Why ''Indignation''?


Why is this story called "Indignation"? I understand that Marcus is often indignant, but I am not sure I understand indignation's thematic import.

Thanks.

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I think because of so many events - all the irreverence in the talks with the Dean in particular, but also the sexual encounter in the car and especially in the hospital, which gets back to the Dean, as well as the scandalous paying of the standups to attend chapel, which finally leads to Marcus being expelled.

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Is indignation supposed to be Marcus's tragic flaw?

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You want thingamabobs? I got twenty!

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Indignation (noun): "anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment"

My interpretation after seeing the film is that Marcus just wants to be left alone to study, but is frequently questioned about his motives/beliefs, etc.

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Remember at the very end when he's in Korea and talking about all the choices he made, right and wrong? Being so indignant was obviously one of the wrong ones. Probably if he hadn't been so indignant he wouldn't have said the F-word to the dean, who otherwise liked him and who would have forgiven his skipping the lectures, so he would not have lost his scholarship and gotten sent to Korea.

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My interpretation after seeing the film is that Marcus just wants to be left alone to study, but is frequently questioned about his motives/beliefs, etc.


I agree. Marcus is indignant that the Dean assumes things about him, such as his religious beliefs, as well as his family's life ('kosher' butcher as opposed to just butcher). He is also indignant that the Dean challenges him on why he wants to change dorm rooms. The Dean seems to judge Marcus quite harshly without really knowing him. Marcus is rightly indignant about having to attend chapel being that he is Jewish and an atheist. There is some subtle anti-Semitism at play at that school.

Where was his indignation when his mother told him to stop seeing Olivia?


Marcus' indignation failed him with Olivia. First he was indignant that she gave him a blow job, judging her for being too forward. Later in the hospital he doesn't seem to mind her sexual attentions. He doesn't stand up to his mother, claiming his relationship with Olivia isn't serious. Why wasn't he indignant at how his mother portrayed Olivia if he loved her as he later claimed.

Also, Marcus is indignant that his mother might divorce his father. He tells her not to do it for his sake, but where is his indignation that his mother is suffering?

Marcus has high ideals and wants to live according to his own code, which is not terrible, but sometimes he doesn't see the whole picture because he isn't fully mature.



And all the pieces matter (The Wire)



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His indignation was a strength and a weakness of his at the same time. The dean even says that he admires his fighting spirit. I think that when he gives up his indignation he is really putting himself into trouble. Where was his indignation when his mother told him to stop seeing Olivia? Where was his indignation as far as going to church is concerned? By the end, he has traded in his indignation with the church for ignorance of it. I think that remaining in the church, indignant, but willing to accept compromise or at least with a sense of humor, would have been a victory for him. Instead he chose to exit the "unfair" circumstances instead of engaging with them, and cushions himself with the fraternity that he suddenly believes in. He keeps on exiting "unfair" circumstances until he's in Vietnam.

Basically indignation plays a dual role in the film.

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It's Korea, but OK.

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Do you remember at the very beginning of the film when he says that we don't decide when we die, but the choices we make throughout our lives, right and wrong, have an absolute effect on it? I think he is aware that the tiniest wrong move can have tragic consequences, and though I haven't read the book, Roth is probably weighing the cost of holding high each and every one of his moral principles.

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I saw it as his over all frustration (and ours as viewers) to an "unfair" life. His whole existence is indignant. I totally disagree that his "indignation" is views as one of his "poor choices" as it is this very perspective which animates his life...and leads to his death.

To me it is an indignant atheist's lament against a cold and distant Divine Providence. BTW, we see layers of indignation throughout the film, in regards to all his relationships, including within his relationship to Olivia. This is most clearly communicated at the end when he says "know you were loved", mirrored with the sly smile we see from her at the beginning of the film as she observes the wallpaper flowers before she is "encouraged" to take her meds.

Just a beautiful deep film.

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I think arrogance might have been more appropriate, this boy had a real problem with arrogance.

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