Seldom revolutionary : a melancholic mind of Miranda : Katherine Anne Porter's "Old
mortality"
著者（英） Tetsuko Ishimoto
journal or
publication title
Core
number 28
page range 45‑67
year 1999‑03‑10
URL http://doi.org/10.14988/pa.2017.0000015035
Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind of Miranda‑Katherine Anne PO巾r'sOldMortali ty" ‑ 45
Seldom R e v o l u t i o n a r y : A M e l a n c h o l i c Mind o f Miranda
‑Ka t h e r i n e An ne P o r t e r ' s Old Mortality"‑
T e t s u k o I s h i m o t o
According加 DarleneHarbour Unrue， there occurs the conflict of the Old Order with the N ew one in the stories of Katherine Anne Porter: the former implies a structured antebellum society that cherished aesthetic ideals at the same time it nurtured inequities indigenous to feudalism，"
while the latter consists ofpersons who consciously reject the romantic values and traditions of the past and of poor whites struggling to enter middle‑class respectability" (47).1 Yet Porter， particularly in Old Mortality，" does not resolve such a tense antagonism into an obvious collapse or reconciliation but simply presents the pessimistic theme of disillusionment of the old myths. To quote a convincing assertion of Richard Gray， Porter does not so much dismiss the entire framework of law as subject it to a radical analysis‑this as a preliminary to reconstructing it as a living， growing thing within the minds of her protagonists" (185).2 More clearly， even if she refuses to submit herself to the patriarchal， agrarian， and aristocratic ideology， Porter does not intend to destroy it completely but rather possesses a nostalgic attachment for it. It may be seen that， through the t出hre悦e圃par吋t construction of O印ldMor此t叫ali抗tあ "y Miranda a main character confronts a
46 Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne Porter'sOld Mortality'‑
postbellum period of transition， senses the atmosphere of drastic changes of the world， and yet does not look forward to the future after an experience of disenchantment. It seems that Miranda， who belongs to the new order， ultimately achieves a naive expectation to determine her truth only to niake an implicit collusion with the ideology of the old order. That is， while she puts a question to the falsity of family legends based on the structure of patriarchy， Miranda would be considered as seldom revolutionary. Though it is too crude to identify them facilely， Miranda presumably reflects a melancholia of Porter， from which she suffered a11 her life.3 By dealing Old Mortality" with a part ofThe Old Order，" we aim to examine the melancholic mind of Miranda in this paper and then prove how it still espouses a parallelism of the myth of southern lady to the slavery peculiar to the old south and works as an ideological ambiguity.
1 lmmured i n t h e Family Legends
Part 1: 1885・1902starts with the scene that the photograph of a spirited‑looking young Amy or a motionless image" is being gazed at by her nieces Maria and Miranda aged twelve and eight years old respectively， with a significantly skeptical wonder why older people regard her as so beautiful and charming (173).4 Even the clothes of Aunt Amy in a photograph look most terribly out of fashion" so that Maria and Miranda associate the whole affair with dead things" to disregard her as only a ghost in a frame， and a sad， pretty story from old times"
(173). But the fact remains that Maria and Miranda are drawn and held by the mysterious love of the living， who remembered and cherished these dead" (176). The older people love to te11 stories of the past， for a
Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne PO巾ぬ OldMortality" ‑ 47 love of legend has its springs in family feeling: Their hearts and imaginations were captivated by their past， a past in which worldly considerations had played a very minor role. Their stories were almost always love stories against a bright blank heavenly blue sky" (175). It is very likely that， hearing the family myths， Miranda and Maria acquiesce in the consciousness of the Southern aristocratic family inc1uding the observance of Catholic faith， the romanticism， and the hedonism:
