Who here likes literary analysis? Because I wrote a somewhat dense, 3000+ word essay on Raffles and the destruction of self. Think of it as a pre-Easter present
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"the beautiful brokenness that is Raffles’ and Bunny’s relationship" - sigh, beautifully put.
I enjoyed your essay very much, especially the argument that Bunny gains power by his control of Raffles' biography. Not sure I agree about Bunny's name being suppressed. He is routinely, iirc referred to by other characters as Manders or Mr Manders. Men in that era did not use personal names when referring to or addressing each other. Perhaps that is why Raffles uses a nickname, not 'Harry', to reflect their intimacy, and Bunny's permanent immaturity.
How much, too, of the subservience you find is Bunny being politely self-deprecating?
I also like your analysis of Raffles' character as manipulative and unable to connect with others, even Bunny - in that description I recognise a man to whom I could be the Bunny you describe, and it makes me wonder how much my feelings towards him are conditioned by having admired Raffles from a formative age. Does narcissistic sociopath fit, do you think?
Thank you for such an interesting and stimulating essay.
- He is routinely, iirc referred to by other characters as Manders or Mr Manders.
Actually, that drove me crazy. I swear I went through the stories line by line, I did a CTRL+F through all of Project Gutenberg, and not once did I see anyone call Bunny by his name. But I know his name is Manders because that's what everyone on the Internet says! Where the heck did you people see that?!
But anyway. Yes, I know Raffles using Bunny's school nickname isn't necessarily derogatory. I know Bunny calls Raffles "Raffles" (or A.J., on special occasions) but Raffles is under no obligation to call him "Manders," as if they were Holmes and Watson. Still. I think using the nickname to not just reflect, but enforce "Bunny's permanent immaturity" comes closer to the truth. There's the infantilization of the nickname itself (I mean, good grief, not just a rabbit but a young one), but also the...let's call it the "affectionate disdain" with which Raffles seems to hold the nickname. Whenever Bunny's being (to Raffles' mind) unusually slow-witted, he says "You rabbit!" or even "You little rabbit!" He makes reference to how cowards "streak like rabbits for the nearest hole" (Fate of Faustina) or "we mustn't cut and run like rabbits" (Raffles Relics). Of course Raffles uses the nickname affectionately too, but it seems clear being a "rabbit" isn't an unambiguously good thing. To me -- even when Raffles is using it affectionately -- it's still a power play. He's reminding Bunny of who's in charge, of their school days when Bunny was his fag. The weird thing is that Bunny has his own issues with adulthood (that could be another essay...hoo boy) and likes being reminded of their time in school -- so if he enjoys being demeaned, is it still demeaning?
- How much, too, of the subservience you find is Bunny being politely self-deprecating?
Meh...that's a complicated question. I don't know that I can back this up with text, but my gut says...none of it. Or, OK. A little. But the self-deprecation is rarely pure modesty. It's usually mixed with other motives. In The Knees of the Gods where Bunny spends a whole paragraph on how he was a terrible soldier who was bad with horses, bad with guns, and couldn't even get himself killed -- part of that is polite self-deprecation, yes. But I also see guilt that he couldn't have helped more, bitterness over the war, and even anger at himself (and Raffles, for bringing him there) for taking a job for which he was manifestly unsuited. I think there's a keen sense of self-loathing in Bunny...that his relationship with Raffles really doesn't help, since committing crimes makes Bunny hate himself, which makes him want to give himself to Raffles even more (so that he doesn't have to nurture himself -- since he hates his self), which leads to more crime. Whenever Bunny brings himself down -- I don't think he's just being polite. I think he really means it.
- Does narcissistic sociopath fit, do you think?
Funny you should mention -- right up until "To Catch a Thief" I wasn't sure if Raffles was a sociopath who didn't care about Bunny at all, or if he cared about Bunny deeply and was just really bad at showing it. Personally -- keeping in mind it's probably a bad idea to diagnose fictional characters -- I think Raffles has some sociopathic and narcissistic traits, like all villains, but isn't a true sociopath. True sociopaths are incapable of love. Raffles loved Faustina...and Bunny, as much as he was able. Sociopaths feel no remorse. Raffles felt enough guilt to go martyr himself in South Africa (and, I know, other motivations too, but guilt was a factor).
Bunny's last name is only used in Mr. Justice Raffles, first by Camilla Belsize and then at the very end by Teddy Garland. He's only even called Harry in one place, at the end of A Thief in the Night, in the letter from his ex-sorta-fiancée. However, by the time both of those were written he was already named Harry Manders in the stage play written by Hornung and Eugene Presbrey that premiered in 1903.
