ENGL 4310

As I read through Noon Wine, I was once again struck by the alienation of the characters in this story. Each of the characters seems to become alienated in some way. At first Mr. Helton is alienated as a worker and foreigner. Mr. Thompson establishes his power as controller of the commodity, it is his farm and he controls the means of productions, while Mr. Helton does the labor and work. Mr. Helton becomes exploited as his labor increases the gain of Mr. Thompson, and the reward for Mr. Helton is small. The years pass and Mr. Helton keeps increasing the production on the farm, Mr. Thompson keeps benefiting. The family calls Mr. Helton a part of the family, in fact the boys cannot recall a time that he was not on the farm, but he is not treated equally.

As the alienation of labor keeps growing, so does the alienation between Mr. Helton and Mr. Thompson. Each character represents a different type of masculine. Mr. Helton is quite, gangly, eats very little, and does his work before anything else. Mr. Thompson spends days at the local hotel drinking, he is lazy, and doesn't appreciate the farm. (This is a cardinal sin for Porter.) The alienation occurs as each of the men, although I found it more for Mr. Thompson rather than Mr. Helton, place judgments and requirements on the other. Mrs. Thompson is not exempt from this either, in beginning she compares her husband quite frequently to Mr. Helton. She can be found projecting her ideas of the male body onto each of the men, and attempts to categorize Mr. Helton by the men's bodies she has known in the past.

With the entering of Mr. Hatch, comes the entrance of a new male body. Mr. Thompson is extremely weary of this new body and this new form of masculine. The change of power and masculine occur with the violence toward the bodies in the fight. Mr. Thompson establishes the power of his masculine when he kills Mr. Hatch, but he also creates a kind of justification on the type of masculine of Mr. Helton, however, Mr. Thompson also exploits his own masculine. In the end, Mr. Thompson, and his masculinity, become completely alienated and exploited as he commits suicide in the end.