A Coward Androgynous Creature：On the Calamity of Kepesh

蔡成珍

Abstract：The Breast（1972）is acknowledged to be one of the most daring fiction of metamorphosis in the twentieth century.The paper investigates the cause of the metamorphosis of professor Kepesh into an atomized androgynous creature.It believes that the hidden didactic lesson imparted by Philip Roth is that the future of human race does not consists in the scientific progression and egoistic calculative way of living，but in taking up fateful actions courageously.

Key Words：Kepesh；metamorphosis；coward；androgynous；calamity

1 Introduction

In the 1990s，Philip Roth won Americas four major literary awards in succession，He expressed his concern for the female dominance in his works and came to luxuriate in the immanence of the maternity in Patrimony by accepting Bessies influence over him.Although Philip Roth has had at best an ambivalent relationship with feminism，his depiction of women and his relationship to the maternity warrants reconsideration.Roths autobiographical writing is too often contextualized in a masculinist tradition that privileges the singularity of the self.

According to Kai Mikkonen，the critical reception of The Breast was not altogether flattering.（Mikkonen1999：14）For many，The Breast was flawed as a literary work which is apt to be immature and whimsical in the 1970s，Harold Pinsker regard it to be“masochistic”，Irving Howe ultimately redeemed it to be“boring，tame，tasteless. ”Louis Harap criticized upon Roths sexual and satirical proclivities.（Kimmage：27-40）Interestingly，some critics maintained that The Breast can certainly be read as an allegory，or a straightforward tale of mythical transformation focusing on the comedy of male pride.While some others state that Roths obsession with sex and his satirical proclivities are attenuated in The Breast.

In Big Breasts and Wide Hips produced by Chinese writer Mo Yan， “breast”bears highly pornographic associations and connotations.However，The Breast should by no means be simply taken as an obscene novel.Instead，through rendering sarcastic portraits of modern men，it bears strong moralistic admonitions and didactic prescriptions.

This paper intends to unravel Philips satirical nature in composing this novel：namely，to examplify that the permanent germ in the human race——lies not in scientific and egoistic calculative way of living，but in an elevated human soul.Being a literary professor，the protagonists mind was by no means elevated.He basic criterion and chief aspiration was to“keep to what is ordinary and familiar，better the banal than the apocalyptic”（Roth：22）.The debasement of his heart finally lead to his downfall——the transformation into an unthinking female organ，upon the assumption that，The Breast，resembling Roman poet Ovids work Ars Amatoria，which was firstly misunderstood to be pornographic and unsatisfactorily appreciated by Saint Augustus，contains metaphorical humanistic admonitions.After reading it，readers would be startled to a rude awakening of our current enigmatic destitution，which，in essence，proves to be so identical with that of Kepesh.

2 Objectification of A Scientific Creature

Renaissance aims at freeing men from their previous oblivion of their rationality and reason.The concept of freedom，equality and democracy transcends the limitations of time and space and became precious spiritual treasure for all human races.Science seems to serve as an elixir to all maladjustments and depravity of human race.

It forms a striking contrast in the novel that the narration of the seemingly mythical occurrence was bombarded with highly scientific phraseology.Does the author succeed in rendering the readers with the layer of hidden connotations in The Breast？It holds water that the narrator intends to ridicule the affectation of the modern stirile and logical world，which constitutes a conspicuous feature of modernity.

The Breast is a story of a Jewish professor of comparative literature，David Alan Kepesh，who was turned into a 155-pound milk-producing mammary gland.The tale is told as a first-person confessional narrative addressed to an obscure audience.Kepesh was previously a thirty-eight-year-old man of “stamina and appetite”（Roth：2）who had been transformed into a breast and been fed intravenously while remaining immobile in a private room at a hospital.

The Breast presents a realistic picture of a man in exasperation and despondence due to his incapbabltities and estrangement，Kepesh epitomizes a modern man in desperation.In the modern era，the technologies and medical science have curbed people from dying from physical illnesses，nevertheless，they are obstructed from spiritual transcendence unwittingly and unsympathetically.

