Putting on the Brakes

I’m not going to write anything long today because I have SAT subject tests tomorrow and I feel like resting today. The major theme that has been coming up is Kemp’s increasing readiness to give up the free, non-committal lifestyle of his youth for stability. Kemp makes this change clear by saying, “After one night too many sleeping on some stinking cot in a foul grotto where I didn’t want to be anyway…I decided to hell with it. If that was absolute freedom then I’d had a bellyful of it, and from here on in I would try something… a lot more comfortable,”(113). This is a change brought about by the fear that Kemp has experienced as a result of his drunken run-in with the law (see the previous entry). Kemp is aware that the activities of that night have put his very life in danger: his picture was printed in the paper, along with the story of his actions, putting him in danger from Puerto-Ricans who are tired of Whites who think they deserve special privileges on the island. Kemp experiences a nervous breakdown and after calming down, realizes that it’s time to leave that sort of thing behind and get some stability.

Kemp accepts a high-paying job from Zimburger, a wealthy former American General, to write advertisements for a soon-to-be-built hotel development on Vieques Island. However, upon visiting the future hotel site and seeing its astounding natural beauty, Kemp has a pang of guilt. He feels that he has become a part of the corrupt machinery which is consuming Puerto Rico, lamenting, “I was being paid twenty-five dollars a day to ruin the only place I’d seen in ten years where I’d felt a sense of peace,”(134). But although Kemp is duly aware that his new job goes against his morals, he is willing to do it because the money he will receive will pay for his new apartment and car, the two things which Kemp identifies as stabilizing elements which he has decided to seek.

I am curious to see whether Kemp will continue to seek stability. Will he be able to overlook the corruption of his new philosophy for the benefits it brings? We’ll see.