Peter Weltner's How the Body Prays
Reviewed by Harvey Pekar, Fri., Oct. 8, 1999
How the Body Praysby Peter Weltner
Graywolf Press, $23.95 hard
How the Body Prays is written in the Southern Gothic tradition and deals with the Odum family, patricians of a rural Carolina community, where they've lived since well before the Civil War, during which an Odum was killed by Sherman's troops as they cut a swath through the Confederacy. The Odums are relatively well-educated, some being accomplished amateur classical musicians as well. They take pride in being proud; their family motto is "lay fear aside." One Odum tells his son, "Pride is freedom from all laws Weltner divides How the Body Prays into nine chapters, each bearing the name of the person focused upon. After the opening chapter, in which some family history is related, the main portion begins in the Vietnam War era. At that time, the Odum family, which makes a living by running a rather large farm, consists of a macho grandmother, Mutti; a gentle father, Drew, whose wife had died long ago; his oldest son, Aaron, a skilled cellist who's been kicked out of college for protesting the war; twin sisters, Anna and Louisa; and the youngest child, Andy, who's just gotten out of high school and intends to join the Army. When Andy goes off to enlist, Aaron, who'd been intending to sit the war out in Canada, decides he'll join the Army as well. He writes, "I could not let my brother fight for me. I abominate this war. I despise all wars. But I could not make my brother fight instead of me, alone." Now maybe something like this actually happened somewhere, but it's sure hard to believe. How is Aaron's fighting in Vietnam Aaron, despite his desk job, gets killed (surprise!) while trying to visit Andy in the field. Andy, who's discovered he's gay, survives, although he's wounded and badly scarred.
Between the Aaron and Andy chapters there's one about Drew. Drew had aspired to be a musician, and lived for a time in New York, where he met young composer/pianist Aaron Rose. They developed an intense friendship, but Aaron was gay and Drew resisted his advances, which freaked Aaron out. Drew was upset when they broke apart, because he did love Aaron in his way and named his son after him: Aaron Rose Odum.
Hours after receiving the letter from Aaron R. Odum informing the family that he's going to enlist, Drew has a stroke. He hangs on for a while, crippled, but dies when he hears that Aaron's been killed.
In terms of the courage issue that's raised here: It seems that the major characters in Weltner's novel have courage to spare; they all try to do the right thing, as they see it. What's important, then, is their judgment and their values. Mutti tells Andy before he goes to war, "But war, like music, like all great art, is what the best of us have created in order to be victorious over nature and over our lesser selves." This is the statement of a fascist. Who's to choose who "the best of us" are? And trying to triumph over nature has proved to be dangerous; in fact, it threatens the existence of humanity. Better to try to live in harmony with nature.
Weltner does do a good job of showing individuals at the end of their ropes. His portrayal of Aaron Rose, his body chewed up, sitting in a room for decades full of agony, frustration, and bitterness, "sick of livin' and 'fraid of dyin'," ranks among the novel's highlights. People in despair, those confused about which road to travel, are his specialty. Despite his contrived plot and sometimes predictable characters, he makes you feel their anguish.