“He told me to look at my hand, for part of it came from a star that exploded too long ago to imagine.”
Tillie Hunsdorfer, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
In 1971, Paul Zindel won a Pulitzer for his play, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. In 1972, Paul Newman was nominated for a Palm d’Or, for the film of the same title. In 2009, I bought a brand-new copy from my school’s book fair for $1, because I liked the illustration on the cover.
This is the first time I’ve attempted a post about a character before I’ve finished reading her story, but simply reading the description in the playbill splayed before me a thousand images from which to rend a portrait. Within the first pages, Matilda, called Tillie, our subject for today, radiates a primordial individuality. From the first, she and her mother Beatrice are what the Equator is to the North Pole: hot and cold, horizontal and vertical, science and religion. 
narcissistic mother; he “found” the play in its entirety one morning upon waking up, stacked neatly next to his typewriter. Beatrice wasn’t a stretch for him, I can tell, but Tillie’s subtle optimism strikes me as a tapestry of infinite delicacy, a self-made challenge extraordinarily well-met. As a writer, that sort of dedication to sculpting character (especially in a play! so much less time for fancy descriptions!) is fascinating and admirable.
So, I picked a fascinating and admirable young lady to play Tillie. She’s not an actress, but a rockstar in her own right– reminiscent of Tillie Hunsdorfer in ways both obvious and indescribable: Tavi, the new girl in town.
illustration by la robotique
I could spend a whole post discussing why Tavi is the bish, and how I would love to introduce her to my sister (they’re the same age, and I kinda want to drive them to the mall just to hear what the conversation would be like) but you can do your own research. Basically anyone who stirs up this much controversy over a hat at age 13 is my hero.
Tillie (played by Tavi) would not be an Abercrombie girl. The Hunsdorfers are poor, but Tille could make by-the-pound clothes become more stylish than an Urban Outfitters muse, discovered puffing menthols on the steps of the Chelsea Hotel. Today, looking slightly mad-scientist wouldn’t be as socially awkward as back then, and her old clothes could be considered vintage rather than old and un-stylish.
McCarthy Era Tillie and modern-day Tillie are presque identicales. For her marigold-experimenting, Tillie would use a beat-up old MacBook for spreadsheets and data analysis. Like any true romantic, she’d keep a Moleskine close by at all times, full of drawings of nature and collages of mixed-up glossies from the pages of Vogue, National Geographic, and outdated road maps. She’d paint her eyes in club colors & glitter, warning all the boys to think before they speak, and wears ancient smelly Chucks she rescued from limbo over a telephone line. She’d modify Salvation Army tshirts into halters, fringed tube tops, and ruffled skirts, and wear a lab coat tie-dyed and still smelling vaguely of the vinegar rinse. Her radioactive seeds, when she can get to school, either die or become lovely, alien blooms; when the world gives us no beauty to sink gratefully into, we we must find validation in the chance to create our own.
See Also:
- Literary Ladies #5: Clare & Hester
- Literary Ladies #6: Jane Austen lovefest
- Literary ladies #9: Ella Turner
Interesting! One of my students just wrote her IB Extended Essay on “The Effect of Gamma Rays.” She focused on how blocking creates emotional responses from the audience. I was her adviser. The play (and her paper) are very good.
Also, your previous post on censoring books made me laugh. We have a summer reading list of over 50 books. The administration asked for suggestions and I came up with Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” It was rejected because it would be deemed as “too liberal” for some parents and teachers.
Hope you are well. Nice blog!
Alison