Paterson: Analysis of Major Characters
"Paterson: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the intricate characterizations within William Carlos Williams' epic poem "Paterson." The poem blends biographical elements and various personas of Williams himself, exploring the relationship between a city and its inhabitants through the personification of Paterson, New Jersey, and the Passaic River. Williams illustrates Paterson as a living entity embodying the American spirit, highlighting its seasons, challenges, and the lives of its residents. The Passaic River is depicted as both a polluted body of water and a vital lifeline for the city, symbolizing the complexities of urban life. Correspondences with notable figures such as Edward Dorn and Allen Ginsberg enrich the narrative, offering insights into Williams' creative process and philosophy. Williams' reflections on these characters and their interactions accentuate the theme of understanding a city through its tangible and intangible elements. This analysis invites readers to consider the poetic representation of place and identity in Williams' work.
Paterson: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: William Carlos Williams
First published: 1963 (includes Book I, 1946; Book II, 1948; Book III,1949; Book IV, 1951; Book V, 1958; revised 1992)
Genre: Poetry
Locale: Paterson, New Jersey
Plot: Epic
Time: 1946–1958
William Carlos Williams, also called Bill, who inhabits bits and pieces of the epic poem, sometimes as himself and sometimes as another persona who more resembles a character. The author includes himself as a character to add legitimacy to his use of Paterson, New Jersey, and the Passaic River as characters; clearly, they are personifications. Williams is present in one incarnation or another to explain his theory about how a city can come to represent its inhabitants and may even be representative of the American character. Williams tells many stories and answers selected letters and comments given to him by representatives of Paterson and other towns and cities, such as Newark. The various manifestations of Williams are not always similar, and they do not always represent what is often referred to as a “character.”
Paterson, New Jersey, a city that takes on characteristics of a human being, a broad personification that is at times living and breathing as a representative American city and at other times merely in possession of those attributes a good city should have. Significant space is given to bare description of parts of the city. The city is described as a “great beast,” and Williams talks to and about it—its seasons, its catastrophes, and its inhabitants. Williams debates with himself over the difficulty, resulting from the poet's perceptions, of deciphering the nature of the city. Williams also says, in the first book, “I have much to say to you,” thereby establishing the need for the epic poem.
Passaic River, the other large personification of this poem. Williams describes the Passaic as a great junk and slag heap of the world, but he is not being overly critical: If the Passaic were not terribly polluted long before its time, where would the detritus have gone? In a sense, this massive, flowing, brown river has allowed the neighboring city to survive. For decades it was a moving rush of filth in which only brave teenagers swam and whose water had to be filtered.
Edward Dorn, a very young correspondent with Williams who wrote about a half dozen letters to him. One drew out of Williams the remark “No ideas but/ in the facts,” a crude version of his later famous comment, “no ideas but in things.”
Allen Ginsberg, a poet. He probably corresponded with Williams because they were both from the same state. Some of Ginsberg's writing is included as a means of characterizing him. The author includes tangential comments and parts of Ginsberg's poems.
Charles Olson, who appears rarely but is important because of the reciprocal values that he and Williams applied to each other. His letters themselves are of limited use.
August Walters, a good example of the sort of person represented in the poem. Walters sent Williams an advertisement from Newark about the Treasury Department and monetary credits. Perhaps it matters in the construction of an entire city, but the poem would be missing nothing without it.