Agee's "Privilege of Perception"

Agee’s lengthy description of the Ricket’s fireplace seems to me connected with his interest in art, aesthetics and the “privilege of perception”. He speaks of these ideas in the section following the description of the fireplace. The first relevant point to this description is Agee’s statement that the “esthetic success” of the houses is “more important than their functional failure.” His emphasis on esthetics as opposed to functionality is clear in his description of the fireplace. He devotes one sentence to the actual fireplace and its function and a lengthy description of the images displayed on the mantle. I think what is interesting to Agee about these images is their complete arbitrariness and irrelevance to the Rickett’s lifestyle. The Ricketts, while better off than the Gudgers and the Woods, are impoverished and described by Agee to live in complete filth, a family who does not even purchase soap because “it is foolish to waste money that can be eaten with on soap when any fool knows there is nothing cleaner than water.” Ironically, one of the images above the fireplace is an advertisement for Lysol, thus emphasizing the irrelevance of the images. These images are also arbitrary in their sentimental meaning. These are not photographs or relics of loved ones, as we see in the Woods and Gudger’s homes, but advertisements that represent consumerism, luxury and beauty—none of which apply to the Rickett’s life.

However, the “beauty” of it is contestable, according to Agee. In the notes following the description of the Rickett’s home, Agee speaks about “privilege of perception”, most definitely referring to his own privilege of perceiving the beauty in these homes. The families recognize the ugliness of their surroundings: “Oh I do hate this house so bad,” complains one of the mother’s of the family, lamenting her inability to make it beautiful. However, Agee sees the “unintentional” beauty in the homes, which he attributes to his privilege of seeing what they cannot. Agee explains: “To those who own and create it this ‘beauty’ is, however irrelevant and indiscernible. It is best discernible to those who by economic advantages of training have only a shameful thief’s right to it.” Here we see more of Agee’s guilt regarding his privilege and intrusion into these families’ lives. The images above the Rickett’s fireplace is interesting in connection to this idea because the Ricketts do in fact see a certain beauty in the images, hence their display above the fireplace, however, Agee discerns a different kind of beauty: one of irony, of tragedy (like how he compares the Gudger’s front bedroom to a great tragic poem) and of irrelevance. I think Agee devotes so much time to the description of the fireplace and the images hung above because of his interest in perception, beauty and privilege.