Resisting the Kernel
Chris Robinson
John-James Ford shows us the macho underbelly of the Canadian Armed Forces
I know little about the military, but having been raised by a cop, I know that the complexities of identity and masculinity that they breed are similar. Like the military, cop-land is often a sanctuary for young men in search of identity and a firm grip on what it means to be a man. Some of these men become "one" with the job. My stepfather was one of them. In our house we were suspects, not sons. His fragile identity was swallowed by the power and machismo that came with the badge or uniform. I was lucky because I never wanted to be a cop. Cops repulsed me because I discovered that the whole image was a fraud, a cover for their insecurities and hypocrisies. I managed to escape. Verbal Kempt wasn't so lucky.
Kempt, the protagonist in Ottawa native John-James Ford's outstanding first novel, Bonk on the Head, lives with his mother, father, two sisters and grandfather. He's nicknamed Verbal (real name, Herbert) because he doesn't say much.
His father (the "Kernel" as he's called around the house) and grandfather were esteemed military men. Military life has defined them, and by extension the whole Kempt household. When Kempt's older sister Gertrude rebels, he is lost. With his sister he had protection and options, but without her he's alone under the firm and overwhelming influence of the Kernel.
One day, Kempt gives up and decides to become a cadet. He impresses his superiors (who are aware of his famous father) and soon finds himself attending the Royal Military College in Kingston.
From there Ford (who also studied at RMC) steps into high gear and takes us on a rollercoaster ride through the inhuman and degrading humiliations that Kempt and his fellow recruits are forced to endure daily. Through Ford's eyes we see how the military sucks what remains of a young person's identity right smack out of their souls and into a faceless, orderly macho machine. Individuality has no place, as Kempt discovers, in the military. Kempt eventually realizes that he was suckered in, that even his father was once a scared little boy (Kempt finds revealing notes written by his father-once also an RMC recruit-hidden near his barracks).
The final scene between Kempt and his reunited sister Gertrude is at once comic, heartwarming, tragic and hopeful. Through Gertrude's eyes, Kempt finally sees who he has become. It's an image that horrifies both her and him.
With its combination of warmth, humour and brutal honesty, Bonk on the Head is just the book to shake CanLit from its safety harness.
BONK ON THE HEAD
BY JOHN-JAMES FORD
NIGHTWOOD EDITIONS, $20.95
This book sounds like it is as revealing as Apocalypse Now was. Whenever men congregate to beat an opponent, whether it be a football game or hand to hand combat, there is a lot of it that should just be flushed. In a matriarchal society perhaps it would be better, perhaps not. I remember the shock and horror as images of Machi and his Somalian torture victims were displayed to the Canadian public. That was a while ago, has anything really changed? Can the military boast that it has cleaned up its act? Really?
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Skeleton James
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