Changing the Past by Thomas Berger
"Changing the Past" by Thomas Berger is a novel that intertwines elements of science fiction, popular culture, and the experiences of middle-class Americans. The story follows Walter Hunsicker, an unhappy New Yorker and copy editor, who is unexpectedly offered a chance to adopt a new identity by a mysterious government agent. This opportunity leads him to assume various personas, including that of a ruthless tycoon, a nightclub comedian, a novelist, and a radio psychologist, each representing different facets of ambition and desire.
Through Walter's transformations into these characters, Berger explores themes of identity, fame, and the pursuit of happiness, often employing satire to critique aspects of show business, literary ambition, and American cultural values. As Walter navigates the highs and lows of his new lives, he grapples with his longing for love and success, only to encounter repeated setbacks and disappointments. The novel suggests that the desire to change the past may ultimately lead to unhappiness, emphasizing the complexity of human existence and the interplay between fate and free will. Berger's narrative style varies with each identity, reflecting the evolving nature of Walter's journey and the lessons learned along the way.
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Changing the Past by Thomas Berger
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1989
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Berger’s interests in science fiction, popular culture, and the ordinary lives of middle-class Americans all come together in Changing the Past. A mysterious stranger claiming to work for a government agency gives an unhappy New Yorker a chance for a different identity. Walter Hunsicker, copy editor at a large publishing house, has been chosen because he is seemingly satisfied with his wife, son, and job. Walter is a variation on the copywriter of Being Invisible (1987), who can disappear at will but remains at the mercy of the forces raging around him.
After one day as Jack Kellog, ruthless business tycoon, Walter wants to try again because that identity is too remote from how he sees himself. Berger then presents lengthy narratives with Walter as Jackie Kellog, vulgar nightclub comedian; John Kellog, novelist; and Jonathan Kellog, radio psychologist. In each life, Walter experiences setbacks before achieving success and fame, only for a decline to follow. He desperately wants love and sexual fulfillment, but things somehow never work out.
Berger satirizes topics such as show business, literary jealousies, self-help, politics, and fame as Walter/Kellog flails away at each of his lives. Jackie cynically uses people on his way to the top, and when his popularity wanes, he just as cynically resorts to religion in an attempt to regain favor. John becomes his unappetizing agent’s lover as a means of getting published. Initially uncomfortable with dealing with sexual questions on his radio program, Jonathan slowly becomes a sexual adviser to the nation. Berger is constantly amused at how Americans seem to be both lascivious and puritanical at the same time.
Berger suggests that Walter’s need to change the past is indicative of his problem. Anyone who wants such a change is destined for unhappiness. While such a moral judgment may be more blatant than is usually the case for Berger, he is still more interested in narrative for its own sake and has Walter stand by objectively without interfering with the follies of his different selves. Seeing how Kellog will slowly rise and fall is fascinating. Each version of Kellog finds a different way in which to fail, with Berger adopting a different tone and structure each time. While Jackie and John are followed from their youth, Jonathan’s success is revealed at the beginning of his story, with the account of his rise coming in the middle. Such variations are fitting for a novel examining the nature of time. Jonathan’s inevitable collapse is the most surprising, especially since he is the most humane of the vain Kellogs, though each eventually wants to do better. This last quality illustrates Walter’s essential nature, because he wants each Kellog to be someone of whom his wife and son could be proud. Walter painfully learns that the nature of happiness involves more than fate and free will.
Bibliography
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Chapman, Edgar L. “’Seeing’ Invisibility: Or, Invisibility as Metaphor in Thomas Berger’s Being Invisible.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 4 (1992): 65-93.
Landon, Brooks. Thomas Berger. Boston: Twayne, 1989.
Landon, Brooks. “Thomas Berger: Dedicated to the Novel.” World & I 18 (October, 2003): 208-209.
Landon, Brooks. “Thomas Berger’s Arthur Rex.” In King Arthur Through the Ages, edited by Valerie M. Lagorio and Mildred Leake Day. New York: Garland, 1990.
Sinowitz, Michael Leigh. “The Western as Postmodern Satiric History: Thomas Berger’s Little Big Man.” Clio 28 (Winter, 1999): 129-148.
Stypes, Aaron. “Thomas Berger and Sheer Incongruity.” South Dakota Review 32 (Winter, 1994): 34-43.
Wallace, Jon. “A Murderous Clarity: A Reading of Thomas Berger’s Killing Time.” Philological Quarterly 68 (Winter, 1989): 101-114.
Zimmerman, Brett. “The Linguistic Key to Crabb’s Veracity: Berger’s Little Big Man Revisited.” Western American Literature 38 (Fall, 2003): 270-288.