Discuss the construction of the character of Vic Wilcox in the opening chapter of

Discuss the construction of the character of Vic Wilcox in the opening chapter of “Nice Work”

David Newsome 23/6/03

In the opening chapter of “Nice Work” we are introduced to Vic Wilcox, Managing Director of “J. Pringle & Sons Casting and General Engineering”. He lives in an upmarket house on the outskirts of Rummage with his wife Marjorie and his three children. Raymond, Sandra and Gary. Vic is man who is quintessentially British. So much so that he refuses to buy goods made out of the country, the reason for his annoyance at Marjorie wanting a microwave (96% manufactured in the East) and for buying a Japanese clock radio. This is again shown in his insistence on having a Jaguar as his company car, and the pleasure he takes in beating a Toyota Celica away from a set of traffic lights. Vic also holds some typically masculine ideals and perceptions, even down to his dislike of female “gynaecological disclosures” and the linear description of himself in the mirror, and the list like style of his C.V.

The novel starts off with Vic Wilcox lying awake in bed worrying about his career and the problems that will be facing him the next morning when he arrives at work. “Worries streak towards him like enemy spaceships in one of Gary’s video games. He flinches, dodges, zaps them with instant solutions.” Interestingly Vic is not worrying about his family at this time, which one might think he would. Perhaps because his wife is on Valium in a response to the menopause, and one of his teenage sons has recently dropped out of university, and his daughter is more interested in a career in hairdressing than she is in working for her final A-Levels. This early illustration of Vic’s anxiety shows that it is an important part of his character, as we are introduced to it so early on in the novel. This anxiety is illustrated again by the way that Vic has a glass of whisky before he goes to bed at night, perhaps trying to calm his nerves and aid the sleep he finds trying due to his worries, and the inability to put his mind at rest in his life that is so dominated by work.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Vic lives in a house that is totally unsuited to his needs or indeed his tastes. This is a device used by Lodge to build up our impression of the character of Vic Wilcox by showing the environment he lives in, which he is uncomfortable in, and then by this implying the environment he would wish to live in. His house is full of imitation luxury items such as plated taps and pink nylon carpets, all of which are considered to be tacky by most. Vic “paddles through the deep pile of the bedroom carpet”. This use of the word “paddles” implies that this everyday task is an effort and it is also a continuation of the nautical image from earlier in the chapter where Vic imagines himself as the “captain of a sleeping ship”. By telling us what Vic’s house is like and then by implying heavily that this environment in not one to which Vic is best suited Lodge is telling us what his preferred environment would be like. I think that this kind of environment would be a very practical and quite simple one, where things all work and are probably highly mechanised. Vic’s interest in mechanisation (in the intricate description of the burglar alarm) supports this. The nautical image Lodge continues with the word “paddles” is an illustration of Vic’s self-image, is very important. Vic’s self image is a very important and typically masculine one. Lodge uses Vic’s description of himself in the mirror to illustrate this. The description we are given is that of a very linear and angular face, one that is not at all realistic, “The square face”, “the two vertical furrows in the brow like a chip holding the blunt nose in place, the straight-ruled line of the mouth, the squared off jaw.” It is a description that it reminiscent of a cartoon or comic book character. The emphasis on the hard lines of his features leads to an image of a stern, hard face. This is a typically masculine face, as in most forms of literature women are described as being soft in features. Vic then goes on to recite his CV in a list form, as it would appear on file at the division. This is again a very masculine trait, as shown in High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, in which lists are very prominent in a novel about the male self.

Lodge give us further insight into the unsuitability of his house with the use of the “en suite” bathroom and how it was a major selling point to his wife. Marjorie seems to be a woman whose taste is mocked and who is pleased by things that pretend to be something they aren’t, such as the imitation fire-irons she desires, and the supposed grandeur associated with a house with four bathrooms, with gold plated taps. Marjorie is in fact so obsessed by “en suite” that “If they made a perfume called “En Suite” she would wear it.”

