[Sample B: Approval/Signature Sheet] - George Mason University

Central to Mailer's portrait of Oswald as a tragic figure is his grandiose
aspirations. Mailer wrote that "the project of Oswald's life" was "to give no quarter to the
resplendent superiority of the moneyed enemy [in the United States], but to stand proud,
partisan, and a guerrilla fighter -- if, for the most part, only in the privacy of his mind." 370
Oswald even wrote a political manifesto before his alleged attempt to assassinate General
Walker, in which he posited "The Atheian System...opposed to Communism, Socialism,
and capitalism." The system consisted of "Democracy at a local level with no centralized
state," social and economic freedom, no individual taxes, and levies on surplus profits to
be used "solely for the building or improvement of public projects." 371 Mailer contended
that Oswald's system bore similarities to the principles of the Hippies, who would emerge
later in the 1960's. In addition to quoting Oswald's political writings, Mailer also
emphasized the tremendous obstacles facing Oswald, including his unsettled childhood,
his domineering mother, his troubled marriage, and his dyslexia, which made him seem
less intelligent than he was.
Mailer freely speculated about Oswald’s sexuality, his political beliefs, and
connection to intelligence agencies. In fact, in his repeated references to Oswald’s sexual
and excretory functions, Mailer revealed himself as a pseudo-Freudian. For example, he
ruminated that “If [Oswald] stays in dirty clothes once he gets home” from his job
greasing machines at a coffee company in New Orleans, “that might be related to sitting
370 Mailer, 431.
371 Mailer, 506-508.
165