The Sunlight Dialogues by John Gardner
**The Sunlight Dialogues by John Gardner** is a novel that weaves a complex narrative centered on a character known as the Sunlight Man, a disheveled and bearded figure who sparks controversy with his symbolic act of writing "love" on the street in Batavia, New York. The Sunlight Man, who is later revealed to be Taggart Hodge, engages in a series of philosophical dialogues with Police Chief Clumly, challenging societal norms and critiquing systems such as the legal framework, capitalism, and traditional religious values. Throughout the story, he becomes embroiled in a violent escape from law enforcement, accompanied by a young Indian man named Nick Slater, who inadvertently commits further crimes during their flight.
At its core, the narrative explores themes of identity, justice, and the human condition, as Taggart grapples with his troubled past, including the tragic circumstances surrounding his wife’s mental illness and his own violent actions. The dialogues serve as a platform for deeper philosophical discussions, revealing both characters’ struggles and moral dilemmas. Gardner's work is noted for its exploration of complex emotional and ethical landscapes, ultimately questioning the nature of justice and morality in contemporary society. As the story unfolds, the interplay between the chaotic life of Taggart and the ordered realm of law enforcement creates a rich tapestry that invites readers to reflect on the philosophical underpinnings of human behavior and societal values.
On this Page
The Sunlight Dialogues by John Gardner
First published: 1972
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of plot: Mid-1960’s
Locale: Batavia, New York
Principal characters
Fred Clumly , the aging chief of police of Batavia, New YorkTaggart Hodge or theSunlight Man , a former lawyer and insane magicianWill Hodge, Sr. , Taggart’s older brother and an attorney in Batavia, New YorkMillie Jewel Hodge , Will Hodge’s former wifeLuke Hodge , Will and Millie’s sonNick Slater , a young American Indian, companion of Taggart Hodge
The Story:
A scarfaced, bearded, and semideranged man is arrested in Batavia, New York, for writing the word “love” in the street in large white letters. Refusing to identify himself, ironically he comes to be known as the Sunlight Man, due to his cynical diatribes against, among other targets, the American legal system, Western capitalism, and the Judeo-Christian tradition. After befuddling Police Chief Clumly with his magic tricks, he easily escapes from jail, but he soon returns to free Nick Slater, a young Indian in jail for vehicular homicide. While escaping, Nick kills one of Chief Clumly’s deputies. An intense, prolonged manhunt begins. Soon afterward, Nick murders Mrs. Palazzo, the landlady of Will Hodge, Sr., when she surprises Nick and the Sunlight Man, in hiding at Will’s home. Nick and the Sunlight Man then flee to the farm of Luke Hodge, one of Will’s sons and the Sunlight Man’s nephew. While there, the Sunlight Man engages in a bizarre series of arranged meetings and “dialogues” with Chief Clumly; the Sunlight Man teases Chief Clumly with displays of magical prowess (stealing Chief Clumly’s gun and mysteriously appearing and disappearing) and lecturing Chief Clumly about the disparity between human law and universal principles (the former scorned by the Sunlight Man as he alleges obedience to the latter). These secret meetings do not remain so long, and the resultant publicity subjects Chief Clumly to criticism both for meeting with the Sunlight Man and for failing to capture him. The publicity also makes Will and the other Hodge family members aware of the fact that the Sunlight Man is really Taggart, who was disbarred sixteen years earlier and who left New York after the disbarment and after having been hideously burned when his mentally ill wife set fire to their home.
The family members do not reveal the Sunlight Man’s identity; they realize that Taggart returned to Batavia because his wife is now institutionalized there. The family members’ conversation reveals that Taggart left years ago in order to accompany Taggart’s wife as he and her brothers sought treatment for her at various mental institutions around the country; there was no alleviation of her steadily increasing illness. Two family members cannot reveal Taggart’s identity because Taggart keeps Luke Hodge and Millie Hodge, Luke’s mother and Will’s former wife, bound and gagged at Luke’s farm while Taggart constructs his magical devices and meets with, tantalizes, and lectures Chief Clumly. After several days, a neighbor, Mr. Hardesty, comes to visit, but when he recognizes Taggart as the now-notorious Sunlight Man, Nick also kills Mr. Hardesty, again without Taggart’s approval—but also without his condemnation.
In the intervals between meetings with the Sunlight Man, Chief Clumly finally learns that his tormentor is Taggart Hodge. Chief Clumly traces the movements of the wife, Kathleen Paxton, from hospital to hospital, and he discovers that a man fitting the Sunlight Man’s description always accompanies her. Chief Clumly then visits Kathleen, finding her virtually comatose, and at his next meeting with the Sunlight Man, Chief Clumly reveals his knowledge. He then manages to disarm Taggart, but due to Taggart’s eloquent arguments and due to sympathy with the tragic circumstances which make Taggart almost insane, Chief Clumly allows Taggart to escape, despite the fact that Taggart is an accessory to several murders. Such continued failure to apprehend the Sunlight Man, despite known meetings with him, along with general neglect of his other duties in his absorption with Taggart, causes Chief Clumly to be fired by Batavia’s mayor. Clumly is still convinced that Taggart deserves better than the fate the American criminal justice system would impose on him. Taggart’s philosophical arguments affect Clumly and make Clumly more humane.