... their living memory enchanted the little girls. They listened， all ears and eager minds， picking here and there among the floating ends of narrative， patching together as well as they could fragments of tales that were like bits of poetry or music， indeed were associated with the poetry they had heard or read， with music， with the theater. (176)
Under the influence of the family stories， Miranda a 1ess practica1 girl must be obsessed by the ghost of Amy or the myth of beauty through her childhood that she would one day be like Aunt Amy， not as she appeared in the photograph， but as she was remembered by those who had seen her" (177). For the romance of Unc1e Gabriel's long， unrewarded love toward Aunt Amy be10ngs to the world of poetry" or that ofsuch a story as one found in old books: unworldly books， but true， such as the Vita Nuova， the Sonnets of Shakespeare and the Wedding Song of Spenser; and poems by Edgar Allan Poe" (78). The family legend evinces that her renowned beauty forms a striking contrast with the everyday world of dulllessons to be learned， stiff shoes to be limbered up， scratchy flannels to be endured in cold weather， measles and disappointed expectations，"
to which Cousin Eva a born old maid belongs (178). Hence， if she gets irritated by the comparison of two pianists such as Paderewski and
48 Seldom Revolution町 :A Melancholic姐ndofMiranda‑Katherine Anne PO出向 OldMortaliザ ‑ Rubinstein by one gentleman， the monologue of Miranda sounds very ironical:
…
why should anyone need to recall the past?" (179)The myth of Aunt Amy reminds us that Anne Firor Scott analyzes the complementary structure of southern patriarchy with the image of southern lady as follows: The gentleman... in addition to being finely formed and highly educated， was firm， commanding， and a perfect patriarch...・Theweakness and dependence of women were thrown into bold relief by his virility and mastery of his environment" (14).5 In the late nineteenth century， the economical condition of the Rheas family as well as the Old Order of southern patriarchy itself comes to have the prospect of its own bankruptcy. In such a predicament， the older order all the more eamestly must exploit the aura of family legends and preserve Amy as a rare variant of the southem lady with an image of the so氏， submissive， perfect woman， "which complements the ideal of plantation (Scott 21). The politics of narration operates when the grandmother of Miranda， airing the faded things out of the old trunks and boxes twice a year， cries over the death of Aunt Amy with a self‑indulgent grief. The grandmother upholds the southem old order， for she (provided a proper name Sophia Jane" only in The Old Order") is the great‑granddaughter of Kentucky's most famous pioneer and the daughter of a notably heroic captain in the War of 1812. Actually Sophia Jane has lived a traditional pattern of life of woman of an aristocratic parentage: she naturally considers a virginity as a virtue" and resents a manner of a new woman like that of her youngest son's wife. It is no wonder that Sophia Jane once a young exemplary of the Southem lady tums into a conservative and commanding grandmother:岬TheGrandmother's role was authority， she knew that; it was her duty to portion out activities， to urge or
Seldom Revolution町 :A Melancholic Mind ofMir加da‑KatherineAnne PO巾r'sOldMortality" ‑ 49 restrain where necessary， to teach morals， manners， and religion， to punish and reward her own household according to a fixed code" (328). It is emphatically remarked that the grandmother， whether in town or in country， works hard rest刀ringto order the place which no doubt had gone somewhat astray in her absence" (325). Thus， if the older people take advantage of the silence of Aunt Amy through the aura of legends to distort the past， it unmistakably works as an attempt of restoration.
