Svelte Guy


At the end of The White Boy Shuffle, Gunnar discovers the existence of a third atomic bomb meant for use against Japan. This bomb, codenamed Svelte Guy, was ultimately stored in the basement of the Smithsonian, from which Gunnar encourages its deployment against Hillside, obliterating the neighborhood and the thousands who have come to die there. The US government agrees to this obliteration, and the residents of hillside begin painting targeting circles on their roofs. 
With this, The White Boy Shuffle reaches perhaps the peak of its absurdist, biting criticism of American society. The government is willing to deploy weapons last used in the largest war the world has ever seen against an angry and depressed civilian population. The weapon which it plans to deploy, and which Gunnar tries to convince it to use, was one built for use against Japan 50 years earlier, while Gunnar reads ever more Japanese suicide literature. Hillside and all those who come there are so desperate to escape America that they are willing to die in nuclear fire, having given up on resistance. 
The absurdity extends also to the bomb itself. For one, the name, Svelte Guy, meaning “thin man”, is clearly a play on the names of the bombs actually deployed against Japan, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man”. This bomb has supposedly been sitting in the basement of the Smithsonian ever since. This would almost certainly result in a real weapon being unusable, due to the decay of the plutonium core. It would also be completely obsolete, and most of the other components would probably also need replacement before it could be used. 
Interestingly, Gunnar is correct. There was a third bomb ready for use against Japan. Deployment was planned for August 19th, under the probable codename “Fat Boy”. This was to be followed by a series of additional weapons into at least December. The plutonium core of the weapon was ready for shipment to the Pacific, but was cancelled due to the surrender of Japan. 
I’ll probably follow this up with a second blog post about something else, but, if I don’t, see you folks next English class. 

Comments

  1. HadiyahDecember 12, 2019 at 11:17 AM

    I didn't know that Gunner was correct, which is kinda cool but also scary to think about. I like the play on words in naming the bomb Svelte Guy, Beatty in general chooses names wisely, Bianca has a post that talks more about that. As for the actual ending of the novel, I think it's so absurd because this entire book is super hyperbolic. Gunner even mentions that it'll be the greatest sit-in, so a mass suicide could be seen as a hyperbolized sit-in protest.

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  2. Curtis AlthausDecember 12, 2019 at 7:06 PM

    I think this detail goes to show the depth of Gunnar's character, and the genius of Beatty. Not only is he able to tie sports and racial problems together, he manages to add history as well. It is interesting that the use of the atomic bomb on hillside does not parallel the uses of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.S. government dropped both bombs out of desperation to avoid civilian casualties, yet the bomb on hillside is intended to create casualties. This might possible allude to Beatty's current perspective on the government, as opposed to the government 60 years ago. Lmk what y'all think!

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  3. CollinDecember 13, 2019 at 3:16 PM

    That's really interesting and I can see the irony of Gunnar asking the American government for a weapon that would wipe out all the Black people. It fits into the idea that Mr. Mitchell mentioned of calling the White man's bluff and how if they really cared about him and the others, they would stop the bomb. To the end, Beatty and Gunnar continue to make jokes and find humor in strange ironies.

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  4. Phong: Hakuna MatataDecember 14, 2019 at 10:30 AM

    I think this is a great point. It’s crazy to think that the US has a 3rd atomic bomb lying around in a basement and would willingly use it on a town in their own country. It just comes to show how the government depicted by Beatty is so uncaring towards the African American population in Hillsidede. Then there’s the target signs people in Hillside painted. They are just so done with trying to obtain something they can never get, so their best option was just to give up.

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  5. Anya Kaplan-HartnettDecember 14, 2019 at 11:18 AM

    Ok, here's what I don't understand: Hillside is just a few miles from Santa Monica and other more affluent majority-white LA neighborhoods, so wouldn't bombing Hillside cause extra casualties that the US government would be more hesitant about? We know that they want to annihalate Gunnar and his massive following of disillusioned black people, but are they willing to damage other parts of LA too? Surely such a bomb would harm the entirety of Southern California. This is probably another not-quite-realistic detail that Beatty includes to make his novel extra satirical and interesting.

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    Replies
    1. SashaDecember 16, 2019 at 9:38 PM

      Ok, so I loaded up NUKEMAP for old time's sake, using Hillside Avenue as the target, and Fat Man as the bomb. A couple of interesting things to note:
      1. There is a Hillside Ave in Los Angeles
      2. Hillside Ave is basically right next to Beverly Hills, and appears from google photos to be a pretty rich neighborhood, which is, in fact, kinda up on a hill like Gunnar describes. We can assume there is a much richer neighborhood at the top in the universe of The White Boy Shuffle. I think the fact that Beatty changes Hillside into a very poor area from what appears to be a much richer one is very interesting.
      3. Assuming an airburst detonation, as is implied by Gunnar's narration in the beginning of the novel, NUKEMAP says 24000 dead and 75000 injured (many of whom will presumably die to rad poisoning). This shatters windows out to Beverly Hills, and sets fire to and destroys most of West Hollywood. We can probably assume a lot more dead in The White Boy Shuffle, due to the increased concentration of people.
      4. So, yeah, this hits a lot of the richest neighborhoods in LA, even assuming that the detonation doesn't start a firestorm. Given that this is California, that seems a bit unlikely.
      5. Link to settings: https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?&kt=20&lat=34.1015744&lng=-118.3681109&hob_opt=2&hob_psi=5&hob_ft=1650&casualties=1&fallout=1&psi=20,5,1&rem=500,600&therm=_3rd-100,35&zm=7

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  6. Charlotte EbelDecember 15, 2019 at 9:25 AM

    Something I can't help thinking about is what would happen after the government obliterates Hillside. Would there be a revolution? Would the rest of America just be fine with the government dropping an atomic bomb in LA? Would other countries be morally opposed and attack America? Beatty leaves the reader with so many questions about what will happen next, which I think is part of the fun with the end of this book. There is no closure, so the reader gets to imagine what happens next.

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  7. BiancaDecember 15, 2019 at 6:19 PM

    I'm also wondering about the effects of the bomb. Even in an absurdist universe, it feels like a lot of people would get caught in the crossfire, and there would be plenty of suicidal people who wouldn't die immediately but would be gruesomely injured. Though it seems like a quick and neat solution to the book, the bomb brings up more questions than it answers. What about people from the African diaspora in other countries? Would they want to join this movement or is it an explicitly American one? Does the movement extend to all black people worldwide, and would white supremacists groups endorse it? There's a lot to think about.

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  8. SimonDecember 16, 2019 at 10:01 PM

    I had no clue that there was actually a third bomb that the US had made for Japan. I wonder if there was a giant scandal when its existence was found out, similar to the one in White Boy Shuffle, or if it was just common knowledge. It’s also interesting how Gunnar becomes obsessed with the idea of suicide, especially in relation to Japan. I don’t know if his actions would necessarily count as Seppuku, but they might. Also, as far as I know, World War Two was the last time that Seppuku was routinely used. That creates an interesting parallel between Japan being nuked and many of the officers performing Seppuku, and Gunnar doing almost the same thing in Hillside. I wonder if there are any other WWII parallels hidden throughout the book.

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  9. Emi L.December 18, 2019 at 6:46 AM

    Wow this blog post provided some really interesting historical context. Very unlike the other blogs I've read so far. Svelte guy is a funny name now that I know the history of it. I wonder if beatty wrote the ending of the book with the knowledge you provided in mind. Would the bomb just not go off do to decay? Does that mean anything? WBS really did get absurd. It started off semi normal and relatable then all of a sudden it was like what's happening.

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