The Lacuna

Part 2 of The Lacuna consists of one of Shepherd’s notebooks describing part of his time in Washington, DC, and his witnessing of the attack on the Bonus Army and an archivist’s note by Violet Brown. In Part 2, Kingsolver explores the meaning of “lacuna” in the context of the novel further. In doing so, she introduces the theme of The Role of the Media in Shaping Public Perception and Creating Panic.

The people of the United States were experiencing the Great Depression— a period of financial collapse precipitated by financial speculation and failures of monetary policy—in 1932 when Shepherd arrives in Washington, DC. That year, approximately 43,000 veterans of World War I and their families gathered in Washington to demand their veteran’s benefits, which had been deferred to 1945. On July 28, US infantry, cavalry, and local policemen attacked the encampment of protestors and set fire to their campsite. Shepherd and his “friend” Bull’s Eye witness this charge led by future WWII military leaders Douglas MacArthur and George Patton. The suppression of protestors by the government and its support by the media indicates the rising moral panic around the Red Scare. As Shepherd notes, “In [Hoover’s] opinion the Bonus Army consists of Communists and persons with criminal records” (143). The newspapers amplify this narrative, describing the Bonus Army as “criminals.” When Shepherd asks Bull’s Eye how the paper could report this obvious untruth, Bull’s Eye responds, “The paper says whatever they want” (143). This is an early indication of The Role of the Media in Shaping Public Perception and Creating Panic.

In the novel, the “lacuna” referred to in the title has a variety of meanings. Its first meaning was introduced in Part 1 to describe the oceanic tunnel that leads to an inland pool that Shepherd finds off the cost of the fictional Isla Pixol. In Part 2, the archivist notes that the second destroyed notebook documenting Shepherd’s expulsion from the Potomac Academy is also a “lacuna,” as in “a gap or missing part, as in a manuscript or series.” Mrs. Brown describes it as “the hole in the story” (146). The reason for the destruction of this notebook is revealed in Part 3 when Shepherd tells Frida Kahlo he was expelled for same-sex relations with Bull’s Eye. Shepherd, as a closeted gay man, is deeply embarrassed about his sexual interest in Bull’s Eye. However, indications of his feelings are alluded to in Part 2, when he describes Bull’s Eye’s naked body as “a statue made of marble” (134), evoking his desire for and admiration of Bull’s Eye’s masculine beauty. This suggests a third, more figurative, meaning of “lacuna” within the novel. Shepherd alludes to but never specifies his same-sex desires or actions. This obfuscation creates a hole in his character’s development and emphasizes Shepherd’s experience with The Struggle of Dual Nationality and the Search for Belonging. His reluctance to be open about his sexual desires reflects the anti-gay era in which he lives, but, notably, it is so consistent even in his journals, not meant for an audience. Part of Shepherd’s lacuna is his inability to be open with himself about his identity as a gay man.