Although Mir溜 ldaembraces the ghost of Aunt Amy as a part of a fine story" such as that of the assassination of President Lincoln by Wilkes Booth， it gradually becomes clear that it stands as nothing but the fabricated product of the living memories， namely the altered past (180). Truly the outlandish episodes of Aunt A my reveal that she has digressed out of the idealistic image of the perfect southern lady. For instance， Aunt Amy has broken the engagement vows with two young men other than Uncle Gabriel for no reason" (181). One day Aunt A my even has flirted with Jean Lafitte an ex‑betrothed or a young Creole gentleman on a big gay fancy‑dress ball during the Mardi Gras Holidays. Mter the disgraceful event Aunt A my still has ridden the horse to trace Harry her brother， who has taken a shot at Lafitte without any warning and exiled himself to Mexico for nearly a year， until she has been forced to come back， accompanied by Bill and Gabriel. But， despite the refractory attitudes， Amy has not practiced a rebellion against the surrounding world of the old order but rather she has endured the social pressure on the belle‑an object of oppressed sexuality or a cog of the mechanic wheel of the southern traditional family. With the almost pathological sensibility， it will be noticed， Aunt A my has cared her dres8 or hair 80 nervou8ly a8 to change it when they had found a fault in any way. On the
50 Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofM官'anda‑KatherineAnne Porter'sOld Mortality" ‑ other hand， though she finally has married him after it is informed that he has been disinherited on the death bed of his grandfather， yet Aunt Amy， whenever praised by Gabriel， has cut out a frock， a long hair or anything as if she had willfully mutilated herself' (183). Here we may as well remember the elucidation of Simone de Beauvoir that Since woman is an object， it is quite understandable that her intrinsic value is affected by her style of dress and adornment" 日(595日).6Otherwise Amy has surprised others by copying the costume of a small Dresden shephe町rdessin a bawdy manner on the masquerade 0ぱfballs or ordering a dashing gown to offend the mother of her husband on purpose. It seems that even the coquettish misdemeanors of Amy serve the aim of the masochistic self‑mutilation or its reversal， namely the sadistic torment of her victims. Inauspiciously Aunt Amy has confessed to the grandmother:
…I'm sick ofthis world. 1 don't like anything in it. It's so dull" (188). The presentiment of Aunt Amy comes true when the wedlock with Gabriel stands asmy funeral，" for her early death occurs only six months after the marriage due to a tuberculosis (182).
The suffering of Aunt Amy a capricious and maniacal southern lady will be memorialized in the tombstone poetry that Uncle Gabriel has composed with the unintentional accuracy:
官helivesαgαinωho suffered life， Then suffered deαth，αnd now set free Asinging αngel， she forgets
The griefs of old mOl加lity."(181)
The crucial point is that as long as she remains a singing angel，" the ghost of Aunt Amy has not yet been set free" but still constrained by the
Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne Porter'sOIdMortalitダ'‑51 living memories" of her relatives to admire her according to such a stereotyped image.7 Even before her death， the grandmother has generalized an anxiety of Amy by naming it greensickness" (or simply a preliminary condition ofthe future angels ofhouse) and dared not to take her seriously:
…
marriage and children would cure her of everything.咽l women of our family are delicate when they are young，' 1 said" (82).Certainly Aunt A my has ailed in a categorization of the southern lady and got sickened by the reduction of her particular case to a universal symptom， which already presupposes the promise of recovery. Likewise， even twenty years after the unnatural death of Aunt Amy， it is highly imaginable that Mariaand Miranda are disallowed to behave defiantly and are victimized， under the authority of grandmother， by the trap of an intoxicant charm of family legends. It is sufficiently conceivable that the serious despondency of Aunt Amy may be inherited down to that of Maria and Miranda.
Moreover， in the .case of Maria and Miranda， the despotic attitudes of Harry an egoistic and brutal patriarch apparently do damage to their childhood and lead to their chronic melancholia.
When they behaved stupidly he could not endure the sight of them. They understood dimly that all this was for their own future good; and when they were snivelly with colds， he prescribed delicious hot toddy for them， and saw that it was given them. He was always hoping they might not grow up to be so silly as they seemed to him at any given moment， and he had a disconcerting way of inquiring，How do you know?" when they forgot and made dogmatic statements in his presence. It always came out embarrassingly that they did not know at all， but were repeating something they had heard. This made conversation
52 Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne PO巾r'sOldMortality" ‑ with him difficult， for he laid traps and they fell into them， but it became important to them that their father should not believe them to be fools. (184)
The tyranny of Harry terrorizes and threatens Maria and Miranda so that they cannot but yield to him humiliatingly being ashamed of their mistakes and their impotence. There is no doubt that Maria and Miranda get immured" as if they were the beautiful but unlucky maidens， who for mysterious reasons had been trapped by nuns and priests in dire collusion" within the forbidden" gothic novels， which they secretly read on their grandmother's farm during a vacation (193). In Part II: 1904 such a situation is more literally actualized because Harry sends Maria and Miranda to the Convent of the Child Jesus， the Catholic boarding school in New Orleans， under the name of education.
