Norman Manea’s The Trenchcoat

My thoughts on the Trench coat… Although I was definitely feeling lost a lot of the time reading this novel, I did enjoy it. I think I quickly understood that the point of this story was not to fully understand every little conversation that was being exchanged, or what these characters were up to. Rather, it was to understand that these conversations had to be secret and discrete, given the country and time they were living in. 

This story was unfolding in a time where the government seemed to have a lot of control of its citizens. For example, gas was limited to 30 litres a month (and could sometimes be bribed with a tip, sometimes not and if you had extra money, of course). There was also extreme censorship on information released to the people, and if something abnormal popped up there was a question in regards to “how did that slip past the censor?”.  One quote that stood out to me as well and was a bit disturbing to read was “I'll be tall, healthy, clean and neat, without even needing a bit to eat.” Not exactly sure what this means, but perhaps that they also restrict food for their citizens and for children in schools. 


Although this mysterious ‘raincoat/trench coat’ had me confused in regards to what its significance was, I knew that this character that found it would not have been so disturbed by its random appearance without some sort of reason. Perhaps there was some sort of connection to one of the individuals that attended the dinner party that night. I definitely got strange vibes between the group. It seemed forced so I question why this dinner had to happen in the first place (and not just to exchange that article for the journal that could be done at the door).


I sensed that some of the people gathered had some interesting backgrounds. This especially felt true when I'm not sure who but someone said “When you go up the ladder, you push it a little here and there. You knock a few guys down a rung, you do a few things in the darkness too, when nobody watching” 238. I think this speaks to the fact that there has been shady behaviours between these people, especially knowing that some of them hold powerful roles in politics. Therefore, I think that this trench coat signifies that some sort of realization, potentially not a good one, has been puzzled together… This makes me question, why did this awkward dinner party have to occur in the first place? Was there something being discussed or exchanged that we are unaware of? Or did they simply think it was time to get together knowing it had been a while?

Comments

  1. PatricioMarch 14, 2022 at 8:22 PM

    "It seemed forced so I question why this dinner had to happen in the first place (and not just to exchange that article for the journal that could be done at the door)"
    Right, I think the answer is given by Iona at the beginning of the story when she asks why family dinners are not like they used to be, adding: "Latin people like ours, so addicted to conversation and celebrations" and then answers: "Exhaustion, depression, . .. the desire to get together that has disappeared" (193). Then describes the invitation to the family party as a bit of adventure amid the apathy. But we know how it ends up.

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  2. Daniel ChoiMarch 16, 2022 at 7:54 PM

    "Perhaps there was some sort of connection to one of the individuals that attended the dinner party that night."

    I agree on this point. Another scene that made me think of this was the phone call between Dina and Felicia's husband (I think), where the husband just rants for a couple of pages. It seemed quite random, and made me wonder what the relationship between Dina and him was. He also seemed to strongly avoid all the fuss over the trenchcoat so I wonder what he had to do with the whole situation.

    - Daniel Choi

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  3. PliegoMarch 18, 2022 at 11:51 AM

    Hi.
    I do believe that the dinner had o take place at that point as that is where the whole trench coat thing comes from. But I did feel like the dinner was quite awkward just like some of the dialogues between the characters of the novel.

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