Explication of a Daring Enterprise in "Spanish Fly" by Will Ferguson
Will Ferguson’s novel Spanish Fly is greatly based on George Polti’s ninth model of creating a dramatic situation based around a daring enterprise, involving a bold leader, an adversary, and an object. Ferguson weaves a clever and humorous tale which provides a hard look at the American Dream. The protagonist Jack McGreary is swept along by two swindlers by the names of Virgil Ray and Miss Rose. Within the novel, the bold leader is portrayed by Virgil Ray and the adversary is portrayed by Jack. The object is identified as the thrill of the con and at times, Miss Rose as the object of affection. What I found interesting is that the roles of the bold leader and adversary reverse between Jack and Virgil as the climax is presented within the novel.
To begin with, Virgil Ray is the novel’s initial bold leader involving him and his two partners in adventurous expeditions. Leading Miss Rose and Jack McGreary all over the American Midwest, he would have them “work [their] way up one route and down the other, prowling through – and preying upon – each community [they] entered, big or small” (Ferguson 133). Virgil is a brash and brazen character, not afraid to tell it like it is, or act on a will. Although a bit rough around the edges, Virgil has a code to his cons that he abides by. When he is speaking to Jack he is telling him that his cons are “not stealing when they give [their money] to you. Remember that. You outsmarted them, is all. Won that money, plain and simple. It don’t count as stealing” (Ferguson 133). He believes in what he is doing as “all of us are on the take, telling lies. I’m just more honest about it” (Ferguson 181), and with every obstacle that the three encounter, he sticks to his guns and follows through. As well, Virgil plans all the cons that the three pull on the gullible. As the story progresses, Virgil takes more and more risks of getting caught by gradually moving the scale of his cons upward.
The novel’s adversary would initially and unexpectedly be the protagonist Jack McGreary. Throughout the story, Virgil teaches and mentors Jack, “soaking it all up, the repertoire of cons Virgil had at his fingertips” (Ferguson 140), as his apprentice so that he can accompany him alongside his cons and to “try tossing the tat” (Ferguson 192). Virgil sees the potential in Jack to be great, commending to Jack that “You’ve got a good eye kid” (Ferguson 176). Jack is a daring young man who begins to believe that the three of them “stir up the sediment and rouse their hidden desires” (Ferguson 181). As Virgil’s adversary, Jack changes who he is on a dime as his identity for the con “depended on what the game required” (Ferguson 244).
It is in my opinion that there are two objects in this story. One of them is the thrill of the con that all three of the main characters seek. As an example, Virgil is a man wishing to fulfill the American dream, envisioning of building “an entire city designed solely for the artful extraction of dollars from dupes” (Ferguson 179). It is a con man’s dream, but a dream nonetheless. Virgil considers each of them as “aristocrats of the criminal set” (Ferguson 137) and pulls his cons because you “gotta earn your keep” (Ferguson 127). Another object subtly present is Miss Rose, the object of Jack’s affection. Although Virgil and Miss Rose seem to be involved with each other, there is no doubt that there is sexual tension between Jack and Miss Rose. At times “Rose squeezed past [Jack] so close, [he] could smell the softness of Camay rising from her” (Ferguson 245). The shared apartment also meant that Jack could be caught “stealing glances at Miss Rose in her undergarments” (Ferguson 179). Although the two never acted on their wishes, the intensity between them was always present.
At the climax of the story, interestingly enough, the roles of bold leader and adversary reverse between Jack and Virgil. Unfortunately, Virgil is in a tight spot, his freedom at stake, and is forced to rely on Jack and puts his faith in him saying “you’ll be fine. I’d bet on you any day” (Ferguson 353) to take the reins and pull one of the biggest cons of all their careers in order to save Virgil and his true identity.
With considerable strength, Ferguson’s Spanish Fly demonstrates the ninth of Polti’s thirty six dramatic situations to create a daring enterprise, and a wonderfully written novel. Through the incredible complexity of the characters, the daring enterprise of cons thrills the reader and creates a world where the bad guy isn’t necessarily all bad, and speaks volumes for the novel’s greatness.
