The book titled Being There
The book titled Being There by Jerzy Kosinski is a figurative tale about a man known as Chance who has very limited contact with the real world apart for what he watches on the television and his work at the Old man's garden. His isolation with the world continues for Chance until he was accidentally taken in by Mrs. Rand. After the death of Old man, Chance was kicked out of the place he had known as his only home by the new estate manager, the Old man's lawyer. As he walks aimlessly in the street, the limousine carrying Mrs. Rand accidentally hits him and she feels she has a duty to take care of the Chance's health, whom she confuses his name Chance the gardener as Chauncey Gardiner (Lazar, 2004).
The wealthy family of Benjamin Rand
The wealthy family of Benjamin Rand takes Chauncey Gardiner in, marking the beginning of his new life. Consequently, he interacts with the media, world leaders and businessmen who are impressed by Chauncey's observation of life. Whereas Chauncey is honestly responding to life as he has seen on the television and his garden, his audience is taking it as life insights (Lazar, 2004). This paper analyzes Being There by Jerzy Kosinski using various themes, elements of speech, and styles the writer used to connect with the audience.
Style
The point of view used in the novel is mainly the third person style. The first three chapters are basically written from the perspective of Chance, enabling the audience to have greater insights into the simplicity of his character and his view of the world. The audience is able to accurately create mental pictures about the character, thus shaping their own opinion of the character rhyming with that of the book. In the subsequent chapters 4 through to 7, the story is told using the views of some other characters who include ambassador Skrapinov, the president of the United States, Thomas Franklin, and EE Rand. The points of view of these characters are mainly focused on how they relate and feel about Chance. Although there is some kind of suspicion about Chance because there is not much about his past, they highly regard him due to his philosophical market insights. This technique enables the audience to be more aware of how other characters are impacted by the Chance's personality (Lazar, 2004).
Themes
In a certain society, money can be an affluent factor to political and economic gains, however, money is temporary where smartness, character, and innovation can have a long-lasting effect and can be an influential factor on the political and economic matters. An abstract portrayal of Chance's rise to political power from modest upbringing can be that of a flag stuck in a whirlwind (Lazar, 2004). As an adult, Chance left everything he ever worked for, his only home and possession, but he was to achieve political fame due to the fundamental ideals of the American dream as he was taught by television. Although he had no wealth, he had an equal opportunity to succeed in life, which is proven by his prominent rise to influence. Consequently, he highlights the theme of affluence versus influence, where he was able to reach more people by influencing their opinions other than paying to gain their opinion.
Chance is depicted as someone who does not have knowledge in the politics
Chance is depicted as someone who does not have knowledge in the politics but appears to know the fundamentals of the system by creatively making connections of the system to a garden. America is a capitalist society, the economy with little or no intervention is controlled by private businesses. People must analyze the economic aspects of capitalism that describes the production and management of goods and services in order to be successful. In the book, Chance has no knowledge about capitalism, but he fakes it by comparing a market to a garden, while he is merely guessing these connections which are fairly and incidentally accurate. He enables the American citizens to comprehend the major concepts of capitalism in their most basic terms through Chance's comparisons. The book states "in a garden, things grow... but first, they must wither: ... Then in the proper season, you will surely see it flourish (Kosinski, 2015)."
Imagery
Despite the fact that Chance was illiterate, he had applied the behaviors and etiquette of characters he had seen on his television to model his life. Donning on the expensive clothes of Old man and his etiquette, one could confuse Chance with the town tycoon. He had copied a formal way of engaging with other people in the real life, although he had no contact with it from the programs he watched on the television. For instance, after Mrs. Rand had introduced herself on their encounter, "Chance recalled that in similar situations men on TV introduced themselves. I am Chance (Kosinski, 2015)." The book uses imagery in an attempt to create certain mental pictures of Chance as uneducated but smart man in the minds of the audience. Even though Chance did not have any formal education, he was able to adopt positive aspects of the television to model his life.
The book also uses imagery to depict the Old man's garden as the refugee to Chance
The book also uses imagery to depict the Old man's garden as the refugee to Chance. The author describes the garden as the place where Chance would feel peace, safe and hide from his own self-unconsciousness. The book states "it was safe and secure in the garden, which was separated from the street by a high red brick wall (Kosinski, 2015)." Within the confines of this wall, Chance felt that he was experiencing the whole meaning of life. As such, he did not want to have another life apart from that offered by his garden. He was attached to the garden such that it was hard to converse even with his workmates in the Old man's homestead, leave alone the Old man himself notwithstanding that he brought Chance up.
In conclusion
In conclusion, the book exemplifies how an individual's character can help them overcome the misgivings of life such as lack of proper up-bring or education. Even though the programs in television and reality greatly vary, Chance intelligently creates his own world. When he forced to encounter the real life, Chance relies on this knowledge to determine how he will act and react to people and situations (Lazar, 2004). As a result, he integrates perfectly with the reality and in many instances, surpassing those who had been in the real world.
References
Kosinski, J. (2015). Being there. Random House.
Lazar, M. (2004). Jerzy Kosinski's being there, novel and film: changes not by chance. College Literature, 99-116.
