Libra: Imperfect Art of Fate
Libra by Don DeLillo is a speculative reconstruction of the JFK assassination in support of the conspiracy theory that Lee Harvey Oswald did not commit the crime alone. The novel suggests that 3 former CIA agents plotted the crime and looped in Oswald as the main shooter to tie the crime to Cuba. However, the plan had its own fate and did not exactly follow their envision. Oswald, on the other hand, had his desire to work as a lone gunman also trampled. Through both failed plans, DeLillo suggests a theme of how individuals will often fall short in determining fate, and subsequently the course of history.
Growing up as a solitary figure, Oswald develops a strong desire to work independently. Acting alone allows him to feel significant, to matter. Even Mackey, the conspirator portrayed earlier as skeptical of everyone, firmly believed that “Oswald wanted to be the lone gunman” (DeLillo 386). However, Oswald’s obsession did not prevent him from being framed by a larger system, namely, as a disposable pawn of conspiracy plotters. During the assassination of JFK, when Oswald sees a bullet going through the president’s head, he immediately realizes Mackey had used him as a patsy (400). The conspirator’s choice of Oswald is no accident. Oswald emerges as the perfect, destined assassin for the plan due to his status and political stance. His poor status renders him easily manipulated by the conspirators. His habitual isolation fits him perfectly into the “lone assassin” narrative. His political beliefs in supporting communism aligned him with the Cubans. Meeting all the criteria, he was almost destined to be embroiled in the orchestrated conspiracy.
On the scale of the entire assassination scheme, the novel further highlights fate’s randomness and independence from human desired order. In the beginning, the conspirators outlined a precise plan for the “false assassination” of JFK, planting false documents connecting the attempt to Castro. Specifically, "Everett would script a gunman out of ordinary dog-eared paper…Parmenter would contrive to get document blanks from Records Branch. Mackey would find a model for the character Everette was in the process of creating (50).” However, this meticulously plotted plan soon falls apart. The actual assassination happens under chaos, miscommunications and accidents. For instance, Oswald “fired too soon, with the car passing under the tree,” instead of the car completely passing him (397). The conspirators believe that fate (and history) can be engineered through human hands. DeLillo, however, demonstrates the belief as an illusion. Fate is characterized by unpredictable accidents and improvisation.
Through the notorious perpetrator Lee Harvey Oswald and the entire conspiracy theory, Libra depicts fate and history as threaded together by a web of chance that cannot be predetermined by individual will.
Thank you for reading! Any feedback is appreciated :D
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Works Cited:
DeLillo, Don. Libra. Penguin Books, 1991.
The concept of "fate" is SO complicated in this novel, as we have the weird dynamic where Win Everett is going to "construct a shooter out of paper," and then they identify Lee as a prime candidate but then discover that he is *already constructing himself out of paper*. Or when he walks into Banister's office unannounced, looking for a job, JUST AFTER they lose track of him and have no idea where he's gone. And of course there's David Ferrie and his idea of "parallel lines" (JFK and LHO) that eventually veer and intersect, just outside the window where Lee works--as if the "universe" were delivering the target directly to the assassin's doorstep. It's fascinating how Ferrie is able to use this concept of coincidence to persuade Lee that he is "fated" to fire a gun from that window. We get a complex interplay between the plotters "engineering" fate (but largely failing, as the plan is exposed) and something more like an opportunistic riding of coincidence. So it ends up both a complex plot AND a more spontaneous "Texas homicide." Just like Lee ends up somehow BOTH as a "lone gunman" and part of a conspiracy. As far as he knows, sitting up there in the window aiming his rifle, he IS the lone gunman. He has no idea abut the wider conspiracy. He is just sitting where he is "fated" to be at that moment.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruijing, I find your idea of fate and its randomness to be quite compelling. I felt that the more people were involved in the plot and the more complicated the plan became, the more chaotic and unexpected the outcome was, which seemed to be destined by fate. Yet characters like Oswald and to an extent Ruby would at first had no intention to be a part of the plot ended up joining as pivotal players, which fate seemed to predict. Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteHey Ruijing! I definitely agree that fate is something totally random that cannot be easily manipulated. I've seen this trope a few times in other pieces of fiction. Certain people think they can take control of a chain of events and history, yet what ends up happening is completely different from what's anticipated. In the perspective of the plot it's somewhat necessary since it makes the novel more interesting, as it would be quite bland if everything that happened was expected. In terms of the actual assassination, there's too many variables that can't be accounted for. For example the conspirators had no way of knowing that someone would randombly and accidentally film the entire thing. Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Ruijing! I think you really highlighted one of the most challenging concepts in Libra. The conspiracy makes the events of the novel seem larger than life, yet we see how small moments and individuals personal lives affected the nation. We come to understand that we truly cannot control our fate or "rewrite the narrative" as both Oswald and the conspirators were planning on doing. Many things are far beyond one person, yet one person can completely change the future.
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