The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
Introduction
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley is the narrative of an aged black adult male who is walking a thin line between world and dementedness and it is ace hard at the age of 91. He frequently slips to the dark side of the line of dementedness and being both physically and mentally frail, he falls deeper into his idea of “back then” doing it more harder to come back to world. Dementia is a upset of the mental procedures due to injury or encephalon disease marked by memory upsets, personality alterations, and impaired logical thinking. Walter Mosley broke land in a new signifier of enigma authorship by integrating issues of race that stand entirely severally as their ain detective fiction plants. He writes from an Afro-american position of societal issues mixed with a detective turn in a post-WWII Los Angeles. He was born in 1952 and grew up in Southeastern Los Angeles with an African American male parent from the deep South and white female parent of a Jewish descent ( Decker ) . Mosley grew up as an African American during the epoch of strong segregation in Los Angles likewise to Ptolemy Grey. Walter Mosley produces the character of Ptolemy with facts from his ain personal life. Mosley’s female parent suffered through the early phases of dementedness and because of that he was able to think what Ptolemy was believing by watching his female parent go through the same things ( Fresh Air ) . His male parent worked as a clerk for the U.S. Army during WWII and likewise Grey was a war veteran. In the novel, the thought of racism is really heavy because we learn that Uncle Coy was lynched by the rich white folks for stealing and segregation was seeable by demoing Ptolemy and his African American household all life in the hapless subdivisions of Los Angeles. The thought of stealing comes once more into action when Hilly bargains from Ptolemy Grey believing that stealing from the aged is allowable because dementedness patients will ne’er cognize or be able to detect. This occurs because no 1 in Ptolemy’s household attentions for him other than Robyn and Reggie ; demoing that non plenty of the younger coevals attention about the aged with no existent attention or support for Ptolemy himself. Ptolemy made the right determination by taking three months of perfect memory over holding multiple old ages of life with non retrieving anything because that manner, he was able to take attention of Reggie’s kids, Arthur and Letisha, Robyn, and the remainder of Ptolemy’s extended household. Ptolemy managed to work out Reggie’s slaying and was able to bask himself for his concluding yearss when anterior to taking the medical specialty he was so lost in his head that he couldn’t enjoy anything. He lived the life he wanted for a smaller period compared to an unwanted life for a longer period because finally everyone dies at some point, so you might every bit good bask what ‘s left.
Summary of Content
Prior to the beginning of the book, Ptolemy Grey’s great-nephew, Reggie, is killed in a drive-by shot while sitting on the porch of a friend’s house. The first twenty-four hours of the book, another of Ptolemy’s great-nephews, Hilly, comes to take Ptolemy to the funeral screening of Reggie after reluctantly taking Ptolemy to the bank and to the food market shop. It is at the bank where Ptolemy cashs three of his retirement cheques, and Hilly ends up stealing two of them. Detecting the larceny, Ptolemy refuses to let Hilly back into his flat when he comes to look into on him for the following hebdomad, doing Ptolemy to lose the funeral of Reggie. Niecie becomes worried about Ptolemy, and sends Robyn to look into on him to do certain everything is all right. Claudius ptolemaeus begins to swear Robyn when she cleans out his flat from old ages and old ages of billboard and crud as Ptolemy couldn’t retrieve what was of import and what was non, so was unable to throw anything off, lest it be of import. Robyn finally leads Ptolemy to a physician recommended from a societal worker in order to better his memory. It is here that Ptolemy sells his organic structure for the “Devil’s medicine” in order to complete his Uncle Coy’s instructions and to take attention of Arthur and Letisha. Ptolemy takes Robyn to his attorney in order to alter his Last Will and Testament to lawfully do Robyn his inheritor in charge of everything when Ptolemy ends up go throughing off. Grey so agrees to assist Nina with her kids, so long as Nina and Alfred tell him the truth about what happened with Reggie’s killing. Nina admits that it would hold been possible that Alfred orchestrated the violent death, in order to maintain Nina from traveling off from him. Alfred admits to Ptolemy that he did kill Reggie for desiring to travel off from Los Angeles, after happening out that Nina and Alfred were holding an matter. Alfred believed that Nina was his miss, and as such she shouldn’t be traveling from him. Ptolemy avenges Reggie’s decease by killing Alfred before go throughing into the hereafter himself.
Analysis and Evaluation of the Book
There are many aging subjects prevailing in novel by Walter Mosley. The two chief subjects of this novel are the Disengagement Theory and the Activity Theory. The Disengagement Theory looks at old age as a clip when both the older individual and society engage in common separation ( Moody ) . Ptolemy disengages from society by remaining in his flat, scared to go forth by himself due to the vicinity bully which steals his money whenever she sees him. Ptolemy finally starts to prosecute more in society when Robyn enters his life, as both Robyn and Billy Strong both protect Ptolemy and endanger the tough who attempts to steal his money. Without Robyn nevertheless, Ptolemy would ne’er hold been able to come out of his shell. The Activity Theory argues that the more active people are, the more likely they are to be satisfied with life ( Moody ) . When Ptolemy takes the “Devil’s medicine” to assist his memory, he in bend becomes more active. This besides increases Ptolemy’s satisfaction with life. While under the full anguish of dementedness, Ptolemy is merely able to stash everything and insulate himself from society, with in bend makes him less active and less satisfied with himself.
