The Beard, the Politician, and the Main Course

You were hungry so you decided you wanted to order two appetizers this time.  And when they finally came they said two things.  The first was that this, and probably subsequent blog posts are really going to lay the spoilers on strong so if you don't have the taste for that, stop at this appetizer, pay your bill, and happily leave knowing you know nothing.  The second tells you that I have exceptionally enjoyed reading The Dinner so far and would recommend it to anyone. Yes, the premise of going to dinner over 300 pages seems a bit odd, yet it is well crafted and has the aroma and aura to keep you from ever wanting to leave.

We have finally reached the bringing of the main course of their meal.  But before it arrives Claire and Babette left the table the latter crying, mad at Serge for an unknown reason, and the earlier attempting to comfort Babette.  After the meal arrives Paul goes out to find them and tell them so.  At first I thought we might get a mini-journey by our narrator, but I think we will need to wait and see for a later section if there is any re-reference.  Although they are in Holland, Paul finds the outside air to be "pleasantly warm," and had a smell "that seemed almost Mediterranean."  This reminded me of the ginger air in the Song of Solomon but so far, through the first half of the book, it hasn't recurred.  Perhaps more interestingly is that while outside between the building and the garden with a pool, a pool... is that he remembers when "[he] had looked outside any number of times but with the falling of darkness had been able to see less and less ... however, [he] was able to see almost the entire restaurant reflected in the glass."  From inside this was a change in his view going from viewing both the inside and the outside worlds to only being able to view the interior.  From outside the interior of the restaurant could be easily seen.  A one way window if you will. This could be symbolic of the clarity from onlooking as opposed to the confusion in the midst.

At a nearby table sits a man and who Paul originally assumes is with his date who is also many many years younger than him.  This man, affectionate named The Beard by Paul,  asks if his daughter (so not a date) can get a picture with Serge and if Paul would ask for him.  He makes an interesting point when he says, "I realize that it's a private dinner for you and everything, and I don't want to bother him."  Well isn't he still bothering Paul by asking?  It's interesting how people value other people's time based on their importance.  It sort of reminds me of a detail about Bill Gates that for a while it was not worth his time to stoop and pick a 100 dollar bill from the ground.  Is his time more valuable than anyone else's?  Is Serge's time more valuable because he is a famous politician? When the Beard finally asks Serge for the photo with his daughter Paul reflects on the duties and conflicts of the famous.  As a politician it was imperative for Serge to maintain a good rapport with the people and so must appease them to at least some degree.  When the Beard asks, Serge is forced to be polite and agree to a photo.  After it became fairly apparent that their brief picture time was over the Beard continued to ask questions, which Paul attests to the fact that "They wanted something exclusive, an exclusive treatment.  A distinction had to be made between them and all those others who came up and asked for a photo or an autograph."  This of course makes the situation awkward for Serge or his equivalent and out of fairness they shouldn't give in.  The reason Serge can't tell him to simply go away is "the so-called snowball effect." Basically the Beard would tell his friends how rude Serge was and they would tell their friends and "the story would take on increasingly grotesque form every time it was told."  Eventually Serge might get a mark against him for it.  To avoid all this Serge uses the call excuse and pretends to have a call he was expecting and had to take.  What we should, and Paul does, get from this is not that when people say they have a call they are trying to shoo you off but that it's better for everyone if you don't ask in the first place.  The Dinner provides a view into the lives of the famous, which I find to be eye opening.

Darkness and light are opposites and so are truth and lies.  Typically light and truth are paired together, and yet that doesn't seem to be the case here.  When Paul went out to give Michel his phone back he pondered where he should stand."In the dark, when we couldn't see each other's eyes, Michel might be more willing to speak the truth." In this way associating darkness and being hidden with truth.  When Michel does arrive they end up meeting in a well lit place.  Paul had been on Michel's phone listening to a voice mail when he first got there and so Michel asked who he was talking to, to which Paul responded, " ' I was trying to call you, ... I was wondering what was taking you so long.' " This then associates light with lies.  This is something that could be considered with the above paragraph about the window.

One more plug on racism, or rather the contrariness of it.  Paul mentions that "As a little boy [Beau] had climbed into "Mother's" lap much more often than Rick or Valerie did" and when Rick was asked what he did to make Beau cry he states, " ' All I did was look at him.' "  Paul notes, at Claire's joking accusation that he is racist, that he " ' would be racist if [he] liked that little hypocrite simply for the color of his skin or where he comes from.' " It's not racist to like or dislike two people of the same race as you but are you then forced to like ones that are not?  Welcome to the world of Catch-22.  Most people do not want to be viewed as racist and so make a concerted effort to show appreciation for other races, thus giving unequal treatment and therefore acting based on race ... racism.  So by trying to be and act non-racist you are being racist...

Other interesting pieces from the section


At one point while Claire is out of her seat Serge sits in it to be across from and talk to Paul.  Paul makes the interesting note that "The chair was Claire's.  It belonged to my wife." Which we know that she didn't actually own the chair but it was still an invasion of her space.  This could be similar to when someone tries to act like someone else or push them out of your life.  An invasion of a  metaphysical ownership or slot in your relationships.

Serge in his infinite wisdom also presents the idea of us and them when he says that "[Menopause] sounds like something that would never happen to our wives."  Emphasis on our.  People can often assume that something bad or perceived to be bad will happen to someone else and not them or the ones they love.  Nature doesn't care who you are or what you've done and certainly doesn't place some people as being above others.

When Michel, Paul's son, calls his phone to try and find it Paul notices, because he has it, that it is Claire's face attached to their land line number.  Yet, Paul notes that "Home was Mama. Home was Claire.  [He] didn't feel left out, [he noted]; somehow it was actually a comfort."  Begging why is it a comfort, it may be that he doesn't want the specific duties of being "home" or that he wants Michel to be close with his mother.  However, should he feel left out?

Fitting in, isn't that what most people want to do, to fit in?  Well I imagine it would certainly be true for Serge and Babette's adopted son Beau.  This came up over the subject of nicknames of which Beau had one, Faso.  Faso, derived from Burkina Faso where he is from, Serge considered to be impolite or racist.  However, Beau accepted it because " ' Eveyone's got a nickname,' ...  Everyone. That was what Beau wanted.  He wanted to be like everyone."

The tournedos, a cut of beef from the end of the tenderloin, of this section and a key flavor of The Dinner will come in a later post where I'll delve into what Paul, our narrator, found on his son's phone, on the TV, and the cellars of the internet.