It was true the little girls were hedged and confined， but in a large garden with trees and a grotto; they were locked at night into a long cold dormitory， with all the windows open， and a sister sleeping at either end. Their beds were curtained with muslin， and small night‑lamps were so arranged that the sisters could see through the curtains， but the children could not see the sisters. (194)
While Miranda finds it impossible to work up a little sinister thrill"
about the boarding school， it cannot be denied that the dull good‑natured sisters supervise the students and bring them under control for the sake of normalization to the standard of the Southern traditional family (194). Scott exactly points out that the monitory system of parents and boarding schools contributes to the formation of image of the southern lady as a fusion ofbeauty and matrimony.8 The sisters inform the family
Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne PO巾~r'ぷOldMo巾lity"- 53 of the students of their deportment and scholastic achievements regularly so that Miranda must take an underestimation of spiritual deficiencies" (194). In such a confinement， Miranda and Maria can only e可oypicking up a/fine new word out of their summer reading and refer to themselves as immured" because it gives a romantic glint" to a dull life (194). Twenty years after the cruel demise of Aunt Amy， it is unchangeable that the daughters of the southern aristocratic family avidly demand a romanticism in the incarceration. This is even more true of the enthusiastic belief of Maria and Miranda in the fami1y legends. Here we may recognize that the vicious circle peculiar to the south that the tendency of romanticism and hedonism" should be multiplied by the will加 maintainthe stα，tus quo， as it was represented in their own feeling about it， would be simply and exactly their will to see the South along the road to Progress" (236).9 The older people cling to the memories of the past， desire the status quo and fashion the deceptive myths so dictatorially that the next generation could feel obsessed and comforted by them.
However it is also inevitable that Miranda should experience a severe disillusionment of family legends by encountering Uncle Gabriel， once a beau of Amy， on the horse races ofthe Crescent City that his mare Miss Lucy IV，" runs. Here it seems reasonable to suppose that there is much justice in the argument ofUnrue about the essence ofPorter's works:
Each of her stories and her novel are about confronting and accepting the totality of life， including one's own nature and the Unknowable， or the bewilderment and suffering that comes from failing to do so; or about the deception of systems and the illusions of ideals which we embrace as we attempt to find truth
54 Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind of Miranda‑Katherine Anne Porter'gOld Mortality" ‑ (10).10
Gabriel indeed proves a shabby fat man with bloodshot blue eyes， sad beaten eyes， and a big melancholy laugh， like a groan" (197). Besides Miss Lucy IV" is actually a dilapidated horse and， even when winning a race by chance， she goes past the judges' stand a neck ahead，with her bloodied nose and bursting heart" (199). Although she has decided to become a horse jockey like the great Tod Sloan in the future， Miranda rejects the victory at the moment and decides to abandon her dream. Not only that， when Harry， Maria， and Miranda visit a desolate‑looking little hotel in Elysian Fields， invited by Gabriel， Miss Honey his second wife or once a very good‑looking well‑bred blonde girl" depressingly appears as a tall pale‑faced woman with faded straw‑colored hair and pink贋rimmed eyelids" (180， 201). Moreover， Miss Honey responses to them with a pallid， unquenchable hatred and bitterness that seemed enough to bring her long body straight up out of the chair in a fury" (203). Miss Honey resents the penurious income of Gabriel over the horse races and behaves as if she could fly out at him any second，with him sitting there like a hound when someone shakes a whip at him" (203). Although Uncle Gabriel tries to bolster up the painful situation by conveying the news of unusual run of a luck of Miss Lucy IV，" yet Miss Honey stays gloomy and further insults Harry for bringing his daughters to the race fields: I had rather， much rather，... see my son dead at my feet than hanging around a race track" (204). Thus， the true tragedy exists in the material destitutionofUncle Gabriel and Miss Honey， not the pathetic story ofhis unrewarded love for Aunt Amy. 1n that sense， the desperate honesty and the thorough bluntness of Miss Honey can impress us as sincere and
Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne PO此er'sOldMortality"‑ 55 righteous. By contrast， the aside of Miranda sounds too snobbish and precocious in that it echoes the habitual remark of grandmother: Family quarrels were sacred， to be waged privately in fierce hissing whispers， low choked mutters and growls. If they did yell and stamp， it must be behind closed doors and windows" (202). After all the disenchanting encounters， Maria and Miranda are forced to return to their familiar world of shining bare floors and insipid wholesome food and cold明 ater washing and regular prayers; their world of poverty， chastity and obedience， of early to bed and early to rise， of sharp little rules and tittle帽 tattle" (205). Even if the fragrant romanticism of thrilling paper‑backed stories as well as family legends obviously gets lost to them， Miranda and Maria can only chant a spell Immured for another week，" in the confined dormitory of the convent， with the pessimistic acknowledgment that it would not work (206). We will wait to see until Part III: 1912 that the family legends， especially that of Aunt Amy an admirable presentation of the southern lady should be completely shattered.
