Character Comparison: Jason from She Wasn’t Soft and Ned from Termination Dust (Analytical Response D.)

Most recently our group read She Wasn’t Soft and Termination Dust, which featured some very interesting characters, including Jason from She Wasn’t Soft and Ned from Termination Dust. It is easy to see that both of these characters committed horrendous acts, fueled by some sort of passion which they felt, as Jason, overcome by lust, raped his girlfriend Paula and drugged her when she was coming to the finish of the triathlon, ahead of her rival Zinny Bauer; while Ned kills Bud, because he believes that Bud took Jordy back to Boynton without her consent. However, there are many differences between Ned and Jason.
Probably the biggest difference between the two characters is that Jason is not a very determined person, while Ned seems to work very hard for what he has, as he seems to have spent a good deal of money just to come to this kind of date auction, and his finances are limited when it comes to the amount of money which he can bid on Jordy, while money does not seem to be an obstacle for Jason, who basically had his parents, both doctors, fund his business. It was interesting that T.C. Boyle chose characters that are different in this way as one seems to be pretty determined and responsible, while the other one seems to be very lazy, and put them in similar situations of love, which both yield the same result; each man hurts the woman whom they love. Perhaps, Boyle is trying to make a commentary through these two characters that love or the want for love is a very powerful thing which we all want to attain, but no matter who we are whether good or bad, the power of love may corrupt us as we become blind to the truth behind a certain situation as in Ned’ case when he tracks down Bud and Jordy, after he thinks Bud took Jordy to Boynton against her will. In some twisted way Jason and Ned also feel that these things which they have done will bring them closer to the people that they love. This may illustrate that we as humans want to love more than anything else and do good, but it is easy to become corrupted by something so powerful. These characters also have a commonality in the isolation which they encounter whether self-imposed or not. As Ned lives in the last place one can drive on the continent, and he has very little human interactions except with the people who are patrons at his bar, while Jason kind of is in a self imposed exile, as he goes into a bar, watches sports, while getting very drunk, this limits his interaction with people around him as well. Certain aspects of these characters are very relatable in the life of the average person, as we all want to love, and sometimes idealize it, and it is easy to become corrupted by something so powerful, as our vision gets skewed from the truth. We also exile ourselves from contact with others, and this really is not beneficial, I think that this is why Boyle made these characters deal with the similar problems, but put them in different situations. Boyle is driving home the idea that these problems are quite common and are part of the human condition whether one is trying to win a date through an auction in Alaska, or one has someone whom they love, but they just don’t realize to what extent, and how ultimately we are all susceptible to committing sins, especially against ones we love.
Mike Verity

Termination Dust

This picture depicts the first moment Jordy and Ned meet. He greets her with a handshake and notices her hand-printed name tag. Right away he could tell Jordy was different than the one hundred other woman because she put so much care into her name tag. The moment is really the beginning of the whole story and Ned's journey toward getting Jordy. This was the moment he fell in love with her.

"Termination Dust" Review

The short story "Termination Dust" follows a short life segment of a man named Ned. Ned resides in a very small Alaskan town called Boynton. Due to the small population and isolation of the town, nearly everyone in Boynton has a drinking problem. At the start of the story, we see Ned at a date auction place awaiting for the arrival of the women who will be auctioned off. When they do finally arrive, Ned immediately notices a gorgeous woman by the name of Jordy. He and Jordy enjoy a nice dinner before interrupted by, what seems, Ned's nemesis, Bud. Bud rudely decides to join Ned and Jordy before the auction begins. When the auction takes place, Ned finds it hard to win Jordy because he has very little money. He eventually loses Jordy to Bud and this completely crushes him. Determined that Bud is going to do awful things to Jordy, he sets out to Bud's cabin to try and save Jordy. When he arrives at the cabin, he sees Jordy and Bud in the bedroom seemingly enjoying themselves but Ned feels otherwise and kills Bud. Feeling confident that he saved Jordy he is ready to escape with her when a terrible snow storm traps Ned and Jordy inside the cabin. This story draws from the same mentality of Jason from the story "She Wasn't Soft". Both characters have a disillusioned idea of what is right and as a result, they only cause more harm when trying to do something "good". This story is somewhat empty as it doesn't delve into the past of Ned, Bud, or Jordy. Had the readers understood where these characters were coming from, it would have been much easier to relate and possibly like them. It just feels like the readers are dumped into the middle of every ones lives and are expected to understand how they work. The ending also leaves much to be desired as we don't know if Ned and Jordy will survive the snow storm.