Underworld

Like Nick, Klara is presented in two very different forms in Underworld. At the beginning of the novel, she is an old woman who has found her calling in the desert. Later in the novel (and earlier in her life), however, she is locked in a series of unsatisfying relationships. The younger Klara is not suited to domestic life. Not only does she struggle to connect to her daughter, but she also finds her domestic situation unsatisfying and restrictive in an artistic sense. She finds herself painting the inside of the house where she takes care of her mother-in-law, her artistic vision determined by the boundaries of her domestic situation. Bronzini is not a bad man, and he strives to be a good husband, but he cannot give Klara what she wants. In contrast, Miles is an unsuitable partner, but he brings an excitement to her life that she craves. In this sense, Klara’s life parallels Nick’s. Miles is Klara’s Amy, an unsuitable partner she cannot seem to let go of, while Bronzini is her Marian, the spouse with whom she settles down into an unsatisfying but sensible marriage.

Later in life (and earlier in the novel), Klara is presented as a content, insightful woman. The audience is introduced to Klara from Nick’s perspective as he notes the ways in which she has changed but with a reverence and an intrigue that suggests he is thrilled to be seeing her again. At the same time, her interview with the French television channel shows how she is one of the few characters who is capable of reflecting on her own mental state. She diagnoses the problem of waste and Social Alienation, presenting her art not as a solution to but as a description of these societal problems. By painting the Cold War–era planes that were never used, she forces people to confront their existence. She refuses to allow the pain of the past—even unspent, unrealized pain—to languish in the desert. The elderly Klara has a sense of artistic purpose and ambition that motivates her existence. Unlike the other characters, she understands herself and her role in society. This understanding is the antidote to alienation; she has examined herself and her society with a critical eye. The rest of the novel—which explores Klara’s emergence as an artist—becomes optimistic in this context. Klara is older than the other characters, and at one time she was just as miserable as them. Through her experience and self-reflection, however, she has found a purpose in the world.

Klara’s search for meaning is a search for identity. In understanding herself, she can understand society as a whole. This radical self-reflection and evolution are illustrated in her willingness to change her name. Over the course of her life, Klara changes her name three times. She is Klara Sachs, Klara Bronzini, and Klara Sax. These subtle changes chart her passage from being someone’s daughter to someone’s wife to her own woman. The careful change from Sachs to Sax is an expression of agency. She is taking control of the way in which the world comprehends her, asserting control over her identity in a social setting. Klara’s self-awareness is evident in the etymology of her choice of name. The name Sax is not random; it is how she has been signing her paintings. Klara’s final name change is an assertion of herself as an artist. It also indicates that she understands what she needs to be happy and she knows how she wants to be perceived by those around her. Klara wants to be known—and she wants to see herself—as someone who is producing something meaningful and substantive. Art might not be the answer for everyone, but Klara demonstrates how self-reflection has allowed her to come to this conclusion.

Manx Martin is the only character who is credited with the title of a chapter. Even his son only features in the Prologue. In this respect, Manx emerges as a particularly important character. Whereas most of the characters (Nick and Matt in particular) are defined by their relationship with their father, Manx is defined by his relationship with his son. He sees the world from his self-appointed title of family provider, convincing himself that everything he does is in his family’s best interest. He steals shovels to provide for his family, just as he steals Cotter’s baseball because he is convinced that it can be sold to provide money for clothing and food.

Whether Manx actually spends that money on food and clothing is incidental; he spends more money in the bar while thinking about what to do with the baseball than he does buying anything for his family, but the fact that he sees himself as a provider is revealing. He believes in his self-stylized mythology; he needs to—otherwise he will be forced to reckon with the reality that he is a petty criminal. A father is someone he can respect, while a criminal is someone he can look down upon. Manx is similar to Nick’s father, Jimmy, another a small-time criminal who indulges in his own mythology. Just as Jimmy encourages the myth that he never writes anything down, Manx encourages the myth that he is acting in his family’s favor. Self-delusion is the driving force of both characters’ self-identity.

Manx’s approach to life is also devastatingly shortsighted. He thinks only of the immediate future, of the next score, rather than planning for the long term. This shortsightedness is relevant in both a practical and a moral sense. He never stops to consider how stealing the baseball might affect his relationship with his son. He also never stops to think about the best plan of action, choosing instead to head straight for the stadium without learning any of the player names from the previous day’s game. The result is that Manx sells a potentially priceless item for the relatively cheap price of $32 and change. Only when he is walking away from the sale does he stop to reflect on what he has lost.