The Extra Mile
If I were to set myself in Ptolemy Grey’s places, I would make many of the same things that Ptolemy himself did in the last few months of my life. I would be the first to subscribe up in order to take the “Devil’s medicine” in order to assist retrieve and believe while enduring from a agonizing dementedness. I would take the medical specialty as I believe that you are non genuinely populating if you are stuck in your ain caput, unable to grok anything about your milieus. I would besides desire to interrupt free of the tied down life, and be able to go forth my rubbish and bug infested flat whenever I desired, without fearing for my safety on the public pavements. I wholeheartedly agree that three months being able to retrieve your life would be better than life ten old ages in wretchedness and confusion. Upon happening out who murdered my lone friend and great-nephew, I would besides seek retaliation by killing the adult male responsible for Reggie’s decease. However, I would seek to hold a recording of the concluding conversation between myself and Alfred when Alfred admits to killing Reggie. I would make this so that Robyn and the remainder of my household of why I would hold killed Alfred and to turn out that it was so Alfred who killed Reggie.
If I was Walter Mosley, there could hold been a twosome alterations to the novel that might hold made for a more gratifying reader’s experience. If Alfred had non been portion of the violent death, Ptolemy would non hold been needed to hold been labeled a liquidator. Li’l Pea and his Uncle Coy one time had a conversation about being in the forepart on the line to Hell, because Coy’s foreman was both a liquidator and a stealer, so he would be closer to the doors of Hell than Coy would be by merely being a stealer. When Ptolemy becomes a slaying at the terminal of the novel, he besides joins Coy at the terminal of the line to Hell. The medical specialty besides could hold been more researched and better prepared where the drug would hold allowed Ptolemy to populate more than the maximal three months leting him to populate a happier life and possibly hold a happier stoping to the novel.
In a perfect universe, this book would non be read 100 old ages from now. The segregation discussed and referenced in the book would do less sense as the more clip between the terminal of segregation. There is besides a opportunity that dementedness would be cured in 100 old ages, which would stop the reader’s connexion to understand what Ptolemy was traveling through as he suffered through dementedness. With dementedness being of all time present in today’s society, about everyone is able to straight associate and understand what is go oning in Ptolemy’s head. Realistically nevertheless, racism will still be 100 old ages from now, and the segregation will ne’er truly disappear and the effects of it will stay until the terminal of clip. History runs in a cyclical flow where everything repeats itself. When in today’s universe we learn about the holocaust and other of import history facts, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey could be used as a remembrance of a fabricated person’s history of how the times were back so and how people lived through it. The novel shows a speedy expression through the eyes of a adult male who went through a batch and about lost his head in the procedure.
Decision
Ptolemy Grey made the right determination in taking three months of perfect memory over up to ten old ages of non being able to retrieve anything and being alive merely physically. Ptolemy was able to take attention of all his household by completing his Uncle Coy’s instructions, and was able to work out the slaying of his great-nephew, Reggie. Ptolemy was besides able to bask his concluding yearss of life with Robyn, as opposed to when he was so lost in his ain caput that he couldn’t enjoy anything.
The novel does an first-class occupation of showcasing many popular aging subjects popular throughout history. The two chief subjects prevalent are the Disengagement Theory and the Activity Theory. While enduring through the Byzantine dementedness, Ptolemy separates from society by restricting himself in his flat. Robyn is the lone 1 who is able to re-engage Ptolemy with society, which leads to Ptolemy holding a more active, and more satisfied with his ulterior life.
This novel, like every other, has many different strengths and failings. I personally believe that the strengths of Walter Mosley’s novel outweigh the failings ensuing in a pleasant read. Some of the chief strengths are that the secret plan keeps you aquiline and keeps you turning the pages until you have the last 1 in manus, and keeps you wishing for more. Ptolemy is besides relatable as everyone has household members or friends that suffer through dementedness. There is besides a speedy gait of the book, with non much filler, which allows the reader a expression into a man’s last yearss, with glances into his yesteryear, and his hope for the hereafter, all without bogging down in item. Some of the more major failings in reading the novel are the fact that there are no chapters, so there are no topographic points to set the book down in order to take a interruption, so the reader is ever losing their topographic point in the book. Another failing is the enunciation for the spoken linguistic communication, makes the duologue more realistic, but besides more hard to read and grok. This makes the fresh non a light read, and causes the reader to happen themselves halting to believe about the many different scenes that are all go oning at one time.
Mentions
Decker, E. , & A ; Geherin, D. ( 2009, January 1 ) . Mosley, Walter. Retrieved April 19, 2015, from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Walter_Mosley.aspx
“ Fresh Air ” ( 2010, December 6 ) . Mosley ‘s ‘Last Days ‘ Restores Memory, But At A Cost. Retrieved April 19, 2015, from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.npr.org/2010/12/06/131848211/mosley-s-last-days-restores-memory-but-at-a-cost
Moody, H. , & A ; Sasser, J. ( 2012 ) .Aging: Concepts and Controversies( 7th ed. ) . Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
