Here’s the thing about Virginia Hamilton’s novel for young readers, M. C. Higgins the Great: the key to its analysis is right there in the title. The opening words of the first paragraph of the book spell out the main character’s given name in full: Mayo Cornelius Higgins. The second paragraph commences with the information that everybody addressed him simply as M.C. The first reference in the text of the title is provided by M.C.’s father:
“…sometimes you do take too much on yourself…you get to thinking because you can swim and because of that pole, you are some M.C. Higgins, the Great.”
The context of the superlative in the title the first time it appears is actually not entirely complimentary. It is a criticism from a parent to child, but one framed softly rather than harshly. The next time it appears, it is M.C. himself using it: he has co-opted the phrase from his father and twisted its meaning to support a preferable view of himself within the context of trying to impress a girl:
“Hi, there,” he called over in his deepest voice. Grinning, he lazily gave her a hand wave. “They call me M.C. Higgins, the Great.”
When the girl’s reply contains a hint of mockery at his self-expressed supremacy, he repeats the nickname, but leaves out the Gatsby-esque addendum. These self-contained excerpts from the story pointing out the fluidity of meaning regarding the issue of the self-identity of the title character prove highly illuminating on the issue of one the story’s primary themes. A theme which may even be, in fact, its single most prevalent and unifying thematic component. Not unlike that other famous literary character whose creator deliberately chose to implicate in the title of the book as being somehow more exceptional than the average Joe, M.C. Higgins is immediately elevated to a point of interest for the reader in any attempt to fully analyze the book because he has deemed “Great.” The job of readers—whether they consciously apprehend it or not—is to determine from the text what, exactly, makes M.C. Higgins--or Gatsby, for that matter--“great.” It should be considered a given going in that there is something within the narrative which serves to explain it since there is nothing in either text which irrefutably asserts that these titles are intended to be ironic. (Though, of course, there is also nothing in either text which irrefutably rejects that premise, either, to be fair.)
So, what exactly is it that makes M.C. Higgins great? Providing the answer to that question would be like trying to explain what makes Gatsby great. For a more than a handful of readers over the decades, the answer to that question remains a mystery. Fortunately, however, Higgins has a more straightforward story to offer and a much clearer distinction of the possibilities of what makes him great. Nevertheless, these are possibilities and to reach a conclusion is entirely dependent upon interpretation and subjective analysis. In other words, for anyone who really wants to find out why M.C. Higgins is great: read the book.