In these bathrooms even the toilets are not suited to Vic. “Vic pees, a task requiring considerable care and accuracy since the toilet bowl is low-slung and tapered in shape.” This is another example of how Vic might want a very utilitarian house, where things suit him and where they work well. It seems that Marjorie is the dominant member of their relationship, despite her played up intellectual inferiority. This is shown by the way that the house is obviously furnished to her needs and tastes, and how the children don’t seem to view him as a figure of authority. His eldest son, Raymond who goes out drinking and takes the creature comforts of home for granted, shows this. This all has an affect on the impression we are given of Vic Wilcox, of a mild mannered hard-working, nationalistic man. This is why it is slightly surprising to learn that when at work he is seen as “Mr New Broom, slightly feared” which is explained by him as possible compensation for his small stature.

A large part of this opening chapter is devoted to Vic’s drive into work. This is an important illustration of the side of Vic that the outside world doesn’t get to see, as it is a small part of the day in which he can be in his own environment, away from all others and perhaps express some of his more personal, deeper emotions and sides to his character. This is the main function of this passage so early on in the book, as it enables Lodge to introduce the character of Vic Wilcox in a more intimate way contrary to the lists that were used at the start of the chapter. The very start of the journey, and the revelation of the Jaguar V12 (typically masculine) in the garage, one of the prides of British motoring reinforces the strongly patriotic side of Vic’s character, and then again even more so when we are told that he insisted on one as his company car. The general impression of Vic is that he is a fairly wealthy man, which is given by his large house and garage, as well as a job good enough to provide a Jaguar as a company car. Once Vic is inside his car he is in his element, a time described as “the best half-hour of the day”. The somewhat pernickety side of Vic’s character comes out when in reply to his previous thought we are told, “In fact it is not quite half-an-hour – the journey usually takes twenty four minutes.” This is again shown when he arrives at work, where he makes a mental note of the statistics for his journey – again in a list form, “Distance Covered: 9.8 miles. Journey time: 25 mins. 14 secs. Petrol consumption 17.26 m.p.g.” Vic illustrates his basic knowledge of the area around where he lives by recounting a rudimentary history of the “Dark Country”. However Vic also illustrates his strange trepidation of Universities, and those educated in them, in preference to his own “College of Advanced Technology” which is a place that does what Vic might see as ‘proper work’, with lots of equipment crammed into it. Much like how I think Vic would like his house to be, simple, unpretentious and crammed with various gadgets and technological items, British ones of course.

An interesting insight is Vic’s self-proclaimed “musical masturbation”, where he shows a preference for the soothing sound of female vocalists “whispering of women’s love, its joys and disappointments.” This is a release from his stressful life, with twenty-four minutes of total relaxation for Vic. When Vic arrives at his office we are given the impression that he is still very much new, with his inherited secretary and the receptionists who still laugh at him when he leaves the lobby.

Lodge has created a detailed character profile of Vic Wilcox in the opening chapter by using lists of his achievements, as well as following him through some of the most personal parts of his day, which give the deepest insights into character. He is often thinking about machinery, such as the burglar alarm. The job he is in, and his education at the Technical College provide the background for the sometimes detailed mechanical knowledge often needed in these descriptions. There is also a lot of emphasis put upon his unease at the female body and sex. This is shown by the fear of a discussion about his daughter’s sex life, both in what it could entail, and in the probability that it would lead on to a discussion of Vic’s own sex life, which is presumably minimal. This unease is also shown at his reaction to the pictures of his secretary’s daughter who is trying to become a glamour model. This is again masculine trait, along with the list making, and the linear description of himself. This character is built up by simply following the character around in his daily routine, showing his reactions to everyday events. Subtle hints are laid down, such as his views about politics, work, his family and intellectuals. It is a very clever and concise as well as in depth character construction illustrated here by Lodge.

WORDS: 1,740