The Anti-Heroine In Filthy With Things By T. C. Boyle

Filthy with Things, written by T.C. Boyle (b.1948), depicts the story of the anti-heroine Susan Certaine, a messianic professional organizer, who is called by Julian Laxner to help him organize the mess he and his wife, Marsha, had made over the years. The American couple are struggling with their eclectic hobby of collecting exquisite items that, as the story develops, turns into a severe case of modern-day materialism, showing Julian and Marsha’s utter affinity towards their possessions in various parts throughout the story. Julian, the protagonist, contacts Susan, portrayed by Boyle as a strident and rough woman of a high caliber, to assist in tidying up the house, yet he is petrified to open up the discussion with Marsha, leading him to intrigue with Susan to sort the mess (page 737, “Julian’s collusion”) after being coerced by the latter, telling Julian that he is “filthy. And

I’m the only one to make you clean again,” and charging Julian an absurd fee of a thousand dollars per day, leading him to start catechizing her merits, but immediately abandons his doubts fearfully; as described by Boyle, “the figure seizes him.. paralyzes his vocal apparatus.” Susan teams up with Dr. Doris Hauskopf, a psychologist, to help Marsha, who admits that she has been blameworthy and in need of help, thus she is referred to the Susan Certaine Residential Treatment Center.
Matters take a turn to the worse when Julian figures out that Susan treats the couple as codependents, and Julian is later on being sent to The Susan Certaine Co-Dependent Hostel, leaving the couple’s house and their entire belongings solely under Susan’s control.

Although he manages to flee, yet Susan establishes contact with him and orders him to go back to the hostel, but he refuses. Meanwhile, Susan catalogues all the items and empties the house, moving the possessions to a warehouse as part of the agreement. Towards the ending, Julian is reunited with Marsha, and together they go back their house, just to see it striped down from all their belongings. Susan explains to Julian that the document he signed on (mentioned in page 745), was an agreement that bounds the couple to only acquire one item per day from the warehouse for a period of 60 days, and then, all of the items are to be auctioned after the sixty-days “grace” period, with the proceeds going to charitable work by the choice of Certaine Enterprises, inc., leaving him and his wife with “nothing at all” of their

possessions.

In my opinion, under the canopy of her stricture criticism, Machiavellianism is clearly apparent in Susan’s character, as she employs deceitful methods to benefit from Julian and Marsha’s misfortunes, while using her rigid remarks as a device to exert fear over her Julian and command him to whatever fulfills her aims. Although Susan’s complete cynical disregard for integrity to self-gain is a disturbing trait, it sure is an exciting motive for the readers of Filthy with Things to read the ending of the story, satisfying their eagerness to be scared.