The Misfit Mysteries of Ellen Raskin: Part II

Published three years after the riotous comedy of Leon (I Mean Noel), Figgs & Phantoms depicts a more sober picture of adolescence and alienation. It has at its heart a pair of misfits whose need to belong takes them somewhere quite out of this world. The novel's protagonist(s) is the "Figg-Newton giant", otherwise known as young Mona Newton and her uncle Florence. Their "giant" nickname derives from their propensity for walking around small town Pineapple with Mona perched on Florence's shoulders. In fact, the "Figg-Newton giant" is responsible for the rapid diminishing of rare books from the top shelf in Ebenezer Bargain's* store. The Figg-Newtons are Pineapple's resident freaks; diminutive Florence is a passionate book dealer who started his career as performer "Baby Flo", Sister Figg Newton (Mona's mother, not a nun) is a tap-dancing baton-twirler, and Fido II, Mona's cousin, is a somewhat 'normal' kid who seems to be his dog-catcher mother's ersatz pet.

Yet perhaps the most unconventional aspect of the Figg-Newtons is their notion of Capri, a kind of afterlife unique to their family. The rite of Caprification is a ritual where ancestral journal entries are read, followed by litanies of "Capri!". The first Capri prophet, Jonathan Figg, wrote: "It was night. I was lost. Then I saw the tree that grows wild and free welcoming me with open arms. It whispered a name: "CAPRI." The nebulousnous of the journal entries causes even those in the Figg-Newton clan to differ on the nature of Capri. It may be a physical state, according to contortionist Truman Figg, or it could be a mathematical ideal, as accountant Remus Figg believes. Nobody knows how to get there--except by dying--and everyone has their own version of what Capri is. In a sense, as Florence suspects, they're all right.

I said in Part I that Figgs & Phantoms (1974) is "a metaphysical speculation on the nature of existence, death, and dreams". Florence knows he is bound for Capri, very soon. It's hinted that his demise is related to his small stature rather than other natural causes (he is forty-five years old). The sadness that permeates any scene with Florence in it is genuine, and though Mona is his favourite niece, she remains an elusive figure. Embarassed by her freakish family, she's often mean, and usually miserable. But their bond is deeply moving when contrasted with the over-the-top zaniness of the other Figg-Newtons' exploits. Florence's disappointment is palpable when he realises how Mona cares for rare books only to make money from them.

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