II No Way Out: Hopefulness and Ignorance
Eight years later， Miranda， who has already got married at just past eighteen， is returning to her abandoned home for the funeral of Gabriel， who has recently died in Lexington， Kentucky and yet is to be buried beside the grave of Aunt Amy in Texas. Two years before Miranda has gone for an elopement by betraying her father and grandmother to escape from the imprisonment of a dreary convent life. On the train Miranda encounters Cousin Eva， who is referred to briefly in Part 1 as an old maid， a fighter for the women suffrage movement and a tutor of Latin at the Female Seminary. Here Cousin Eva significantly appears to
56 Seldom Revolution町 :A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne Porter'sOld Mortality" ‑ disclose the dark side of the past and provides Miranda with an astringent antidote to the romanticism and hedonism of the southern old order. Cousin Eva does not hesitate to deny the mythic image of Aunt Amy in that she has not been so very beautifi叫 butsimply/00
f
均e"and reduce the romantic love story to that ofぺjustsex" (215， 216). lndeed Aunt Amya sex‑ridden" woman would have been found among a long procession of living corpses， festering women stepping gaily towards the charnel house， their corruption concealed under laces and flowers. (216). More scandalously， Aunt A my has married Gabriel just because she has attempted to conceal that she has been pregnant by Jean Lafitte. lndeed all the parties and dances haveおnctionedas the market，" which a girl (a commodity) would not afford切 missout， and where the rivalry definitely subsists (216). Cousin Eva bitterly grieves about how the southern girls have degraded morally to commit adultery， while drinking lemon and salt to stop their periods and to keep the image of a southern lady unsullied.llOn the other hand， Cousin Eva boasts that she for herself has fought against the whole hideous institution" of the family so as to compensate for the spoiled girlhood on the reason that she is chinless and ugly (217). Aside from the personal resentments， undoubtedly， there is something reasonable about the insistence of Cousin Eva that such an institution of family is the root of all human wrongs" and that it should be wiped from the face of the earth" (217). Truly Cousin Eva has gone to jail even three times due to the radical social activity and survived the two crises of dying through the toilsome career. 80 that Miranda gains a strong conviction that indeed women would be voting soon if nothing fatal happened to Cousin Eva" (210). But Miranda in fact gets exhausted by
Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic姐ndofMiranda‑Katherine Anne Po巾r's"Old Mortality" ‑ 57
"her intense Cousin Eva" and wants to sleep， be at home， see her family， who were so alive and solid; who would mention her freckles and ask her if she wanted something to eat" (216， 217). Miranda certainly lacks the self‑assuredly fierce manner， method， and spirit of Cousin Eva， and here comes her melancholic mood or her inertia: it seemed heroic and worth suffering for， but discouraging， too，加thosewho came a氏er:Cousin Eva so plainly had swept the field clear of opportunity" (210). Also Miranda does not neglect to observe that Cousin Eva looks so withered and tired， so famished and sunken in the cheeks， so old， somehow" for her age (208). Even while she appreciates the humorous bitterness" of Cousin Eva， Miranda hears the small voice ofaxiomatic morality" saying Beauty goes， character stays" and bewails over the dreary prospect of a strong character so deforming" (208， 215). However it Is obvious that Miranda ought not to choose between a duality such as beauty and character， which are falsely postulated. The dilemma ofeither beauty or ugliness"
brings us back to that of objectification of the southern belle in the heterosexual relations deeply connected with the neurotic attitudes of Aunt A my and her subsequent death.
