Living Spaces
The living spaces of these Bloomington residents gets a lot of screen time as they say in the industry by which is meant, of course, the business. The opening paragraph of the opening story is a description of the houses on Fess Avenue. And, not coincidentally, the opening paragraph of the last story in the collection is also dense with descriptive imagery of living space:
“Even though the building was close to a bus stop, a modest shopping center, and various other conveniences, it was surrounded by open space, empty and vast. Out back, the grass grew thick beyond compare. And in front, across the road, stretched an entire grassy field, about two miles wide. At its far edge, the field bordered another apartment building called the Tulip Tree—a massive affair, tall, imposing, and aloof. It was fifty stories high…capable of swallowing five hundred large families whole.”
Observation and Alienation
The narrators of these stories are Bloomingtonians, but in a state of flux. They are both native residents and outsiders and the crux of their tales turn on this sense of dislocation and alienation. Forced into the role of observer, their stories are intensely personal yet detached second-hand accounts at the same time. The alienation contributes to the loneliness and even uncontrollable external circumstances conspire to contribute to the alienation:
“Bloomington bustled with activity, but Fess Avenue remained deserted. Besides this, as time went on, the days grew shorter, with the sun rising ever later and setting ever sooner. And then the leaves turned yellow and, by and by, began to shed. Not only that—it rained more often, sometimes to the accompaniment of lightning and thunder. Opportunities to go outdoors became few and far between. Only now, under such conditions, did I pay more attention to life on Fess.”
Other People
As might be expected, a great deal of imagery is put to the purpose of character description. Ironically, perhaps, most of the narrators remain quite elusive in terms of physical appearance. Their neighbors, however, well that’s another kettle of fish entirely. Often, in fact, the precision of the imagery is almost overwhelming. Such as this description of one Mrs. Ellison:
“Her eyes were sunken, her brown and cheeks were wrinkled, her ears were too large for head and looked rather heavy, on the verge, perhaps, of falling off. Her voice sounded like it did over the phone, clear and robust, not in keeping with her appearance at all. From her voice, one would have thought her to be fifty at most, but from her looks one would have guessed she was in her nineties. By her own acknowledgement, she was sixty.”
Weird People
Generally speaking, the first-person narrators of these tales are basically nondescript and rather normal people. Those they come in contact with range across the full gamut of weirdness. Some are merely eccentric while others traverse closer to mental illness. And then there is the pregnant Hester:
“In a flash, she leaped up from her side and the bed and unbuttoned her clothes, baring her stomach. She commanded me to punch it like a boxer delivering a final blow, but I refused…Then she hauled me into the living room. After stripping off the rest of her clothe, she got down on the floor, her belly facing me. She issued an order for me to treat it like a soccer ball. She sounded like a referee, but without the whistle, and she told me to kick her in the stomach.”
