A Man In Full

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1998

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 6

Chapters 7-13

Chapters 14-19

Chapters 20-26

Chapter 27-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Croker Concourse and Turpmtine

Croker Concourse is a 40-story tall skyscraper built by Charlie in Cherokee County, Atlanta. A vanity project for Charlie, the building symbolizes his hubris or exaggerated pride. While Charlie has gone to morally questionable lengths to acquire the land for the building, the fact that the building is hemorrhaging money shows that Charlie’s hubris is set for a fall. The tower of his vanity is meant to topple. To establish the extent of Charlie’s hubris, Croker Concourse itself is built as a hyperbole. Charlie notes that the building comprises a tower, a mall, and a domed ceiling containing a sprawling dining club and a planetarium. Stunning as the building is, Charlie cannot bear to look at the “dead elephant” (332).

Like Croker Concourse, Turpmtine is a symbol of Charlie’s excess and his hankering for a bygone era. Turpmtine, a corruption of the word “turpentine,” is so named because of its pine forests; turpentine is a resin derived from pine trees. Unlike Croker Concourse, which Charlie has come to dislike, Turpmtine still dominates his heart. That is because more than hubris, Turpmtine also symbolizes an old kind of masculinity for Charlie. Turpmtine is where Charlie can be himself: lord of the manor, benevolent employer, hunter, farmer, and tycoon. The plantation, redolent with animals and trees, is a theater for Charlie to combine his modern industrialist and old-fashioned landlord selves. However, the text suggests this vision is untenable in the contemporary age. Charlie must give up Turpmtine, now symbolizing the past, to move into a new model of masculinity.

Animals

The text contains several references to animals, with Charlie often identifying with male animals that represent lust and raw power, such as a stallion and a bull. Charlie’s identification with animals is based on the fact that he believes he shares the wild, untamed essence with them. Around animals, he can be himself, unshackled by the bounds of social propriety. That is why, when Charlie sees the stallion force himself on the mare, he breaks into a homophobic speech about heterosexuality being the only authentic mode. The animalistic frenzy of the stallion’s lust enables Charlie to let loose his own thoughts. Peepgass too speaks about letting his own inner “red dog” off the leash and doing as he pleases. Thus, animals symbolize wildness and amorality for Charlie and Peepgass.

Conrad’s point-of-view narration also contains references to animals; however, his references are more in the context of the teachings of Epictetus, which use animals as metaphors for types of men. If animals depict the animal or instinct-driven part of their own nature for Charlie and Peepgass, for Conrad, animals symbolize the harmony between instinct and reason. Epictetus’s anthropomorphized animals are thinking creatures, depicting urges controlled by intellect. The fox uses slyness and cunning to manipulate his urges, whereas the noble bull is governed by reason and righteousness. Thus, the text’s use of animal symbolism not only contributes to Conrad’s, Charlie’s, and Peepgass’s characterizations but also illustrates its key philosophical and moral concerns.

Epictetus and the Stoics

Epictetus and Stoicism form an important motif in the novel, illustrating the key themes of The True Meaning of Masculinity and The American Obsession with Wealth and Status. The text suggests that Stoicism is a valid way to be an authentic, whole person in a shallow, status-obsessed society. Stoicism also drives the plot, enabling Conrad’s journey to Charlie as well as Charlie’s final decisions in the novel. The Greek Epictetus, born into slavery around 50 CE, spent his youth in Rome. He obtained freedom after the death of Emperor Nero in 68 CE but was exiled by Nero’s successor, Domitian, in 93 CE. Epictetus moved to Greece and founded a school of philosophy. His teachings are collected in the Discourses, consisting of four books, and are often arranged as a dialogue between Epictetus and his students.

Epictetus is known for living a very simple life with few material possessions. He is considered a Stoic, after the ancient school of philosophy that states that all one needs to achieve eudaimonia, or a happy, harmonious life, is “right action.” Right action is action that arises out of reason, wisdom, courage, and a knowledge of one’s own nature or character. In A Man in Full, acting in accordance with one’s own nature is paramount to building character. Charlie realizes that he is a noble bull and will always be unhappy taking the fox’s path of slyness and convenience. Thus, he speaks the truth, whatever the cost may be.

Stoicism was founded in Athens by the philosopher Zeno around 300 CE. Conrad tells Brother and Sister that the early Christians were influenced by Stoicism. However, Stoic belief is different from Christian belief in that the right Stoic action is driven by the knowledge of one’s nature, whereas in Christianity, the right action is to follow the will and tenets of God. The inclusion of the Epictetus subplot in the novel suggests that the only way to be authentic in a world driven by status is to find a radically different set of values to follow.