Oswald is a Libra
Oswald is a Libra
Don DeLillo’s Libra follows the character Lee Harvey Oswald throughout his life, while also having conspiracy chapters about the planning of the Kennedy Assassination. I think that the title of the book represents Lee as a person because I think that, even though we don’t know his birthday, he is a Libra. Some of the characteristics of a Libra that go with the characteristics of Oswald are that he is very indecisive and manipulative. I don’t think that Oswald is manipulative to other people, but he does get manipulated. A lot of people probably wrote about or thought about writing about this topic, but I thought that this topic would be fun to explore.
In Libra, one of the ways that DonDeLilloo writes Oswald is that he is a very indecisive person. Throughout the whole book, is that he is changing his mindabout whicht group he wants to support. At the beginning of the book, all he wanted to do was join the Soviet Union. “Things happened fast after that. He had no time to work out meanings, fall back on old attitudes and positions. The secret he’d carried through the Marine Corps for over a year, his plan to defect, was the most powerful knowledge in his life up to this point. Now, in the office of some bald-headed official, he tried to explain what it meant to him to live in the Soviet Union, at the center of the world struggle.“ (In Moscow, Delillo). This quote shows that even when he was in the Marine Corps, all he wanted to do was become a citizen of the Soviet Union. His efforts were granted. He ended up becoming a citizen, but he wasn’t happy. He ended up deciding to go back to the US. Who would’ve thought he would do that? Not me. Oswald ended up changing his mind and decided to support communist Cuba. He goes around handing out pamphlets that support Castro's Cuba. Oswald can never decide what he wants, and that makes him an indecisive person and effectively a Libra.
One of the characteristics of being a Libra is being manipulative. I don’t think that this represents Oswald because he isn’t someonewhot manipulates other people, but people do manipulate him. Everett, Parmenter, and Mackey are planning a fake assasination on the president, John F. Kennedy, and are planning to make it look like the Cubans did it. Throughout the whole planning process, they decided that Oswald would be the perfect person to shoot at Kennedy because of his background growing up, wanting to be a Soviet citizen, and supporting Communist Cuba. The four who were planning the assassination were manipulating Oswald throughout the whole process. They were making sure that he would do what they wanted so that the whole plan went according to plan. I think that being manipulated doesn’t really align with the characteristics of being a Libra, but it is similar, and this doesn’t change my opinion on Lee Harvey Oswald being a Libra.
Note: The online link that I found the book at didn’t have pages, so for my in-text citation, I just put the section that the quote came from.
Works Cited
“Libra.” The Ted K Archive, 2025, https://www.thetedkarchive.com/library/don-delillo-libra#toc22. Accessed 23 Dec. 2025.
Frazier, Karen. “Get to Know Libra: Personality Traits &Characteristics.” Love To Know, 8 June 2022, www.lovetoknow.com/life/astrology/libra-personality-traits. Accessed 23 Dec. 2025.
This is such a cool concept! Honestly, as I was reading I just took the title for granted and didn't think about it much, but I love seeing how intricate this perspective can be. It's cool that his characteristics match that of a Libra so well, and I wonder if it's supposed to be a hint to readers of what character traits DeLillo will give Lee to make the story work the way he wants. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Antje!! This topic is super fun! Libra's title wasn't something I ever really paid attention to, and even if I did, I have such a poor understanding of astrology that I wouldn't have been able to make anything of it. It was really cool to see how the characteristics of a Libra work with Lee's situation, and I think it's a really interesting detail that makes the book even more layered. Great post!
ReplyDeleteFor the record, we certainly DO know Oswald's birthday, so it is a fact that his astrological sign is Libra. But as to whether an astrological sign "means anything" in terms of history, that's another matter--what a good example of a piece of data whose meaning and significance is thoroughly unclear. It seems both interesting and relevant and totally useless to know that Oswald was born in October.
ReplyDeleteAs to his ability to manipulate people, DeLillo has a lot of fun depicting Lee THINKING he is the one doing the manipulating, as when he tries to play the FBI and Guy Banister and the Cuban activists against each other, but there's always another level. For a person to be manipulated, of course, they can't really KNOW they are being manipulated--they have to be made to think that they are acting out of their own free will. And we see Ferrie and Mackey do this with Oswald, having him believe he will be the lone gunman, that everything depends on him. In order to manipulate Lee, in other words, it seems the best approach is to enable him to believe he's actually manipulating you.
Hey Antje! Throughout the novel I kept looking for a reason as to why the novel was titled "Libra", and once I figured it out it made perfect sense. For the most part we already know Lee's past life and how he defected to the Soviet Union. What Delillo had to offer was a fictional look into Lee's personality and thoughts. As you've shown this lines up with Lee's persona, so I think it makes perfect sense as the title in terms of what Delillo is trying to achieve with this book, at least with the Lee chapters.
ReplyDeleteAntje, I really really love how perfectly this lines up-- I feel like the title really plays to the chapters where we learn more about Lee as a person, and astrology is just one of those weird ways that things match up with Lee. Not necessarily all things, but just enough to be kind of uncanny and add it to the pile of stuff Branch is trying to figure out. Him being indecisive and kind of a vessel for manipulation is also a big thing, and definitely a great point. It's kind of another postmodernist part of Libra. Fantastic post!!
ReplyDeleteHi Antje! I've heard that another trait that's associated with Libra's is being superficial, which I think also kinda lines up with Oswald. Even though he does genuinely believe in what he's doing most of the time, he also does care a lot about how he's percieved, such as when he messes with people after getting arrested. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHey Antje! When we first started reading the book I wondered why the book was called Libra, and I found out his birthday did classify him as one. Past this, I never thought about it any deeper. I think your post is super interesting and I feel like it’s so perfect that his personality type matches up. It would be even more interesting if Dellilo did this on purpose, and would totally add layers and demonstrate the immense thought that was put into writing the book. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Antje! This is really cool! I really enjoyed reading this. I do still think that he deeply cares about what other people think about him. Really interesting!
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