Themes and Characters
Lennon's difficult family circumstances and unusual upbringing clearly affected his entire life, and this prominent theme is closely studied in the book. Wootton scrutinizes the events surrounding the absence of Lennon's parents: how they both lost interest in their son and shunned him, how the father deserted the family, and how the mother gave him away to her sister Mimi. The author shows how Lennon's quick temper and insecurities may have derived from the trauma of his isolation from his parents. Lennon continued this pattern by deserting his wife Cynthia and son Julian (although he still saw Julian) for Yoko Ono, but deviated from it by his great devotion to Yoko and their son Sean.
Another significant theme is how an intelligent but poorly educated young man suddenly achieved astonishing fame, popularity, and success, eventually passing through superstar ranks to the secular canonization of cultural icon. Wootton discusses the almost frenzied phenomenon of Beatlemania, that incredible amount of attention and fame showered on Lennon and the other Beatles. We see reactions from Lennon and Mimi regarding his unprecedented rise to stardom. Women became hysterically devoted to and obsessed with Lennon, as did his future assassin, Mark David Chapman. Chapman became obsessed with Lennon, achieving such a frightening and eerie identification that he perhaps believed he was the singer. He even married a Japanese-American woman who reminded him of Ono, and he signed out using the name John Lennon when quitting a job in Honolulu.
A third theme is how Lennon attempted to handle what his success brought, and the consequences of his occasional shortcomings in this area. Wooten discusses Lennon's remark about The Beatles being more famous than Jesus, his drug use, and his friendships and partnerships with other musicians such as Harry Nilsson, Phil Spector, Elton John, and Billy Preston.
Still another theme is his life after The Beatles, which includes his solo career, his life with avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, and his tragic murder. Lennon's solo career had some disappointments, such as the Some Time in New York City album, which included songs from the Plastic Ono band. This album was filled with political and social songs about women's liberation, the war in Northern Ireland, and the imprisonment of left-wing activists. It was a critical and commercial failure that displayed Lennon's naivete and simplistic understanding of these issues. Lennon's two critical and commercial successes in his solo career were his Imagine and Double Fantasy albums. Yoko became his collaborator, and they spent practically all their time together, except for a brief separation in which Yoko encouraged him to spend a weekend with his secretary.
Lennon, as characterized by Wootton, was a headstrong, reckless, and lazy boy who, though artistically gifted and imaginative, performed badly in school. He was popular with fellow students but not with the teachers whom he annoyed with his class clown antics. He had trouble with romantic relationships due to a bad temper. Because of his ego, he enjoyed being in charge of any enterprise he was involved in, and he worried about asking Paul McCartney to join his band; he feared that McCartney was a more accomplished player who might eventually dominate the group. The jealous Lennon eventually overcame his mistrust of McCartney for the period of time in which they became the most successful songwriting partnership in rock history. After their manager, Brian Epstein, died of a drug overdose, Lennon and McCartney quarreled over the financial aspects of the group's enterprise, and they wrote separately during the last few years of the band's existence. Lennon and McCartney's musical tastes grew further apart, especially...
(This entire section contains 1286 words.)
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as Lennon became more interested in radical political issues and avant-garde music. Lennon complained about McCartney's childish lyrics in songs such as "Ob-la di, Ob-la-da," while McCartney criticized Lennon's radical songs such as the esoteric and jumbled "Revolution 9." Wootton suggests that Lennon's lyrics are more sophisticated and political than those of McCartney.
It was McCartney who introduced George Harrison to Lennon. Initially annoyed by the younger George, who had learned to play guitar by repeatedly listening to Buddy Holly albums, Lennon agreed to Harrison's joining the group because John liked playing Harrison's expensive guitar, a far superior instrument to Lennon's.
Drummer Ringo Starr, who joined the band after Pete Best's departure, had the least impact upon the group's success. Starr got along well with the others though, perhaps because he had only a minor involvement in any songwriting, and because he did not seem like a threat to usurp control of the band. He briefly quit the band in 1968, just before the White Album appeared, because he was tired of the squabbling between Lennon and McCartney. He got along better with Yoko Ono than McCartney and Harrison did, and he flew to New York to comfort her after Lennon was murdered.
Julia Lennon gave her son to her sister Mimi to raise because she was involved in a romantic relationship after her husband left her, and the new man in her life did not like John and wanted him out of Julia's life. Mimi raised John as if he were her own son. She and her husband George were firm with John, and he was polite to them, even though he was not polite to his teachers or other authority figures. John had an especially close relationship with Mimi, and she was unquestionably the most important adult role model and influence on his life as he grew up. In spite of her abandonment, John still loved Julia dearly and mourned her death. She was an eccentric, quirky, impulsive, and funny woman who enjoyed making John and his friends laugh. John memorialized her in a song, a beautiful ballad simply titled "Julia." John's irresponsible father only returned years later, when he needed money from his famous and wealthy son.
Cynthia Powell was John's first wife, whom he reluctantly married when she became pregnant with Julian. He felt that his marriage would cause The Beatles to break up, that he would not have time for the band, and that female fans would lose interest if they knew that he was married. Cynthia was devoted to John and very patient with him, accepting his bad temper, insecurities, and desire to control. When she realized that John could never be happy with her, Cynthia even accepted his relationship with Ono.
Yoko Ono, an avant-garde Japanese artist, shared the same interests and championed the same social causes as her future husband. She wrote, sang, and produced music with Lennon and shared his thirst for publicity. The other Beatles, especially George and Paul, did not like Ono. Paul said that he found it difficult to write songs in her presence because he felt that he was expected to write very witty and unique things while she was there.
Brian Epstein, the owner of West End Record Store who became The Beatles's manager, was energetic, committed to the band, and obtained for them a recording contract with EMI and George Martin. However, he sold The Beatles's marketing rights for very small percentages due to his inexperience. For instance, after The Beatles played their famous Hollywood Bowl concert, in August 1964, the towels they used were torn into pieces and attached to certificates and sold; The Beatles received almost nothing for this marketing extravaganza. Epstein was rather traditional and insisted that The Beatles wear matching suits when they performed. He became a minor celebrity and enjoyed his new-found fame, but the pressures and temptations that came with it proved too great for him to handle. The Beatles got along very well with one another while Epstein was their manager, but they began quarreling about musical differences and money after he died of a drug overdose.