Auntie Mame: Solipsist or Just Eccentric?
In "Auntie Mame," the author Patrick Dennis introduces readers to Mame Dennis, a unique and energetic woman with a progressive social vision. Mame is charged with taking care of her orphaned 9-year-old nephew, Patrick, who narrates the story. While Patrick is the narrator, Auntie Mame is definitely the star. Many could easily claim that because of Mame's eccentriciteis, she lives in her own little world. But does that make her a solipsist? I do not think that it does because in order for her to represent the true definition of a solipist, she would not acknowledge anyone else's existance, and she has clearly let her nephew Patrick into her life and her heart. Therefore, she does not, as the definition of solipism describes perceive herself as the only reality.
Mame is very aware that many people choose to live a much different type of lifestyle than she does. She may not agree with them, but she definitely acknowledges their existence. If they did not exist, she would not have to fight so hard against them to ensure that her nephew does not become one of them; that is, a "stuffed shirt" who does not know how to truly enjoy life. Mame is one of those people that absorbs everything that life has to offer. She may be strange. She may even be a little crazy. But she is not a solipsist; she is actually quite connected to the world around her, even if she does not always like the way it works. If any label would have to be given to her (although I think she ultimately defies all labels), it would have to be: eccentric.
This is not to say that Mame does not manipulate the situations around her to help things go her way. She is definitely capable of designing her own world based on her own desires. For example, when Patrick is about to marry a woman...
She invites the bride-to-be's family over and exposes them to friends of her that she knows they will consider to be "low lifes." The family (including the fiance) show their true colors by acting like complete snobs, and Mame gets her wish -- the wedding is called off. Eventually, Patrick marries a woman that his aunt approves of, a woman from the middle class who is down to earth and in Mame's mind, much better suited for Patrick.
It could be claimed that because Mame only sees her way as the right way and the only way that she is solipsist. However, solipsism is not about being egotistic, it is about failing to recognize that other realities exist outside of your own. Mame is quite aware that many other realities exist -- she just does not want those realities to ruin her nephew and turn him into a snob.
Another piece of evidence that shows that Mame is not a solipsist is that when the stock market crashes and she loses her fortune, she does not just wallow in depression. She goes out and gets a job in a department store. Many people who had experienced Mame's wealth would have thought that such a job was far beneath them and would never have gone out and worked like a "commoner." If Auntie Mame was so caught up in the isolation of her own existence, she would have allowed herself to just waste away instead of going out their and doing something positive for not only herself, but her nephew, Patrick and her servants as well. Of course it all worked out for her anyway because even though she was not very good at the job (which. By the way. provided many hilarious moments), she was able to meet her rich new husband while she was…
