Desire in Palahniuk's 'Guts'

Auto-asphyxiation, candle wax up the urethra, greased up carrot used as a dildo; these are the bizarre, yet sadly common in modern society, methods of masturbation that Chuck Palahniuk describes before one-upping all of them by the technique used by the narrator of Guts; the pool circulatory water pump at the bottom of the pool. This was the first, and probably the last, time that I had encountered anything referring to such a method of fulfilling one’s sexual desires. The method, dubbed ‘Pearl Diving’, used by the narrator however, does not seem to be the central aspect of the short story. Instead, it is the reaction of the family’s in relation to the ‘invisible carrot’, a source of shame for the family. In the first example about the boy who used a lubricated carrot as a dildo, it is assumed that his mother found the soiled, oily carrot while picking up the boys dirty laundry. Despite the undeniable evidence of what her son had done with the carrot, it goes unmentioned for the remainder of his life, an object that has essentially been deemed invisible by the parents due to the truth it would potentially reveal about their son, a truth that is barbed and which could destroy the delicate fabric of the ideal American family. The same is true about the narrator’s family. When the pool boy is hired to clean out the narrator’s large intestine from the pump, his father conceals the truth by claiming that the ‘family dog fell in and drowned’. This lie was not meant as a means to uniquely protect the thirteen year-old narrator from potential mockery at school, but to protect the entire family’s image. This behavior from the narrator’s father and carrot-boy’s parents, points to an American social tendency of keeping what has happened in a household within the premises. In a way, the saying ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’, can be true about traumatizing events within a family that may be a source of embarrassment. It is better to just sweep them under the rug and never be referred to again.

                Palahniuk’s writing style is simple and free-flowing as if he was reciting the story in person. Despite having written Guts when in his mid-forties, he is able to mimic the voice of a smart teenager. Apart from the very beginning and the end when he asks the reader to inhale and then exhale at the end, I could easily imagine hearing this story in a high school cafeteria. Ridiculous, gory, and painful tales are exceptionally fun for teenage boys in particular, especially if an element of sex is added to the mix. Teenage kids are always attempting ways to realize their social, physical and sexual desires.The only difference is that in real life, no boy would admit that he was the victim of such a twisted masturbation session.

One immediate link between this short story and the British transgressive novels that we’ve been reading is the need for the narrators or lead characters to accomplish their desire; in Crash, James Ballard seeks the erotic thrill of near-death car accidents and the thrill of the morphed sexually of man and human; in Money, John Self pursues many desires, ranging from alcohol, sex, drugs, fame, recognition of his new social status, but is driven by his craving for as much money as possible; in Nights at the Circus, Walser is propelled by his yearning to unveil Sophie Fevvers has a hoax.