, dull moments, and shortcomings must all be presented accurately, as it is in these moments that all humans find a bit of themselves. He explains, “Reading, haven’t we often encountered a passage that captured – we think perfectly – a moment in our own lives” (Gass, 52)? He soon after says, “We would demonstrate in this way not the difference between lives but their sameness, their commonness, their comforting banality” (Gass, 52). Earley has included multiple occasions in his text in which the reader can relate. Whether it is watching television with family as a child, having a parent move out of the house, or even feeling the excitement of buying a new item. In this way, the universality of life is demonstrated. Therefore, as Earley attempts to present himself as ordinary, yet it is clear that he is also unique; these two concepts are surprisingly linked. The uniqueness found in ordinary lives is what ironically makes one universal, and therefore related. Earley’s autobiography is a demonstration of the universality Gass wishes for.