When one is already at the top one can't help but wonder: how far can you fall? Buddy Bolden, a renowned jazz performer from the early 20th century lived life constantly asking himself this, as evidenced by the passage below:
"What do you want to know about me Webb? I'm alone. I desire every woman I remember. Everything is clear here and still I feel that my brain has walked away and is watching me. I feel I hover over the objects in this house, over every person in my memory - like those painted saints in my mother's church who seem or always have six or seven inches between them and the ground. Posing as humans. I give myself immaculate twenty minute shaves in the morning. Tap some lotion on me and cook a fabulous breakfast. Only meal of the day. So I move from the morning's energy into the later hours of alcohol and hunger and thickness and tiredness. Trying to overcome this awful and stupid clarity. (100)"
The main theme behind Michael Ondaatje's Coming Through Slaughter is the rise and fall of jazz-great Buddy Bolden. As a very successful and influential musician in the New Orleans new age jazz movement, Bolden quickly succumbed to the high stake, fast paced lifestyle that came with fame. Despite being renowned and famous, in reality he lived an empty life. However what he really regrets is his inability to maintain a stable, long-term relationship. To make up for this lack of love, he fills in the emotional void in his life with empty, meaningless sex with prostitutes and one night stands with complete strangers. Additionally both of his relationships explored in the novel become a complex love triangle. The reader learns early in the book that Bolden married Nora Bass without a formal registry or ceremony. When he left Storyville in hopes of keeping a low profile he also managed to shatter the one stable relationship in his life. Despite loving his wife, he cannot help but remind himself of Nora's past as an escort, which sometimes drives him to insanity. This can be evidenced when Tom Pickett comes into his barber shop. The pimp begins to taunt the jazzman of how he used to sleep with his wife. Bolden snapped and violently mutilated Pickett's face with a barber's razor. While lying low, Bolden began an affair with Robin Brewitt, who despite loving Buddy would not marry him and stay true to her husband.
From the get-go it is quite clear that Buddy's lifestyle has extinguished his will and stopped being himself. The way he compares himself to a saint, symbolizes that Buddy Bolden has become a legend, a mere myth even to himself. To others, including himself, he is this mysterious and greater-than-life character while in reality he is vulnerable and driven borderline insane. He no longer feels he inhabits the body of New Orleans' greatest jazz musician but has become overshadowed by his musical alter ego. This demigod description is further accentuated by him stating "Posing as humans". One can't help but wonder, when does Buddy Bolden, the man ends, and when Buddy Bolden, the legend begins.
While he performs as a jazzman in the cover of Storyville's dark, prostitute-ridden alleys, Bolden works a day job at a barbershop. As a barber, he feels the individual under his blade become vulnerable, wincing at the very thought of someone else, a stranger handling their appearance. According to him, vanity is every man's weakness. However, Bolden himself shares this defect, seeing how he shaves his face to perfection for 20 minutes each morning. Seeing how he sprays lotion after a clean shave further accentuates his vain mannerisms.
As stated beforehand, Bolden lives a very empty lifestyle to the point that his eating patterns reflect this. His lack of energy during the late hours of the day could be the result of his little food intake and massive alcohol binges. The emotional pit of nothingness that lies at the bottom of Bolden's mind, is the result of a downward spiral caused by fame. Despite Bolden knowing that he is living through a personal hell, he acknowledges that this is now his reality.
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