Prompt #4: Charming Billy

Prompt: Though Billy Lynch is the title character of the novel, Charming Billy presents several other well-rounded characters. Choose a character other than Billy and discuss the methods the author uses to create him/her. How does your character contribute to the meaning of the novel?

 

            Human society revolves around the idea of contrasts. From the Chinese symbols of yin and yang, to the juxtaposition of right and wrong in nearly every childhood tale, understanding is often best attained by drawing a contrast. In the novel Charming Billy, by Alice McDermott, lifelong friends Billy and Dennis form their own kind of yin-yang relationship. Billy is wild and romantic, while Dennis is calm and realistic. Although Billy is the title character of the book, Dennis is developed just as richly through direct and indirect methods of characterization, furthering the contrast between the two characters.

            The author uses physical description to directly characterize Dennis, at the same time contrasting his looks with Billy. The narrator of the novel observes, “…Billy thin-faced with black hair and pale blue eyes behind his rimless glasses; Dennis with broad cheeks, eternally flushed, and dark eyes and fair hair that had only begun to thin under his combat helmet, somewhere, he claimed, in northern France. One every inch the poet or the scholar, the other a perfect young cop or barman” (McDermott 63). This direct description helps to identify Dennis’ strong Irish roots by assigning him one of the “…half dozen or so basic versions of the Irish physiognomy…” (63). Beyond that, Dennis’s physical appearance makes him look like a “young cop,” contributing to the way others react to him. As the narrator describes Dennis as a young man, she notes the way drunken men loitering on the streets would move as Dennis approached, mistaking him for a police officer. This glimpse of Dennis’s interactions with the drunken men on the streets foreshadows his dealings with Billy in the future, taking care of his friend each night when he arrives home drunk. Furthermore, this direct characterization draws the contrast between the two men by connecting Billy’s appearance to a poet and Dennis’s appearance to a cop. These occupations are symbolic of each man’s character: Billy, soft and emotional, and Dennis, strong and orderly. By directly describing Dennis’s physical appearance, the author achieves a greater contrast between him and Billy and implies how other characters respond to Dennis’s personality.

            Dennis’s actions are also indicative of his character, showing how selfless he is. Dennis tends to pay attention to other’s needs, making his daily decisions based on how they will affect the others around him. At the opening of the novel, Dennis is first seen at the table next to Maeve, following her husband’s funeral. He is extremely perceptive of Maeve’s needs, getting her more iced tea and communicating with the waitresses and the restaurant manager for her. In this way, Dennis is unlike Billy, who was never able to take care of Maeve. Rather, she nursed him as he became more addicted to alcohol. As the narrator recalls events from the past, Dennis’s differences from Billy become more apparent. Instead of telling Billy the truth about his love, Eva, who has just been married to another man, he decides to tell him that she has died. Dennis does not consider the romance that Billy has treasured, but the long-term, practical effects of telling the truth. The narrator notes, “…he had no real plan. He only knew he didn’t want to deliver the blow with Billy’s two sisters and their husbands and Aunt Ellen, his mother, around. Imagine the night: your life’s plans blasted, the baby crying in the next room, your sister and her young husband stirring in their bed, your widowed mother tapping at your bedroom door hour after hour…” (27). Dennis’s practical assessment of the future leads him to tell the lie instead, showing how he deals with problems in an orderly way, unlike the sentimental Billy. Although this action seems cruel, Dennis shows that he can be kind and selfless. When Billy first met Eva, Dennis approached his wealthy stepfather for a loan for Billy. He procured $500, allowing Billy to send for Eva. Though Dennis does not always understand Billy’s sentimental inclinations, he is willing to do anything that he believes will make his friend most happy. The combination of Dennis’s actions over the years demonstrates how he is helpful by nature, yet very different from Billy and his romantic, unrealistic view of life.

            The most compelling testimony to Dennis’s true character is the way others react to him. The author carefully crafts the other characters’ reactions to reflect the gentle, loyal man they perceive Dennis to be. As the characters reminisce at Maeve’s house after Billy’s funeral, they praise Dennis for his dedication to Billy and Maeve. They say, “And Dennis having to go down to the VA to identify Billy like that. What would Maeve have done, over the years, without your father to call on” (165). This statement shows how Dennis remained loyal to Billy, even when the tasks presented to him were difficult. Nobody wants to identify a dead body – especially that of his best friend. Dennis was always there to help Maeve with Billy, receiving phone calls and visiting late at night, even when his own wife was terminally ill at home. The trust the other characters place in Dennis demonstrates how loyal and reliable Dennis was for his friend, even as the mutual nature of his friendship with Billy was no longer reciprocated.

            By drawing a contrast between the characters of Billy and Dennis, the author is essentially contrasting two ways of life: one very realistic and the other imaginary and romantic. The romantic lifestyle is most exciting, but leads to heartbreak and failure. Billy lives his life spontaneously, investing all of his energy into his love with Eva. Because of his sentimental and childish image of love, Billy eventually becomes helpless. Contrastingly, Dennis is matter-of-fact about everything, helping him to stay in control even as Billy fails to recover from his broken heart. The author captures Dennis’s view on Billy’s imaginary world when he says, “‘Billy didn’t need someone to pour him his drinks, he needed someone to tell him that living isn’t poetry. It isn’t prayer. To tell him and convince him’” (194). Dennis is saying that Billy needed to focus on reality. He needed someone to tell him that unlike the romantic lines of poetry he loved to recite, real life was not always flawless. Because Billy could not understand this way of life, he crumbled when faced with adversity. This is what made Billy the wrong husband for Maeve, and what made Dennis the best husband for her later on. The author contrasts these life views throughout the novel to show how they affect one’s entire life.

            The narrator closes with a statement: “As if, in that wide-ranging anthology of stories that was the lives of the saints – that was, as well, my father’s faith and Billy’s and some part of my own – what was actual, as opposed to what was imagined, as opposed to what was believed, made, when you got right down to it, any difference at all” (243). This quote can be interpreted to mean that whether someone chooses to live in the realistic world or in an imaginary world, the outcome of their life will result directly, and cannot be altered. The underlying meaning of the novel revolves around how characters deal differently with hardship and life, leading to their success or failure. Though Billy’s spontaneity and personable ways made him a favorite with his friends, his unrealistic view of the world was his downfall. Dennis was realistic in every way – from his looks, to his actions, to his interactions with other people. Even as Billy’s complete opposite, Dennis made a reliable, strong friend who was capable of dealing with even the most difficult situations.