There is one other reason that Raffles always calls him by a nickname. It allows Bunny to avoid giving the reader his real name. He always glosses over it in introductions to other people, handing Bennett Addenbrooke his card in Nine Points of the Law, for example. Bunny won't tell us the names of his ex or the doctor relative that supposedly sends him the telegram in No Sinecure because he wants to protect their reputation from association with his crimes. Evidently he doesn't want to connect his own name with his record either. He doesn't sign his series of articles on prison life, and essentially he doesn't sign these stories either. Of course, it's much easier to keep this up in a book than a play (or a TV show), so he gets a real name for those.
I really enjoyed your essay. Thanks for posting it. Their relationship really reminds me of unhealthy romantic relationships I've witnessed (or been in...). Raffles is alternately kind and horrible to Bunny and is so, so manipulative, but no matter how many times he tries to avoid Raffles, Bunny always ends up going back to him.
Ahem. Thank you for clearing up where "Manders" comes from! I haven't read the novel, or even heard about the play, so it's a relief to know it's out there somewhere. (I'd heard his name was "Manders" from the internet, so I swear I went through all the short stories thinking at any minute someone was going to say his last name...Shoot, I was as tense as a soap opera fan waiting for the baby daddy to be revealed.)
And excellent point about how he doesn't sign his written pieces either -- I hadn't thought of that. *tips hat*
"Unhealthy romantic relationships" -- yes. I just wiki'd Mr. Justice Raffles (because you mentioned it, and I'm trying to make up my mind whether to read it), and the article says, "Its reception was mixed, with some fans lamenting the loss of the carefree gentlemen thief of the early stories." What? "Carefree"? Raffles was never "carefree." The stories start with a suicide attempt, and that threat of self-destruction never, ever goes away. If anyone thinks the Raffles stories are light and carefree...they haven't been paying attention.
But that's what makes it interesting, of course. :)
Well, if you liked the rest of the stories enough to write a 3000 word essay about them, you should probably go ahead and read the novel. :) It's not as good as most of the short stories, and there is some really poisonous antisemitism in it, but it has its moments. There's a female character who's actually worthwhile, for one thing, which is rare in a Raffles story, and it's nice to see Bunny being less dense than usual.
poisonous antisemitism - Yeah...The Wikipedia article mentioned "Dan Levy, an unscrupulous moneylender" and I literally thought, "A Jewish moneylender?...Aw hell, this book's gonna be hella racist."
On the other hand, I do look forward to seeing a "less dense" Bunny. Bunnies should not be dense. Bunnies should be light and fluffy...like a meringue.
All right...it is with some trepidation that I add this to my Amazon cart. Hornung, don't let me down~
I enjoyed your essay very much, especially the argument that Bunny gains power by his control of Raffles' biography.
Not sure I agree about Bunny's name being suppressed. He is routinely, iirc referred to by other characters as Manders or Mr Manders. Men in that era did not use personal names when referring to or addressing each other. Perhaps that is why Raffles uses a nickname, not 'Harry', to reflect their intimacy, and Bunny's permanent immaturity.
How much, too, of the subservience you find is Bunny being politely self-deprecating?
I also like your analysis of Raffles' character as manipulative and unable to connect with others, even Bunny - in that description I recognise a man to whom I could be the Bunny you describe, and it makes me wonder how much my feelings towards him are conditioned by having admired Raffles from a formative age.
Does narcissistic sociopath fit, do you think?
Thank you for such an interesting and stimulating essay.
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Actually, that drove me crazy. I swear I went through the stories line by line, I did a CTRL+F through all of Project Gutenberg, and not once did I see anyone call Bunny by his name. But I know his name is Manders because that's what everyone on the Internet says! Where the heck did you people see that?!
