No, girls, I am not specifically talking here about Carson McCullers, though, let me say, few American writers were so skilled at examining the more delicate emotions among the Human Condition. With that skill, were she alive today, it would be interesting to hear what Miss McCullers would say on whom I am specifically going to talk about--Tyler Clementi.
The facts out there are still inconclusive. So when a fellow poster tells me elsewhere that Tyler was "an internally weak person" who would probably have killed himself anyway at some point in time, I bristle at this, the fact remains I cannot fully prove that he would not. Or that the poster is right. Anymore than I can prove to he, the poster, my assertion (which I stand by) that, had the incident with the video streamlining NOT happened, Tyler would still be here, and not one of us would have heard of him. Again, who is right, and who is wrong, darlings?????? I will give ONE clue, though--if you are reading this, you are engaged with the Raving Queen, and you know where I stand, honey!!!!!!!
Two items recently read state assertively that Tyler Clementi could have been saved. One writer speaks of his quest for action, describing him as one "who refused to be a victim, and stood up for himself,". OK, fine, so how come he is dead????? Another maintains that when Tyler texted his final Facebook entry, friends on the site tried to talk him out of it. Now comes a writer who says, and I agree, that Facebook should have some sort of reporting system in place, so that when emergencies like this arise, site administrators can be alerted, so that they, in turn, can alert others. Had this been in place last September 22, Facebook could have alerted security guards on the George Washington Bridge, who could then have intercepted Tyler. Which would have been a blessing for all.
What the first piece hints at is something I have held all along--the key to unraveling the mystery of Tyler Clementi is to understand what went on during the last fifteen hours of his life. What caused the transition, in that time, from one who seemed to be thinking rationally, taking actions, standing up for himself, to later texting that apocryphal message--"jumping off the GW bridge. Sorry." And just when did that transition take place, and what caused it to come about???? Only then can we hope to arrive at any conclusions. There are so many pieces of the puzzle--like his statement that "Revenge never ends well for me,"--which are seemingly laid out on the table, but the piece which would give them a concrete fit has yet to be found. Even before suspicions rose that he might have killed himself, and before the discovery of the body confirmed that tragic fact, people were wondering about his sudden disappearance, and why no one seemed to be doing anything about it. The mystery began even before the deed had been done!!!!!!
Had Tyler been able to be intercepted at the bridge, he may have resisted, but ultimately would, I believe, have been glad for that fact. In some way, his final posting was a cry for some kind of help, and, of course, closure and confirmation for his family and friends, should the body not have been discovered. And if intercepted, his story may have gotten out, obviously on a more positive spin, but with some answers which may have come from Tyler himself.
But it it did not turn out that way, and people still want answers. And until things are somehow proven more conclusively, unanswers will remain.
Tyler Clementi was not the first person to jump off the George Washington Bridge. Unfortunately, he probably will not be the last. Unquestionably, he will remain the best known, most famous, having now passed from media figure into iconic status, into folk myth and song. People are going to be writing and thinking about Tyler for years. Personally, I wonder about that next September 22, the anniversary of his death. Will there be bridge pilgrimages that day, or eve???? Already, I am thinking about it, darlings!!!!! Will there by "Tyler sightings" on that bridge, just as, in song, there have been sightings of "Joe Hill?" Only time will tell.
And only Time, on its own terms, can give us any answers. I wish Tyler were here. I wish Miss McCullers were, too. But as long as writers keep writing and thinking about him, the hope, the possibility of arriving at an answer, becomes more and more certain.
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