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" The toxic morsel: T. E. Lawrence and “The Mint” "
Andrew Williams
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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55621
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| Doc. No
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TL25575
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| Call number
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NR05546
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| Main Entry
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Andrew Williams
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| Title & Author
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The toxic morsel: T. E. Lawrence and “The Mint”\ Andrew Williams
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| College
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Universite de Montreal (Canada)
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| Date
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2005
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| student score
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2005
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| Page No
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220
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| Abstract
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Thomas Edward Lawrence is a figure that still stirs the imagination more than 60 years after his death. What is his appeal? Some critics have stated that Lawrence's character held something for everyone. This would seem to be the case, but whether this is due to Lawrence himself or the media manipulation that created the myth is hard to say. There is no doubt that Lawrence was held in rock star reverence by the people who read of his fame or saw Lowell Thomas's slide presentation concerning his desert career. There is also no doubt that Lawrence himself was personally captivating. Friends and casual acquaintances have all attested to his personal magnetism. Some of these people included Churchill, Lady Astor and a variety of public figures not easily fooled by charlatans or glory seekers. Most recently, Lawrence has been fixed in the public eye by David Lean's film, Lawrence of Arabia. Based on the events described in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence of Arabia produced a Lawrence that was not recognizable to many of his friends or family members. However, it is the sight of Peter O'Toole dancing on the top of a smashed Turkish troop train that most people associate with Lawrence. This was the case for myself. A viewing of the restored version of the film sparked my interest in Lawrence and induced me to examine the life of the man for myself, rather than relying on a cinematic production that has increasingly come under fire in the last few years for its lack of accuracy and static cinematography. Rather than concentrate on the Seven Pillars period of his life, I was drawn to Lawrence's postwar activities. The time span covered by The Mint is one of the most interesting periods of Lawrence's life. Abandoning opportunities that grew from his fame, he submerged himself in his life in the ranks of the Royal Air Force. Lawrence never accepted a commission, although offered one several times, and was content to serve as an ordinary enlisted man. As is often the case with Lawrence, this was misleading. What ordinary private received visits from the head of the air force, politicians and writers? The answer lies in the fact that Lawrence was not an ordinary soldier. Lawrence enlisted in the Air Force in order to provide himself with material to write a book on the force. This stated purpose was misleading. The act of writing The Mint was to result in Lawrence building a new sense of self. I believe that this was in fact the major motivation for his enlistment. The building process was carried out by stripping himself to the most basic level of society and, like a mollusk recreating a new shell, clothing himself in a new form. The shedding of his old shell was painful, and the recording of it even more so. The act of breaking down, of destroying the old personality via the roughness of the barrack-room finds its parallel in the writing of The Mint. What conclusions can we draw concerning the power of the autobiographical genre to redefine the writer? The distance between ‘truth’ and “fiction” or at least interpretation is the space within which the writer seeks to reinvent himself. The precise manner in which this is achieved shall be explored within this dissertation. The events described in The Mint occupied a short time in Lawrence's air force career, yet they throw much light onto the character of the man. Surprisingly little has been written concerning The Mint , surprising because this is the most fascinating period of the life of a man who helped to form the geo-political outline of much of today's Middle East. It is my hope that this study will help to open up this most fascinating glimpse of a man striving to reinvent himself.
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| Subject
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Language, literature and linguistics; Autobiography; Lawrence, T. E.; Literary criticism; Mint; British and Irish literature; Biographies; 0593:British and Irish literature; 0304:Biographies
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| Added Entry
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Universite de Montreal (Canada)
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