Slow Man

Once upon a time, in J. M. Coetzee's novel, Slow Man, there lived a character named Paul. Paul's life turns upside down with the appearance of Elizabeth Costello, the author. Throughout his time spent with Elizabeth Costello, Paul learns how to overcome challenges of telling the truth through stories. Explaining Paul's beliefs, the narrator describes, "he tends to trust pictures more than he trusts words. Not because pictures cannot lie but because, once they leave the darkroom, they are fixed, immutable. Whereas stories... seem to change shape all the time" (64). Each time a story is told, certain aspects may be left out or changed, causing partial truths.


I began this blog post, with "once upon a time" because I noticed this phrase multiple times throughout the novel. Whenever I think about stories that contain "once upon a time," the first thing that pops into my mind is fairy tales. One difference between this novel and a fairy tale is the fact that "once upon a time" appears at the beginning of a story. In the novel, "once upon a time" appears in the body. One can argue that there are smaller stories throughout Slow Man. Readers know this because the narrator begins explanations about Paul's life with "once upon a time." The major difference is that Paul's life is surely not a fairy tale. In fact, his life is the complete opposite and on the different side of the spectrum.

Although there is a sense of conflict involved in the body of a fairy tale, there is always love and a "happily ever after" ending. Paul does not receive a "happily ever after ending." For example, the narrator explains, "Once upon a time his heart was his strongest organ... Then he met Marijana, and his heart suffered a change" (165). Paul fell in love with Marijana, his nurse. Although she did not love him back, Paul's desire for her grew stronger to the point where he wants to take care of her family. Marijana knew Paul supposedly wanted to pay for Drago's education because he wanted to thank her for helping him. In reality, Marijana does not know the truth because the real truth lies within Paul's longing to be with his nurse. By telling this story about Paul's heart, the narrator is showing that Marijana doesn't know Paul loves her secretly, she knows he wants to give back to her. Conflicting notions of Paul's true feelings are now present.

Another instance of the phrase takes place when Elizabeth Costello reminds Paul of when he met Marianna. She explains, "Perhaps once upon a time you took her photograph, and it happened that all your attention was concentrated on the image you were making, not on her, the source of the image" (97). Since Paul does not remember this experience, the readers do not know if Elizabeth Costello is telling the truth. The readers do not know if she is changing the way Paul and Marianna met in order for Paul to believe her story. In an alternative story, Elizabeth Costello may be telling the woman who supposedly played the part of Marianna, "Once upon a time he was head over heels in love with a woman named Marianna, an actress" (116). Here, we have the same situation, but the story has changed for each party involved. In order to get what she wants, Elizabeth Costello has modified the story so Paul and Marianna will meet. Readers will never know what the real story is.


In a discussion with Drago on whether or not Paul hates new things, Paul says, "Everything in the world was, once upon a time, new. Even I was new" (179). This is the same phrase, but used in a different place. Paul is saying his life is a story, "once upon a time I was born." Paul is implying that all of our lives are a story. Even Elizabeth Costello tells Paul, "Once upon a time you were a pale, well-behaved little boy...who took books too seriously" (231). Possibly, all of our lives begin with "once upon a time." Even if they do, our life stories will all be completely different. Maybe if we told our stories through photographs, we would never grow or develop as individual people. We would remain the same, unchanging human beings throughout our lives. Coetzee may be implying that we need to be dynamic characters and live fulfilling lives as we grow older in order to live happily ever after.