Tom Wolfe died a few weeks ago. It was a great loss to all folks who enjoy modern American fiction.
Wolfe established his reputation in non-fiction, adopting a captivating style, focusing on colorful figures in sports, space, and social issues, lacing his rhetoric with penetrating personal observations and colorful metaphors.
But I think he will be remembered more for his fiction, The Bonfires of the Vanities, his masterwork in particular.
Most of modern American fiction features plots centering on one or two leading characters, working to right a wrong, to resolve a conflict of values, or to lead complacent folks to join a righteous cause.
And usually the action is driven by a moral certainty reflected in the common consciences of every person willing to listen to their guidance.
But Wolfe’s premise is that people pursue actions that advance their interests and desires and avoid actions that pose obstacles to their wants. Society’s principles and institutions don’t exist to serve justice, human well-being, and security, but are constructs that must be negotiated to get what one wants.
If done right, one’s actions can accommodate the conventional social conscience, whatever that may be and wherever it leads us
Wolfe also introduces in Bonfire the concept of cultures, although he doesn’t call them that. Cultures are groups of people who see in each other a common destiny, and work to develop their common behavior and beliefs, vision and values. They may form social groups to reinforce their views and shape political activities.
Cultures are not laws or ordinances or civil institutions, which dictate formal prescriptions, nor are they clubs or brotherhoods. They are informal groupings, bound by similar characteristics, beliefs, and behavior.
People may belong to more than one culture or subculture, with varying degrees of commitment. If cultures are in some conflict, the dominant culture usually dictates the members’ commitment.
For example, a young man in an impoverished neighborhood may belong to a family, but be tempted to join a gang culture. In both choices is an opportunity for the satisfaction of belonging, but one offers parental love, the other offers personal power and, perhaps, money. The most powerful force usually wins.
Cultures may grow out of formal institutions. The United States incarcerates a greater percent of its population than any other nation, and they have robust prison cultures in them. We have just begun to recognize the weight of the problem we have imposed on our correction system.
The cultures in Bonfires are shaped by social class, poverty, race, greed, and power. The featured culture is the “Masters of the Universe,” the Wall Street brokers whose astronomical wealth and power drive the world’s economy. An unfortunate incident against a young impoverished boy fosters a game of cat and mouse in the court system, setting two or three cultures at odds.
Interestingly, a figure who represents best this culture appears to be a movie character lifted from Bonfires. Gordon Gekko, a multimillion dollar financier in the 1987 movie Wall Street, tells a group of corporate executives, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”
Implicit in his remark is the perspective that whatever serves the super wealthy must be moral, since the universe is at its best when they control global resources. Hence, their consciences are clear and their moral obligations are satisfied.
But the story isn’t over. The tsunami of cultures and subcultures has just begun. Some have perceived the string of mass murders as minicultures, with young killers gain encouragement as copycats. Nazi-sympathizers have social media as unidentifiable spokespersons reinforce racist views through social media.
It’s a scary new world with more and more cultures and subcultures digitally masked. We need someone to help us understand.
Tom Wolfe, why did you go now, when we really need you?