Laura Crowley – Page 14 – The Bucknellian

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

The title character of “Mathilda Savitch” begins her narrative stating: “I want to be awful. I want to do awful things and why not? Dull is dull is dull is my life.” With that promising beginning, poet and playwright Victor Lodato’s debut novel embarks on a refreshing and unforgettable 300 pages.

Things are not going well in Mathilda Savitch’s life as the novel begins. The year before, her older sister, the beautiful and perfect Helene, was run over by a train, effectively shattering Mathilda’s family. As a young adolescent grappling with grief and a desperate need for normalcy, Mathilda resolves to shock her parents out of their despondency using the tactic of bad behavior.

Mathilda’s actions like breaking plates, flirting with boys, getting new haircuts and, worst of all, dressing in Helene’s clothes on the anniversary of her death, all irritate her parents, but Mathilda remains unsatisfied. She soon realizes that simply getting her parents’ attention is not enough. She watches in disgust as her mother takes a leave of absence from the school where she works so she can devote more time to her worsening alcoholism, and her father sags deeper and deeper into the loss of his child. Mathilda decides to act out further.

After numerous attempts, Mathilda guesses the password to her sister’s e-mail account and attempts to learn more about the last days of the sister she continues to hero-worship, despite the growing evidence that Helene was not really what she seemed. Communicating with ex-boyfriends as Helene, Mathilda begins to piece together what really happened and is forced to admit that even Helene was not the idol she had always thought her to be; maybe she was not pushed off the platform by a faceless stranger as Mathilda has convinced herself and her readers, maybe she never knew her sister as well as she thought, maybe Helene jumped. And, most importantly, Mathilda realizes that masquerading as her dead older sister is not going to solve her own disconcerting emotional issues.

Mathilda tempers her mourning with humor and an almost savagely blunt analysis of the people around her. Lodato has rendered her voice brilliantly, maintaining the youthfulness of a child’s mind without sounding like he’s trying too hard. Fierce and funny, Mathilda is clearly a cousin of Salinger’s Holden Caulfield, both in her speech and even more so in her behavior as the book progresses, but their situations are distinctly different. Mathilda is growing up in the modern age of terror, and the looming shadows and troubling mindset belonging to today distance her from Caulfield’s New York exploits. Although it will probably never be held in the same esteem as its predecessor, “Mathilda Savitch” is “The Catcher in the Rye” for the present moment, and the outlook is a frightening one.

By Laura Crowley

Arts & Life Editor

A chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was established at the University last summer. Four seniors, Taneea Byrd, Nakea Tyson, Bryan Coleman and Kerry He brought the group to campus in an effort to promote “mutual understanding between different racial, ethnic and socio-economic groups,” member Lauren Stocks-Smith ’13 said.

Founded in 1909, the NAACP seeks to “ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination,” according to its online mission statement. As the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, the NAACP played a critical role during the civil rights movement by promoting racial desegregation. The organization has only gained momentum as it has opened thousands of local chapters nationwide, such as that at the University.

The NAACP “designates 5 five key initiatives … health, education, economic development, civic engagement and juvenile justice,” Stocks-Smith said.

While she cites these initiatives as a useful framework, Stocks-Smith believes that the NAACP’s presence on campus is “not geared solely toward pushing a national agenda.” Rather, the University’s NAACP aims to “bring ideals of social justice to this campus by illuminating the issues, facilitating discussion and encouraging interaction between Bucknellians from all backgrounds,” she said.

The chapter on campus is “dedicated to developing leadership and professional skills while engaging critical issues surrounding the civil rights movement for all disenfranchised groups, not just minorities,” Tyson said.

Relations between people from diverse groups, Stocks-Smith believes, will help close divides common in our society.

While the University’s NAACP chapter has only existed for a little over a semester, the organization has made its presence visible. Last semester, the organization hosted its first annual block party, the Stop the Hate Rally. It also hosted a panel of University faculty called “New Orleans: Five Years Later,” which was cosponsored by The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender.

This semester, the group plans to sponsor and participate in the Walk for Wellness to address the well-being of the local community. On March 4, it also plans to host a showing of the 42nd NAACP Image Awards, which recognize the accomplishments of African Americans in literature, film, television and other media. For NAACP Week, which runs from April 3-8, the group has plans to bring a speaker to campus. Stocks-Smith says that while other specific events during the week are tentative, “we will devote the entire week to educating the student body on issues facing minorities, whether on a national scale or on our very own campus.”

While the NAACP is now an accredited part of the University, its survival rests upon future members. With four of the group’s eight members graduating this spring, Stocks-Smith says the group is actively seeking “members of the Bucknell community who value diverse perspectives and are inspired by human rights issues.” Membership in the University’s NAACP is unique, Stocks-Smith notes, in that its members are also part of a nationally acclaimed organization with leadership opportunities that extend beyond campus.

The University’s NAACP prides itself on “accepting people of all races, nationalities and religions as members,” Tyson said.

“We not only promote multiculturalism, but more importantly, we facilitate our campus’s move toward a more accepting place for everyone,” Tyson said.

“The more diverse our college experiences,” Stocks-Smith said, “the closer we are to transgressing the racial divide that exists in today’s society.”