The Moviegoer

Binx’s half-siblings are just as surprised to see him when he and Sharon approach the porch of the fishing camp. One child calls for Binx’s mother while the other children register the arrival of Binx; Roy, their father, is away playing poker for the evening. Lonnie, Binx’s fourteen-year-old half-brother, “has gone into a fit of excitement in his wheelchair” (137). He is the eldest of the children “since last summer when Duval, the oldest son, was drowned” (137). Binx admits a special connection with Lonnie, a fellow lover of movies. When Binx’s mother appears, Binx introduces Sharon, who “is a natural with the children” (138). The family bring crabs for Binx and Sharon to eat for dinner, and one of the children teaches Sharon how to eat crabs. Binx notices that Lonnie is dressed up and learns that “Aunt Ethel, Roy’s sister, was supposed to be taking him and the girls to a movie” (141). Binx offers to take Lonnie, but first he speaks to his mother about Lonnie’s appearance. His mother casually explains that Lonnie has recently had a virus and “it was bad bad bad bad bad” (142). Binx explains her blasé attitude towards Lonnie’s poor health as “a general belittlement of everything, the good and the bad” (142), a mindset validated for her by Duval’s death. She tells Binx that Lonnie, who is already weak and underweight, is planning to “[f]ast and abstain during Lent” (143).

Binx and Sharon take Lonnie to the movies, and Binx “thinks I am a nice fellow to take Lonnie to the movies like this” (143). The three of them enjoy a pleasant evening together and Binx celebrates “[a] good rotation [which is] the experiencing of the new beyond the expectation of the experiencing of the new” (144). 

Binx wakes up in “in the grip of everydayness” (145) in the middle of the night. He is on the cot on the porch, where he usually sleeps when visiting the fishing camp. He rolls off the cot, unhappy but determined not to be “defeated by the everydayness” (145). He ruminates on his search, something no one in his extended family understands, and contemplates their assumption that he has lost his faith in God. Binx’s “unbelief was invincible from the beginning” (146), so a sudden loss of faith feels unlikely to him. He waits until he feels better and then he finds a small notebook in the pocket of his pants and writes a note to himself to remind him of his “starting point for search” (146).

Though Sharon indulges Binx when he attempts to romance her, she still manages to keep some suggestion of a boundary when she reminds Binx of their official relationship as boss and employee. Meanwhile, Binx seems to recognize that his attachment to Sharon is contrived, but he carries on valiantly, hoping to defeat the creeping “malaise” that inevitably brings disappointment. When Sharon invites Binx to punch her, she seems surprised that he actually does so; Binx’s willingness to hit Sharon is yet another facet of his unpredictable nature.

In these chapters, the reader glimpses Binx in his role as his mother’s son. His half-siblings are introduced, and Binx’s attachment to Lonnie is shown as being a deep one. The family’s loss of Duval is only briefly mentioned, but the reader can observe that the tragedy has had an impact on family members old enough to understand the loss, such as Binx’s mother and Lonnie. Binx himself does not report feeling affected in a personal way by the drowning of his half-brother, but as Binx’s unreliability is an important facet of his character, the death may have affected him in a way he doesn’t yet understand himself.

When he wakes up on the porch, Binx immediately begins perseverating on his search. These thoughts about his search interrupt his sleep as well as his wakeful hours, and only writing the thoughts down seem to soothe him enough for him to fall back asleep. 

In the morning, Binx wakes up to the sounds of “two men try[ing] to start an outboard motor” (147). When the men speak, he recognizes the voice of his stepfather, Roy, who finally starts the motor, so he and his friend can go fishing. Binx’s mother comes out to the porch, holding a fishing rod and greeting Binx with “a yawn-sigh as wan and white as the morning” (148). She goes out to the dock with her frozen shrimp for bait, and Binx follows her, taking the opportunity to speak with her alone, but “[s]he veers away from intimacy” (149). They talk about Binx’s father, whom Binx reminds her of and who, like Binx, disliked fishing. She remembers Binx’s father catching “the fattest finest sac au lait you ever saw” (150); instead of enjoying the triumph of his catch, however, Binx’s father focused instead on “how the sunshine catches the water in such and such a way” (151) and his desire to go for a walk. She tells Binx of a time when his father refused to eat until she fed him herself while reading to him, describing him as a man “overwrought” (153) in his “psychological make-up” (154), a man whose “nervous system was like a high-powered radio” (154). She explains that when the war started and he joined up with the Canadian consul, “[h]e gained thirty pounds in two months” (156). Binx takes the opportunity of talking about war to tell his mother about his own time in war: “For a long time I couldn’t remember anything. All I knew was that something was terribly wrong” (157-58). Binx sees that “she is not paying much attention” (158), and she tells him she thinks he would succeed in a career as a cancer researcher.

Later that morning, the Smith family discuss going to church, and Binx’s mother insists that Binx and Sharon join them. The service is “packed in like sardines” (160). Lonnie takes communion when “Roy gets heavily to his feet and pilots Lonnie to the end of the rail” (160).

While the children are water-skiing with their father, Sharon and Binx’s mother prepare food. Lonnie, who is still dressed in his Sunday best and “look[ing] like a little redneck come to a wedding” (162), talks with Binx about his selling of subscriptions in order to earn points and prizes. This year, first prize is a Zenith Trans-World radio, and Lonnie explains that if he gets the radio, he “won’t miss television so much” (162). Binx reminds Lonnie that television can be pleasurable and then advises Lonnie not to fast during Lent, as not only has Lonnie survived pneumonia twice, but his confessor surely won’t approve of the plan. Lonnie explains that his confessor does actually approve because fasting will help him with his envy problem. He explains to Binx that he envies Duval: “envy is not merely sorry at another’s good fortune: it is also joy at another’s misfortune” (163). Lonnie is happy that his brother is dead because “[h]e sees God face to face” (163). He and Binx talk more about religion, a Sunday tradition of theirs. Lonnie asks Binx if he loves him, and Binx says yes. 

Binx and Sharon drive home Sunday afternoon and “the MG becomes infected with malaise” (166). To combat the malaise, Binx tries to put his hand on the inside of Sharon’s leg, but she rejects the intimate gesture. As consolation, she kisses him before saying that she needs to get home “to meet someone” (166).