Living a period of transition from the latter half of the nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth， it may be asserted that Miranda disengages herself from the uncritical devotion to the world of il1usory romanticism of family legends. However it seems equivocal that Miranda orphans herself， deliberately and consciously rejecting her past‑ intoxicated family" and chooses homelessness over the family， whose lies and destructive myths at once exa1ted Amy， caused her death， and would， at the very least， cripple Miranda as they crippled her ugly (because chinless) CousIn Eva" (93).12 Coming back to Texas， Miranda
58 Seldom Revolutionaη: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne PO巾r'sOldMortality" ‑ still yearns for the solace and re1ief of the fami1y ties， and yet she is simply forced to confront a solitude standing and feel home1ess， but not sorry for it" (219). But， on arriving Texas， there is cruelly no we1come for Miranda， because Hru:ηdoes not yet abso1ve her of having married with a stranger and ignores her. On the contrary Harry a conservative patriarch and Cousin Eva a primitive feminist， who are supposed to take the opposite positions toward an institution of family， can become compatib1e on the ground that they are of the same generation and perfect1y c1ear about their p1aces in their world. Cousin Eva and Harry do not share on1y the bond of the common ，generation but a1so some definite senses of moral value so that she would agree with him concerning the shameful" e10pement of Miranda:If you had been my child 1 should have brought you home and spanked you" (213). Thus， with a vehement sense of a1ienation， the disillusionment of Miranda leads to the desperate resentment as seen in the following passage:
It is 1 who have no place，" thought Miranda. Where are my own people and my own tinie?" She resented， slow1y and deeply and in profound silence， the presence of these aliens who 1ectured and admonished her， who 10ved her with bitterness and denied her the right to 100k at the world with her own eyes， who demanded that she accept their version of life and yet could not tell her the truth， not in the smallest thing. 1 hate them both，"
her most inner and secret mind said p1ain1y， "1ωill be free of them， 1 shαII not euen remember them." (219)
Here Miranda decides to defy the disma1 histories of Cousin Eva as well as the official accounts of grandmother or Harry. Her mind c10ses against remembering， namely the 1egend of the past， other peop1e's memory of
Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMir加da‑KatherineAnne Porter'sOld Morta1ity" ‑ 59 the past， at which she had spent her life peering in wonder like a child at a magic‑Iantern show" (221). Now that she acknowledges that there will be too many answers， none of them right"加thequestion what the truth is， Miranda does not seem pervious to the romantic haze of family legends anymore (221). Half hearing the unfamiliar language of Ha口γ and Cousin Eva， Miranda feels sick to death of the ties of blood of her family including many cousins who， as it is informedi stay at her home.
Yet Miranda also refuses to go back to her husband and his family， because she cannot any longer stand bonds that smothered her in love and hatred" or [staying] in any place， with anyone， that threatened to forbid her making her own discoveries， that said No' to her" (220). Then eventually arrives the downfall of the old painful structure":
Oh， what is life， she asked herself in desperate seriousness， in those childish unanswerable words， and what shall 1 do with it? It is something of my own， she thought in a fury of jealous possessiveness， what shall 1 make of it? She did not know that she asked herself this because all her earliest training had argued that life was a substance， a material to be used， it took shape and direction and meaning only as the possessor guided arid worked it; living was a progress of continuous and varied acts of the will directed towards a definite end. She had been assured that there were good and evil ends， one must make a choice. But what was good， and what was evil? 1 hate love， she thought， as if this were the answer， 1 hate loving and being loved， 1 hate it. And her disturbed and seething mind received a shock of comfort from this sudden collapse of an old painful structure of distorted images and misconceptions (220白221).
It seems from this passage that Miranda thoroughly commits herself to
60 S，号ldomRevolutionaη: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Kaぬe血eAnnePo巾ぬ OldMortality"‑
the demythologization of family legends and resists against the caste of old order. Nevertheless， despite a shock of comfort" at the ruin of such distorted images and misconceptions，" we will notice through the ending pessimistic words of Porter that the awakening and the independent spirit of Miranda are defined to insinuate her hopefulness" and
ignorance" (221). If we borrow the expression of Suzanne W. Jones， Porter's ending demonstrates that Miranda's attempt to be done with the stories of the past fails" and simultaneously undermines the reader's attempt to control her text" (188).13 The last two words of Porter reveal that the whole story finally presents just the cul‑de‑sac ofno truth" for Miranda and echoes the painful confession of Aunt Amy: …I'm sick of this world."官leimmaturity of Miranda is very likely to indicate that she simply indulges herself in a sel圃.fcenteredsense of isolation or resentment. It follows that， even though she abandons the false histories， Miranda does not wholly accede to the eradication of institution of the old order but far from it.