Before the metamorphoses took place，Kepesh lead a scientific mode of life.Being a meticulous man，he used to be“so devout a hypochondriac all（his）life，so alert to every change in body temperature and systemic regularity that it had ago become impossible for the reasonable man that I（he）also happened to be... ”（Roth：2）.He used to be a reasonable man of “hearty bowel movements，dependable sexual potency，of stamina and appetite，a man six-feet tall with good posture and a trim physique，most of his hair and all his teeth. ”（Roth：2）. He（I）was a serious and intelligent person.His evaluation of his previous self seemed rather scientific and logical.He was punctual，honest，courtest，and obtains good grades in all subjects.

The narrator casts himself as an ironic，untrustworthy type，from his reasonable self，he came to seek help from his physician Dr.Gordon，a meticulous and conscientious man who believed in the science and technology of the modern masculine era by regarding that he could have spoiled the disastrous transformation by sending Kepesh to a hospital.

Beyond question，his logical and reasonable self is about to crack up.He felt“ashamed and unmanned”by his lost of self-control.In his description of the symptoms for the doctor，he endeavored to reach “medical objectivity”.Transformation from man to female breast certainly results in the“dramatic increase in local sensation”（Roth：5）.The man over-reliant on modern technologies finally became enslaved to seemingly omnipotent functions of them.

Kepesh illustrates his own story under such a satirical and playful tone that his own transformation seems to be just a commonplace thing that takes place around the world on a daily basis.Indeed，the majority of“small potatoes”tend to remain silent for the sasake of fulfilling certain societal conventions and obligations.Kepesh is entitled to accomplish multiple societal roles，while seemingly redeeming his transformation as a “catastrophe”，he manages to replenish his story with large quantities of pseudoscientific jargons and terms，which prove to be useful in depicting and vivifying the chaotic status of the modern world.Taking the following excerpt for instance：

Human I insist I am ，but not that human.And it isnt that I am willing to live now because I am able，because the worst is over：Im not all sure thats the case.For all my “equilibrium”and the seeming“objectivity”that permits me to narrate the history of my disaster（...）That I havent died is a matter of great interest to medical science，as you can imagine，that miracle continues to be studied.（Roth：9）

The ironic tone indicates that the case of his objectifiaction was largely due to his imperceptibility，and in essence，would never be singular.Kepesh would be heading towards insanity with such an abundance of his hallucinations，since behind all the seemingly normal behaviors he routinely followed before his transformation，there was one“hideous in here”，he wanted to“quit”，he wanted to“go crazy”，to“go spinning off，ranting and wild”，but he couldnt .In the modern era，“small potatoes”are neglected and are kept under the bottom of the world，there is likelihood that the human beings will be largely substituted or conquered by machineries.They“sob”，they “scream”，they touch bottom and“lay there on that bottom”，failing to take up actions，even if he adopts“a ghastly catastrophe”to illustrate his feeling of possessing no legs at the beginning.（Roth：20）

It is satirical that David Alan Kepesh was evidently common and ordinary before the metamorphoses occurred，once the transformation took place；he became silenced，due to the fact that reliable sources of getting to know the true cause of his“calamities”had been depleted and blocked up.With impaired hearing，seeing，smelling，and other basic skills for surviving，his reasoning power seemed to be a perished fantasy.

In fact，it lies not in the depletion of information which suffocated us，but an overdose of it did enfeeble and reduce us to deaf dumbness and senselessness.The convenient access to those modern flamboyant services quintessentially crippled the majority of the human beings as a result of an obvious seclusion of soul from their labour.As the twelfth chapter of Tao Te Ching indicates：wantonly exposure of our five senses would lead to adverse effects.Being physically enfeebled，Kepesh resorted to live under constant intervention of others，up to the date of his presenting“report”to the audience，he was still heedless about the root of his calamities，he merely accustomed to the whole situation by letting out a simple doubt of considering it“hilarious”for the sake of peace.

What seems hopeless and despairing is that，although being trapped and attended by technological gadgets，the hero fail to solve the enigmatic phenomena capsulating him and Kepesh describes his transformation in the following way：“beyond understanding，beyond compassion，beyond comedy”，no“conclusive scientific explanation”（Roth：9）seems to be available in this regard.The narrative indicates that Kepesh entertains ideas about bisexuality，madness，escapisms，unconscious obsessions，dreaming，impotence，hallucination，and unconscious obsessions.

