Winkie
Review by Jamie Belsky
Winkie
by Clifford Chase
Grove Press
$16.95
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There’s no game plan for the War on Terror, no tried and true strategy to combat the fear of terrorism and terrorists, but the government nevertheless gropes its way towards justice. What Clifford Chase is interested in is how the government and the law respond to threats and how an individual’s identity reflects the system’s insecurity. Chase’s protagonist Winkie examines his life during his trial, trying to understand himself, as the judicial system is concurrently trying to understand this supposed terrorist mastermind.
Winkie is your everyday aged teddy bear who has seen generations of kids, full of patches, and black blank eyes, who wills himself to life through his own frustration, anger, and desire to take charge of his own life. After years of selflessly giving love to children who outgrow him, he decides to severe all ties with the world and return to nature. Unfortunately for Winkie, he is arrested and accused of attempting to topple the very system that he was so hoping to escape from forever – little did he know that the judicial system would strip him of any control he may have achieved by animating himself.
Chase writes with total sympathy for the bear and mocks the system bent on destroying him. The charges brought against Winkie taking a day to read, and the months of testimonies, including Paul the apostle, all create the façade of fighting terrorism and defending the United States. The flashbacks of Winkie’s life during his trial can at times be trying, for the book seems to have two focuses, and as a result I occasionally lost focus. The real humor of the book – which is what the jacket touts (a la David Sedaris) – comes mostly during the trial. Winkie’s life is rife with tragedy and heartbreak and waxes repetitively philosophical, but the unique point of view from a lifeless teddy bear does add an element of comedy and distinctiveness to what would conventionally be seen as ordinary human moments. Chase's juxtaposition of a symbol of innocence desperately and hopelessly trying to fight against the world reminds the reader that there is no escaping terror. And as conflicts multiply on the world stage, a teddy bear might be the only thing that feels safe.
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