Hornby's "NippleJesus" Mystifies With Illusion
Hornby Uses Illusion to Encourage Fascination and Contemplation
Jun 13, 2009
“NippleJesus” is part of a collection of short stories called Speaking with the Angel that Hornby compiled to raise money for TreeHouse, a school for children with autism. Hornby’s autistic son attends the small school that Hornby hopes will grow into others across the UK to help more autistic children.
Charity aside, “NippleJesus” is rich with facets that readers who appreciate irony will find striking, hilarious, and beautiful. One of those facets is illusion.
Magic and Sleight-of-Hand
Illusion is not limited to card tricks and dexterous performers. In literature, it is a long-standing, widely used device that creates suspense and lends texture to writing. It builds mystery and creates negative space, that shadowy, undefined area that surrounds things that are clearly defined.
Nick Hornby uses this idea of reality differing from appearance to great effect in his short story, “NippleJesus,” where nothing is quite what it seems. Hornby weaves this plot device so smoothly and thoroughly into the story line that it becomes the central theme.
- Hornby’s style is characterised by unstrained, natural humour and an ability to create introspective characters that ultimately are likeable, even though readers are privy to their thoughts and know their foibles and weaknesses.
- Hornby is also skilled at creating believable, real-life suspense that keeps his stories moving forward without feeling hurried.
- This suspense fosters a sense of illusion, especially as related to characters not knowing or understanding themselves very well.
Literary Illusion in History–and Hornby
The ancient, ownerless literary theme of illusion is so fascinating because it is, in its highest form, a dance with the universal unexplained, a look “through a glass, darkly,”and at its lowest, a wealth of comedic situations stemming from misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
In “NippleJesus,” Hornby’s use of illusion lies somewhere in between. Through it, he explores larger philosophical notions, as well as examines human folly.
- “NippleJesus” is written in first person, and readers do not know exactly where the action is going, because they experience events along with the narrator.
- At just about every turn in this story, Hornby sets up a wall of mirrors.
- He does not, however, allow readers to get lost. Although an unsentimental guide, he is not a heartless one.
Introspective Male Characters and Illusion
The story’s narrator, Dave, guides readers through the story and through the illusions. Dave develops a quick repertoire with readers, sometimes directly addressing comments or questions to them.
Throughout his fiction (and even to some degree in his non-fiction memoir Fever Pitch) Hornby’s introspective male characters, sometimes frustrating but ultimately likeable, are all a bit of a mystery themselves as they ask philosophical questions and strive for self-knowledge.
They add a fresh dimension to late 20th century literature. Dave is no exception. He speaks in comfortable, man-on-the-street language.
Hornby is adroit at weaving graceful rhythm into everyday speech, and in “NippleJesus,” from the beginning there is an easy feeling of chatting with Dave, of having a tete-a-tete over a pint.
It is important that readers feel comfortable with Dave right away, because he, as the first-person narrator, filters the story to them, and he is how Hornby lures readers into the hall of mirrors. Dave introduces Hornby’s central theme, the variance of appearance and reality, because with Dave, the variance is literal.
Dave is receptive to the sublime, perhaps more so than anyone else in the story, but his appearance belies this. We quickly learn through his own description that he is 38, a large man, with a shaved head and tattoos.
His philosophy is simple, straightforward, reality-based: “You don’t need to work out what you think. You just need to have a look at what other people think. And if you don’t like the look of them, then think the opposite.”
When readers are introduced to Dave, he has just begun a new job at an art gallery as a guard. He looks quite different from his fellow hires, composed mostly of middle-aged women and retired military types.
“…the point of me here … is that I’m six foot two and fifteen stone. I look, well, handy, I suppose.”
- Like Hornby’s other male characters, Dave is self-aware.
- He knows how others see him, but that does not hinder him from seeking understanding and striving to grow and improve.
- He reads, he enjoys spending time with his children, he watches documentaries on television.
- He uses logic to debate his wife.
Hornby introduces the theme of illusion early on with the appearance and demeanour of his narrator. He creates a sympathetic, almost friendly character with whom readers are willing to spend some time.
But this is only the first step in Hornby’s journey into the world of illusion. There are many more to come, and the journey gets quite a bit more interesting–and slightly darker–as it continues.
Source: Speaking With the Angel, "NippleJesus," by Nick Hornby, Riverhead Books, 2000.
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