Indeed，Kepesh is but a most ordinary individual victimized by the metamorphosis，nevertheless，sheer amusement of Kepesh tend to be refrained，instead，we become abhorred by association with similar vices in any of us.

3 An Ordinary & Impotent Androgyny

From the perspective of the narrator，the female breast embodied some oriental characteristics：femininity，passivity，superstition，instability and sensibility；while Kepeshs previous male self manifests masculinity，science and reasonableness.In this sense，Kepesh was turned into an androgyny——physical femininity，spiritual masculinity.It is noteworthy that the feminine part of him was highly prejudiced upon by his masculinity，in other terms，the disparity of the two actually lead to his misfortune.

Then what does androgyny signify？ How to assess it in terms of its effect？ For me，the“androgynity”or“bisexuality”of the professor Kepesh largely alludes to his lack of courage to take on changes.In a lecture delivered at Turbridge Wells on February 16th，1858，entitled“The Work of Iron，in Nature，Art，and Policy”，John Ruskin lashed upon this kind of stableness or peace：

That is，you may either win your peace，or buy it：——win it，by resistance to evil；——buy it，by compromise with evil.You may buy your peace，with silenced consciences；——you may buy it，with broken vows，——buy it，with lying words——buy it，with base connivances，——buy it，with the blood of the slain，and the cry of the captive，and the silence of the lost souls...and so mutter continually to ourselvesPeace，peace.when there is No peace；but only captivity and death，for you，as well as for those you leave unsaved；——and yours darker than theirs.（羅斯金：196）

For this kind of peace，Kepesh was instinctively unaccustomed to.“I was wrong”initiated his metamorphoses，the first symptom was the discoloration of the penis in the pubic area，which was the representation of masculinity，and its transformation into a“soft reddish shade”.His ever-changing explanations and mental instability indicates that he is clearly self-contradictory.

The cause of his metamorphosis lies in his cooling down and“coldness”in their passionate sexual life with his wife Claire.Using Kepeshs terms：“with Claire life had become orderly and stable（...）I felt grounded，dug in，and permanent about myself”.Claire was“the woman who had helped so to fashion my new life of contentment”，“It was a depressing and bewildering development. ”（Roth：7），we can see that although he used to be impotent in certain degrees，his lack of interest partly evolved from his insipid life，he expects something from the bottom of his heart，probably that also serves as one of the reasons for his existence.Without body，he could neither feel nor think，oblivious of the immortality of spiritual advancement.

Kepesh possesses a masculine mind.His conception and description of the breast is factual，scientific and systematic，which includes shape，weight，length，consistency，form，flesh，race，etc.Kepeshs breast-shaped body signified his incapabilities in escaping from female dominance.Kepeshs transformation features with a shift from a rational man to a secluded，atomized，egoistic and docile feminine organ，since the“head”which serves as the forte of the reasoning power of human beings has become his nipple.Nipple is by no means a forte of logical reasoning，it is only exquisitely sensitive and it is a mammalian organ closest to the heart，which“could neither see，smell，taste，or move. ”（Roth：3）All the stimulus Kepesh has received could be“dangerous”or“lethal”since Kepesh could authenticity assess the appropriateness of his“reaction”，the“seventeen openings in his nipple”provide him with“something like a mouth and vestigial ears”（Roth：12）.And he insisted on associating“the higher functions of consciousness with the bodys topmost point”（Roth：12）.

Although he disembraced the doctorsreaffirmation that the roughened skin of the nipple was formed out of the glans penis and“the puckered pinkish areola”encircling the nipple“metamorphosed from the shaft of the penis”at the beginning，Satirically，Kepesh insists at the end of the story that his change will do him good，and make him“deliriously”happy，could it be interpreted that he had“relinquished”，i.e.not only his rights to know the true hidden cause of his metamorphoses，but also，his rights to say“No”.His acquiescence quintessentially equals to“buying peace”，rather than“winning peace”through“resistance to evil”.