To illustrate the hopeful ignorance" of Miranda， let us explore the last scene that Miranda daringly sits in the front seat of the car with Skid， the Negro handy boy， though there is plenty of room besides Harry and Cousin Eva. More precisely， what does it mean on terms of implicit racism that Miranda avoids sitting with Harry and Eva， seats herself besides Skid in the front of the car and remains silent? In 1992 Toni Morrison advocated an efficient strategy in Playing in the Dark:
Whiteness and the Literary Imagination" regarding American Mricanism，" namely the application of black ch町actersin the American literature. Not a few critics， we should remember here， already have pointed out that the black plays an important role in Porter's stories.14
Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne Porter'sOld Mortality" ‑ 61 The following insistence of Morrison will likewise contribute to an analysis of the unconscious domain of Miranda and her family ofOld Mortality. "15
Through the simple expedient of demonizing and reifying the range of color on a palette， American Africanism makes it possible to say and not say， to inscribe and erase， to escape and engage， to act out and act on， to historicize and render timeless. It provides a way of contemplating chaos創ldcivilization， desire and fear， and a mechanism for testing the problems and blessings of freedom. (7)
Considering in such a light， it seems significant that， while she grieves over the discommunication with people of the same generation， Miranda does not intend to share anything with Skid， who sits beside her. In Old Mortality" Skid is simply explained as the handy man" or the Negro boy" but in The Old Order" he is more specifically introduced as a grandchild of Nannie， an intimate servant of Sophia Jane the grandmother of Miranda (218， 219). Miranda sits with Skid and yet is not even described to salute 加 himno doubt because he is a black servant and not counted as a family member. Though occupying the same seat with Skid， Miranda seems too busy in reflecting on her own isolation， but it is taken as a matter of course that the actual outsider must be Skid. Insofar as she absolutely excludes Skid out of her consciousness， we have ωconclude that the melancholic despondency of Miranda should be as egoistic， bruta1 and patriarchal as that of the preceding generation. The discontinuity of Miranda with Skid would be a conspicuous sample of a longing of the southern mind for the status quo of an a1ready established regime， which we could trace back to the comp1icated relationship of
62 Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine AnnePorter'sOld Mortality"‑
Sophia Jane with Nannie. It is mentioned in "The Old Order" that the almost equal" disparity between Sophia Jane a mistress and Nannie an ex‑slave inheres in an opprobrious fact that the latter has been provided as a wedding present" to the former (333). Noticeably the texts of Porter furthermore contain the appalling accounts of slavery and lynching， which Uncle Jimbilly narrates to the grandchildren of his mistress including Miranda in 四eWitness，" a section ofThe Old Order":
Dey used to tak.e 'em outand tie 'em down and whup 'em，" he muttered，wid gret big leather strops inch thick long as yo' ahm， wid round holes bored in 'em so's every time dey hit 'em de hide
and de meat done come off dey bones in little round chunks. And wen dey had whupped 'em wid de strop till dey backs was all raw andbloody， dey spread dry cawnshucks on dey backs and set 'em afire and pahched 'em， and den dey poured vinega all ovah 'em... Yassuh. And den， the ve'y nex day dey'd got to git back to work in the fiels or dey'd do the same thing right ovah agin. Yassah. Dat was it. If dey didn't git back to work dey got it all right ovah agin." (341)
Since her childhood， we can assume that Miranda， through the nightmarish anecdotes of Uncle Jimbilly， has already confronted the sudden collapse of an old painful structure of distorted images and misconceptions，" hated the legend of the past， other people's memory of the past，" and wished to approach the truth" or a horrible one (221). Nevertheless Miranda， who has run away to marriage from the condition of being immured within a home， does not completely resolve to break with the class consciousness underlying the oppression of the black coupled with the myth of the southern lady. The schism between Miranda and Skid only proves that， despite the flight， she does not
Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne Porter's "Old Mortality"‑63 actually relinquish her home， the family legends， or an aristocratic ideal ofthe old order.
