Moxley Post #4

This section of the reading has brought a lot of new information to light, tying up the strings left hanging and creating almost a tunnel that gets smaller and smaller as we near the end of the story. This section of the reading started out with so many things going on and so many messes that needed to be cleaned up so the book could start to wind down, and as we finished the section the author had tidied up everything from the previous section, including some things that had been subtly evolving throughout the book. I focused in particular on the long and winding history of Jack Burden and Willie Talos that is sewn shut with Willie's death, and both Jack and Willie confront their unspoken respect for each other and how much they rely on the other's camaraderie. As the events that led to the death of Willie Talos unfolded, Jack's first concern after addressing his dying friend Adam Stanton is to find the Boss: "I didn't see the Boss. And thought: he didn't hit him. But I was wrong." (pg. 552) Jack realizes with a sinking feeling that the Boss did get shot, and later on at the hospital he goes to see the Boss and feels the full weight of their relationship. "I stood up close to the bed and looked down at him, and tried to think of something to say. But my brain felt as juiceless as an old sponge left out in the sun a long time. Then he said, in something a little better than a whisper, "I wanted to see you, Jack." "I wanted to see you, too, Boss."" (pg. 556) Losing Willie, the closest thing Jack ever really had to a father, especially so soon after Jack finds out who his real father is and loses his father to suicide, is probably the most real loss Jack has ever suffered in his life, as he isn't really one to make lots of personal connections. At the beginning of the book, Jack and Willie have an employer-employee relationship that borders on friendship; as the book continues, they become closer and closer until Jack finds out about Anne Stanton and the Boss, making him question their evolving relationship and driving a wedge between them. But Jack is the person the Boss wants to see one last time before he dies, showing how much he cares about Jack and how much Jack meant to him. In the end, their relationship is that of father and son, a politician and his advisor, a mentor and his apprentice, as Jack and Willie say goodbye after all they've been through.