But anyway. Yes, I know Raffles using Bunny's school nickname isn't necessarily derogatory. I know Bunny calls Raffles "Raffles" (or A.J., on special occasions) but Raffles is under no obligation to call him "Manders," as if they were Holmes and Watson. Still. I think using the nickname to not just reflect, but enforce "Bunny's permanent immaturity" comes closer to the truth. There's the infantilization of the nickname itself (I mean, good grief, not just a rabbit but a young one), but also the...let's call it the "affectionate disdain" with which Raffles seems to hold the nickname. Whenever Bunny's being (to Raffles' mind) unusually slow-witted, he says "You rabbit!" or even "You little rabbit!" He makes reference to how cowards "streak like rabbits for the nearest hole" (Fate of Faustina) or "we mustn't cut and run like rabbits" (Raffles Relics). Of course Raffles uses the nickname affectionately too, but it seems clear being a "rabbit" isn't an unambiguously good thing. To me -- even when Raffles is using it affectionately -- it's still a power play. He's reminding Bunny of who's in charge, of their school days when Bunny was his fag. The weird thing is that Bunny has his own issues with adulthood (that could be another essay...hoo boy) and likes being reminded of their time in school -- so if he enjoys being demeaned, is it still demeaning?
- How much, too, of the subservience you find is Bunny being politely self-deprecating?
Meh...that's a complicated question. I don't know that I can back this up with text, but my gut says...none of it. Or, OK. A little. But the self-deprecation is rarely pure modesty. It's usually mixed with other motives. In The Knees of the Gods where Bunny spends a whole paragraph on how he was a terrible soldier who was bad with horses, bad with guns, and couldn't even get himself killed -- part of that is polite self-deprecation, yes. But I also see guilt that he couldn't have helped more, bitterness over the war, and even anger at himself (and Raffles, for bringing him there) for taking a job for which he was manifestly unsuited. I think there's a keen sense of self-loathing in Bunny...that his relationship with Raffles really doesn't help, since committing crimes makes Bunny hate himself, which makes him want to give himself to Raffles even more (so that he doesn't have to nurture himself -- since he hates his self), which leads to more crime. Whenever Bunny brings himself down -- I don't think he's just being polite. I think he really means it.
- Does narcissistic sociopath fit, do you think?
Funny you should mention -- right up until "To Catch a Thief" I wasn't sure if Raffles was a sociopath who didn't care about Bunny at all, or if he cared about Bunny deeply and was just really bad at showing it. Personally -- keeping in mind it's probably a bad idea to diagnose fictional characters -- I think Raffles has some sociopathic and narcissistic traits, like all villains, but isn't a true sociopath. True sociopaths are incapable of love. Raffles loved Faustina...and Bunny, as much as he was able. Sociopaths feel no remorse. Raffles felt enough guilt to go martyr himself in South Africa (and, I know, other motivations too, but guilt was a factor).
Thank you for reading! :D
Reply
There is one other reason that Raffles always calls him by a nickname. It allows Bunny to avoid giving the reader his real name. He always glosses over it in introductions to other people, handing Bennett Addenbrooke his card in Nine Points of the Law, for example. Bunny won't tell us the names of his ex or the doctor relative that supposedly sends him the telegram in No Sinecure because he wants to protect their reputation from association with his crimes. Evidently he doesn't want to connect his own name with his record either. He doesn't sign his series of articles on prison life, and essentially he doesn't sign these stories either. Of course, it's much easier to keep this up in a book than a play (or a TV show), so he gets a real name for those.
I really enjoyed your essay. Thanks for posting it. Their relationship really reminds me of unhealthy romantic relationships I've witnessed (or been in...). Raffles is alternately kind and horrible to Bunny and is so, so manipulative, but no matter how many times he tries to avoid Raffles, Bunny always ends up going back to him.
Reply
Ahem. Thank you for clearing up where "Manders" comes from! I haven't read the novel, or even heard about the play, so it's a relief to know it's out there somewhere. (I'd heard his name was "Manders" from the internet, so I swear I went through all the short stories thinking at any minute someone was going to say his last name...Shoot, I was as tense as a soap opera fan waiting for the baby daddy to be revealed.)
And excellent point about how he doesn't sign his written pieces either -- I hadn't thought of that. *tips hat*
"Unhealthy romantic relationships" -- yes. I just wiki'd Mr. Justice Raffles (because you mentioned it, and I'm trying to make up my mind whether to read it), and the article says, "Its reception was mixed, with some fans lamenting the loss of the carefree gentlemen thief of the early stories." What? "Carefree"? Raffles was never "carefree." The stories start with a suicide attempt, and that threat of self-destruction never, ever goes away. If anyone thinks the Raffles stories are light and carefree...they haven't been paying attention.
But that's what makes it interesting, of course. :)
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On the other hand, I do look forward to seeing a "less dense" Bunny. Bunnies should not be dense. Bunnies should be light and fluffy...like a meringue.
All right...it is with some trepidation that I add this to my Amazon cart. Hornung, don't let me down~
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