Pain, Relief, and Satisfaction in John Irvings The Water Method Man :: Water Method Man Essays

Water as the Source of  Pain, Relief, and Satisfaction in John Irving's The Water Method Man People often find that they feel confined within a certain situation and lack control over their life. One result of such behavior may cause a person to get stuck in a stalemate trying to escape their daily routine without the social skills to do so. Fred Trumper in John Irving's The Water Method Man experiences different situations on a day to day basis. He is unable to understand why his life has taken the course that it has or what his purpose is in it. Irving explores Trumper's quest for identity and uses the presence of water in the novel to relate Trumper's state of mind to the reader. The Water Method Man opens with an explanation of the water method to Trumper by his urologist. Initially, Trumper uses water as a source of relief for his urinary tract disorder, but both the reader and Trumper do not know if the treatment will be successful. He consumes great amounts of water before and after sex in order to correct his crooked tract. The water method is a reflection of how Trumper treats his daily life. Like Trumper's disorderly urinary tract, Irving formats the novel so that Trumper's life appears as a non-sequential history of events that the reader must consume in great amounts, like water, in order to understand Trumper's life and character. If the reader is left to use a "water method" of his own to comprehend Trumper's life, then it can be concluded that Trumper himself does not view his life in an orderly fashion and may question its occurrences. Trumper's use of the water method not only explains the broad manner through which Trumper and the reader can understand his life, but signals the reader as to when Trumper is happy. When the water method is successful and his urinary tract is straight for some time, Trumper finds himself in a steady relationship with Biggie or Tulpen. Trumper appears the most content with Tulpen when he is in a safe routine with her, rituals like, eating yogurt, making love, and drinking coffee. At this point in his life, Trumper is able to view the water method nonchalantly, as a positive part of his life: The only variation made by the water method is minor, and falls somewhere after love and during coffee.