Text/Wang Xu
(Works: "Jody Hit the Great Luck", by Richard Yates, translated by Chen Xinyu, in Eleven Loneliness, Shanghai Translation Press, January 2010)
In the notes to the novel, "Jodi" is explained as follows: Jody is the nickname given by the American military service to civilians who meet the requirements but do not serve. Jody was either "physically unfit for service" or lacked military bravery or discipline. And Jody in the novel obviously refers to the mental outlook of a type of person, that shameless rogue habit. It grows in the soil of everyday life into a fait accompli force that works exclusively against seriousness, responsibility and excellence, regards the good as its natural enemy and takes pride in defeating them. In fact, Jody is often the final winner in this trade-off battle.
The "we" in the novel are a group of unlovable eighteen-year-old boys. In the words of Yates borrowing these lads, "... It's all chaotic and confused city kids." These young men from the city, who joined the army in 1944, lacked enthusiasm for basic training. What makes them have no illusions about joining the army? Yates gave an indifferent and anachronistic answer: "But this is 1944, war is no longer new, bitterness is a fashionable emotion." The novel's record of the times lies in the charm of the narrative, so that Yates' "we" with bitter emotions renders the symptoms of the times to reflect the obvious image of Jody in these young people.
That image is far from a military man. "We are outrageous, self-righteous guys". "We" clearly know what kind of person we are, and we are not ashamed, but everyone has a gloating mind, watching the drama like a good show to see how Sergeant Rhys, who took over the training of "us", carried this tricky job.
"We" are not completely ignorant. Sergeant Rhys is a kind of model in the army, and "we" are completely in the eyes. However, this taciturn, neat and capable excellent soldier is not lovely. Among them, a large reason is that Rhys's strict training method is different from other platoon commanders. As a model in the military, Reisi also has the quality of serious, responsible and pursuit of excellence. The difference in personal qualities makes Rhys different from others and makes his personal qualities stand out. Rhys doesn't pay attention to whether he will be seen by others if he is serious about his main focus in training. He ignored the strict style of the platoon he led, and the result was that "we" felt like a soldier.
By training a group of recruits, Rhys firmly locked the abstract concept of "perseverance" in the heart of "us". "We" initially hated Rhys's perseverance, and when "we" felt like a soldier, perseverance was transformed into "our" own attitude. Such a shift cannot be attributed to Rhys. Yates understood the joints, so he wrote, "We finally changed our attitude towards him. But it is important to note that not because of his actions, but because of a change in our attitude towards the army as a whole, towards ourselves." Changing attitudes is not something that can be achieved by pretending to be achieved by others, it is all up to "us". Reis's simple principle in training, "take yourself as an example and pursue excellence in everything", subtly influenced "us". "We" began to automatically remove Jodi's image from her body until we worked hard to completely clear it.
A marching song that Rhys often taught "us" to sing is a ballad handed down from the armies of the old wars. It is also a way of understanding life. The protagonist of this marching song is just Jody, a treacherous friend, a weak citizen, but he will always laugh at the end and take everything you cherish, but you can do nothing to him. This is a summary of the bad facts. And the Rhys, who taught "us" to sing marching songs, an excellent soldier in the face of this fact, could do nothing but maintain pride in loneliness.
Keep the proud Rhys, keep his usual training style. It is precisely because of the increasingly rare and responsible people that Reiss is different. Similarly, when "we" change our attitude, the platoon that Rhys takes with him will be different from the others. "Not being the same" means putting a distance from other platoons at the high-profile level, and at this time, the sharp words come into play, "in the army, there is never good to be so good."
Better than the others, Rhys was transferred, which was the result of all the strange and secret rebukes falling on Rhys alone. The military will not take the collective that is changing attitudes, represented by Rhys, and make it an example that good people will never be beneficial.
Only at this moment did Rhys speak from the bottom of his heart "in a soft tone we have never heard before". Rhys really loves his job, so he is willing to put all his energy into it without selfish distractions. But in this way, you will inevitably make yourself jealous. He uses his excellence to give others the illusion that it is hidden in Rhys's insight, "If you find something good or something you like, they will always move your ass elsewhere." The emotions in this passage are quite sincere, without any pretentious elements. Rhys forged a real friendship with the lads he trained, and they couldn't be better, which conveyed the reason for being at the mercy of other people's illusions.
Rhys is at the mercy of others, but his main feeling of being transferred to "us" is relief. It is difficult to say that this feeling of relief is not linked to the new platoon commander. The new platoon leader was not a professional soldier like Rhys, and before he joined the army, he was a taxi driver from Queens. In a word, the kind of people that "we" are familiar with, which makes "us" feel familiar and happy. Coupled with the new platoon commander's insistence that "we" call him by his first name: Ruby, "we" are even less in awe of him.
Awe, as a link connecting superiors and subordinates, in Reis, you can strictly implement the serious and responsible style without question. When he arrived at Ruby, he was not feared by his subordinates, and brought only looseness and comfort to the platoon he took over the training. This is the habit of the characteristics of the times, and it naturally returns to "us". Equally natural to return to "us" is a change in understanding. "After being with Ruby, I don't seem to be much like a soldier anymore." The change in understanding, like the change in attitude, is not hypocritical, it is all voluntary from the bottom of the heart. This makes the emphasis of "who the fuck wants to be a soldier" not from the beautiful words of duplicity out of flattering the will of the commander, that is, the voice of "we" inside.
Ruby, in the way "we" are familiar with the kind of people, let "us" be Jody again. Moreover, this re-doing Jody, for "us", not only regained Jody's previous image, but really became the shameless person. Even after the end of the training period, "we" are assigned everywhere, still a group of ordinary people assimilated by the disorder of the army. Nobody cares about this, except for people like Rhys. But Reiss couldn't see this scene, and even if he did, he couldn't do anything. Jody is a force after all, whether you like to face its ugliness or not, when it becomes a characteristic of the times, it is a reasonable existence. No one was denying Rhys, but the times had obliterated him. So, how to evaluate him? Faced with the fact that "Jody hit the big luck", only the proud Rhys remained, and with the pride he relied on, he once made a faint trilling in a terrible era.
2023.7.1