Moreover， we may well mark the parallelism ofthe almost unconscious racism to the aristocratic ideal or the prejudiced apotheosis of the southern lady. According to Scott， in the antebellum South， slavery undeniably had a great deal to do with the ideal of the southern lady: Because they owned slaves and thus maintained a traditional landowning aristocracy， southerners tenaciously held on to the patriarchal family structure" (16). Under the patriarchy of the old south， it should be remarked， the slavery has complemented the delusive exa1tation of southern lady like Aunt Amy. Hence we have to contend with Porter that Miranda can be hardly revolutionary and at best remain hopeful with her ignorance. In Old Morality，" Miranda is sti1l possessed by a melancholia and trapped by the duality of beauty and character. After all Miranda does not achieve a departure from the position of southern ruling class (aristocrat) or that of superior race (white). It may happen that， in Pale Horse， Pale Rider" a supposed sequel of the Miranda cycle， she will attain a hysteric delirium and lose her such identity on an occasion when she contracts a mortal contagion， agonized by a dreadful prospect of death of Adam or her lover.16 But， at least in
Old Mortality，" even if she flees from the confinement of her girlhood， Miranda positively chooses not to enjoin in the women suffrage movement nor commit herself to that of repositioning Skid an American‑ African. Henceforth we will be allowed to reason that Porter again aborts a dream of revolutions， as she does in Flowering Judas" and "Hacienda"
with the embittered pessimism.17 In Old Mortality" Porter contents herself with providing us with the process of disillusIonment and then
64 Seldom Revolutionary: A Melancholic Mind ofMiranda‑Katherine Anne Porteぬ OldM批ality"‑
very cynically reveals the ideological ambiguity of Miranda.
Notes
1. See Darlene Harbour Unrue. Understαnding Kα，therine Anne Porter (Columbia， South Carolina UP， 1988).
2. See Richard Gray， The Literαture of Memory: Modern Writers of the AmeriどαnSouth (Baltimore: John Hopkins UP， 1977). Here Gray proposes an inquiry about what significance the veηT idea of aristocratic agrarianism may still possess for a Southern society.
3. According to Joan Givner， Por
、
t町
ufferedall her life from melancholy and depression and often wondered if these states had their origin in the early tragedies she could not remember" (43). See Joan Givner， K.αtherine Anne Porter:αLife (New York: A Touchstone Book: Simon & Schuster， 1982). The general definition of melancholia is as follows: The distinguishing mental features of melancholia are a profoundly painful dejection， cessation of interest in the outside world， loss of the capacity to love， inhibition of all activity， and a lowering of the sel路tι~regard必ingfeelings to a degree that finds utterance i泊ns関副el町f.明 p戸ro伺ach凶esand s鈎叫el匹f白‑冶Lr陀ev吋叫i辺lin伊g'8，and culminates in a delusional expectation of punishment" (252). See Sigmund Freud，Mourning and Melancholia." On Met，αp司ychology:The Theory of Psychoαnαlysis. ed. Angela Richards， and Albert Dickson. vol 1l. of The Penguin Freud Librαry (New York: Penguin Books， 1991).4. See Katherine Anne Porter，Old Mortality，" The CoZZected Stories of kαtherine Anne Porter (New York: Harcourt Brace， 1979). Subsequent quotations from this edition will be hereafter be cited parenthetically by page number.
5. See Anne Firor Scoot， The Southern Lαdy: From Pedestal to Politics 1830‑ 1930 (Chicago， Chicago UP， 1970).
6. See Simone de Beauvoir， The Second Sex， ed. and trans. H. M. Parshley (New York: Vintage Books， A Division ofRandom House， 1974). The following example holds true in the neurotic behavior of Amy: Marie Bashkirtsev tells us that her humor， deportment， and facial expression， all depended on her gown; when she was not appropriately dressed she felt awkward， common，
