Norwood by Charles Portis
"Norwood," a novel by Charles Portis, features the journey of its titular character, Norwood Pratt, a Marine Corps veteran living in the small Texas town of Ralph. Set in the late 1950s, the story follows Norwood's modest quest to retrieve seventy dollars owed to him by a friend in New York City. Embarking on a picaresque adventure via a Trailways bus, Norwood encounters a series of eccentric characters, including a philosophical midget named Edmund B. Ratner and a young woman named Rita Lee, who ultimately becomes his bride. The narrative draws parallels to Voltaire's "Candide," though with a more genial tone and less biting satire. Rather than being transformed by his travels, Norwood remains unchanged, embodying a lovable, optimistic innocence. The novel showcases Portis's journalistic background through its clear prose and vividly realized southern dialect, particularly shining in its authentic dialogue. Overall, "Norwood" presents a lighthearted exploration of character and culture, inviting readers to engage with the quirks of its setting and inhabitants.
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Norwood by Charles Portis
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1966
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Norwood contains the autobiographical elements so often found in a first novel. Norwood Pratt served in the Marine Corps, as did his creator. Norwood lives in Ralph, a little town in the northeastern corner of Texas, only a few miles from the Arkansas line. The protagonist travels to New York City, then returns home, completely unaltered by the many adventures he has had during his odyssey. The novel is set in the late 1950’s.
There are many suggestions of Voltaire’s Candide (1759) in the story line. Norwood is a lovable, optimistic innocent. He works at a gas station for which unpretentious would be the most charitable characterization. Like Candide with his Pangloss, Norwood lives in the same house as his mentor. His brother-in-law lives on disability checks from the Veterans Administration and spends his many hours of leisure spouting crack-brained philosophy. Norwood is a simple young man, both intellectually and in the sense that he is unaffected in the extreme. His ambitions are modest. He loves country music, and his life’s dream is to sing on the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport—he does not even aspire to the Grand Ole Opry.
Norwood’s motivation for leaving Ralph is modest as well. A buddy from Marine Corps days owes him seventy dollars. He believes his friend to be living in New York City, and he heads east to collect his money. At this point, the novel becomes picaresque. As he meanders around the country on a Trailways bus, he has a series of encounters with grotesque characters. Foremost among them are Edmund B. Ratner, a “wonder hen,” and Rita Lee. Edmund B. Ratner is a midget with a philosophical turn of mind. When Norwood finally gets his money, he immediately lends it to the midget. The wonder hen is a version of the performing animal with amazing powers familiar from so many off-color jokes. Rita Lee is a hapless, jilted, and pregnant young woman, who will eventually become Norwood’s bride.
The part of the novel that Portis fleshes out the least is the New York segment. His former colleagues on the New York Herald Tribune recall that throughout his tenure there he remained the droll southerner, unchanged by the New York environment. Norwood is similarly unscathed by his big-city adventures. Ironically, the trail of the elusive seventy dollars leads finally to Old Carthage in southwestern Arkansas, only a few miles up the highway from Norwood’s hometown. There both Norwood and his creator seem most comfortable.
It is the tone of the novel which causes the analogy with Candide to break down. Whereas Voltaire’s satire is sharp and often bitter, Portis makes good-natured fun of virtually everyone and everything in the novel. The mood is genial. Portis seems to have no particular satirical target. Everyone’s character traits verge upon the ridiculous, he suggests—they are merely more pronounced and exaggerated in the novel’s eccentrics. This lack of focus has been criticized, but it does give the novel that buoyant comic tone which lifts it lightly over the rough spots in the episodic plot.
The author’s journalistic background can be seen in the crisp, straightforward prose and the sharply delineated characters and scenes. The real strength of Norwood, however, lies in its dialogue, in the authenticity of the characters’ vernacular speech, and—especially—in the portrayal of southern dialect.
Bibliography
Blackburn, Sara. Review of True Grit. The Nation 207 (August 5, 1968): 92.
Blount, Roy. “745 Boylston Street.” The Atlantic Monthly 270 (December, 1992): 6.
Clemons, Walter. Review of The Dog of the South. Newsweek 94 (July 9, 1979): 12.
Disch, Thomas M. “Cultcrazy.” The Nation 241 (November 30, 1985): 593-594.
Garfield, Brian. Review of True Grit. Saturday Review 51 (June 29, 1968): 25.
Houston, Robert. Review of Gringos. The New York Times Book Review, January 20, 1991, 7.
Jones, Malcolm. Review of Gringos. Newsweek 107 (February 11, 1991): 60.
King, L. L. Review of The Dog of the South. The New York Times Book Review, July 29, 1979, p. 12.
Marcus, James. Review of Gringos. Voice Literary Supplement 93 (March, 1991): 7.
The New Yorker. Review of Masters of Atlantis. 61 (November 25, 1985): 163.
Shuman, R. Baird. “Portis’ True Grit: Adventure or Entwicklungsroman?” English Journal 59 (March, 1970): 367-370.