Meanwhile, Taggart remembers, despite his semideranged condition, why he came back to Batavia and what he did just prior to writing “love” in the street. After his years of travel, as he attempted to help his deranged wife in defiance of her domineering and vicious father, her father found them and took Kathleen back to Batavia and had her given shock treatment. That treatment destroyed what remained of her consciousness. Taggart also remembers that he learned that Mr. Paxton had Taggart’s sons killed after the fire at Taggart’s home. Taggart also recalls that he strangled Kathleen’s father the evening before his deranged, ironic street-writing. Aware now of his need to escape from New York before his killing of Mr. Paxton becomes known (and, in fact, Clumly already suspected), Taggart enlists Luke as a getaway driver. Luke recognizes his uncle, however, and being semisuicidal, anyway, due to the effect his parents’ troubled marriage has upon him, Luke decides to drive his truck off a bridge and kill himself and Taggart, thereby preserving the Hodge family from the infamy of public awareness of Taggart’s identity. A premonition causes Taggart and Nick to jump from the truck prior to the wreck, however, and they escape death. The knowledge that he indirectly caused his nephew’s death deeply affects Taggart, however, and he returns to Batavia in order to surrender. Unable to resist one more trick against the police, however, Taggart steals Officer Figlow’s gun and hides it in a desk drawer. Figlow finds the gun and, terrified at seeing the Sunlight Man and not realizing the Sunlight Man’s peaceful intent, Figlow grabs the gun and kills Taggart. All that remains is for Clumly to deliver the speech to the Dairyman’s League that he long planned; he makes the speech an eloquent, impassioned eulogy and defense of the Sunlight Man and a plea for a more concerned and enlightened American system of criminal justice.
Bibliography
Cowart, David. Arches and Light: The Fiction of John Gardner. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983. Interprets The Sunlight Dialogues as centered on the human struggle against universal entropy. Includes helpful genre analysis and perceptive analogizing of the work to that of Sir Thomas Malory, Dante Alighieri, and Homer.
Howell, John M. Understanding John Gardner. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1993. Provides a thorough discussion of the history and criticism of Gardner. Chapter 3 is devoted to an analysis of The Sunlight Dialogues.
Morris, Gregory L. “A Babylonian in Batavia: Mesopotamian Literature and Lore in The Sunlight Dialogues.” In John Gardner: Critical Perspectives, edited by Robert A. Morace and Kathryn VanSpanckeren. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1982. A thorough explanation of the Mesopotamian history, lore, and cultural tradition underlying the four “dialogues” between the Sunlight Man and Chief Clumly; the four dialogues are the controlling structures of The Sunlight Dialogues.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. A World of Order and Light: The Fiction of John Gardner. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1984. Astute analysis of The Sunlight Dialogues as “the artistic and intellectual center” of all Gardner’s fiction; Gardner explains his “governing metaphysical system” in this novel. Analyzes the complex, multilayered structure of The Sunlight Dialogues.
Nutter, Ronald Grant. A Dream of Peace: Art and Death in the Fiction of John Gardner. New York: Peter Lang, 1997. Nutter reviews Gardner’s life and work, describing his thoughts on religion and peace and other aspects of his personal philosophy. He explains how Gardner was influenced by the thinking of Alfred North Whitehead and Susanne Langer.
Payne, Alison. “Clown, Monster, Magician: The Purpose of Lunacy in John Gardner’s Fiction.” In Thor’s Hammer: Essays on John Gardner, edited by Jeff Henderson et al. Conway: University of Central Arkansas Press, 1985. A perceptive study of insanity in several Gardner novels. Includes detailed analysis of the symbolic divergence of the emotional idealism of the Sunlight Man and the rational practicality of Chief Clumly in The Sunlight Dialogues.
Silesky, Barry. John Gardner: The Life and Death of a Literary Outlaw. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2004. Silesky chronicles Gardner’s life and development as a writer, describing how he cultivated the image of the eccentric outsider. While the book provides some description of his major works, it focuses on the events of his life and does not provide a detailed explication of his writings.
Thornton, Susan. On Broken Glass: Loving and Losing John Gardner. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2000. A memoir recounting Gardner’s tumultuous relationship with Thornton, whom he was set to make his third wife before he died in a motorcycle accident a few days before the planned wedding. Thornton knew Gardner during the last three years of his life, and she traces his alcoholic decline during those years.
Winther, Per. The Art of John Gardner: Instruction and Exploration. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992. Discusses Gardner’s literary theory and his fiction and provides insight into the philosophical bases of important characters in The Sunlight Dialogues. Includes a helpful discussion of Gardner’s collage technique.