SUMMARY, by Nora Carranza
It was Saturday afternoon and William was about to
take a train in London, as he did many previous Saturdays. He felt sorrow for not
having bought a suitable present for the kids, Paddy and Johnny, who awaited happily
for the arrival of their dad because of his presents.
The kids got annoyed when they obtained the same boxes
of sweets William used to buy at the station.
As he intended to offer some different gifts, he made
his decision for fruits: a melon and a pineapple. That matter of toys and
objects for the children wasn’t an easy subject for William. His wife, Isabel,
disapproved of the varied toys their children had, and destroyed them
considering them typical and usual objects for children to play, a bad
influence for the infant’s education and emotions.
It seems that there was a “new Isabel”, with new
ideas, living in a new house, surrounded by new friends, a group of young poets,
who, for instance, eagerly enjoy the children’s sweets. So, William, with
disgust, imagine one of them lapping up a slice of the melon he had already
bought.
The train arrived at the crowded platform, William
looked for the first-class smoker carriage, where he got comfortable in a
corner and began to concentrate in his professional papers, while the usual bad
distress in his breast diminished.
After a time travelling, his attention moved from his
papers to the landscape, and as every Saturday, the images he contemplated
drove him to Isabel. William thought about the New Isabel and the previous
Isabel.
William remembered when, some time ago, coming back
from his office, he met his loved family in the little white house, the one
with blue curtains and beautiful petunias. But then, William had no idea about
the inconvenience that little house represented for Isabel. He didn’t imagine
Isabel felt lonely, disliked the Nanny and was willing to know interesting
people and attend to cultural activities.
William also remembered the holidays the family used
to have, how he and Isabel enjoyed being young, eating and sleeping together.
But now, the New Isabel would be horrified with this kind of sentimentalism in
her husband.
The New Isabel had found congenial people, could go
about more, and she lived in a new house surrounded by new amazing friends, a
new, large house, where William felt strange and where Isabel accused him of
being tragic and dull.
The train arrived at the station, William saw her
waiting for him, beautiful and alone, and for a moment, he had the illusion that
nobody else had gone with Isabel to the station…, but he was mistaken because
all the others ―Bill Hunt, Dennis Green and Moira Morrison― waited outside in the taxi. He could only say, “Oh!”
The taxi went to the shop where Bobby Kane had been
choosing sweets because of their divine colours and aspect. He went out to meet
the group and, as the shopman ran after him claiming for the money, Isabel has to pay
for the sweets.
Isabel laughed when William explained the fruits were
for the kids and said they would suffer agonies eating them, although she and
Moira were delighted with the melon and pineapple.
After tea, William found himself alone, the kiddies
were asleep, and the poets were off to bathe. He went to the sitting room, and
there he discovered paintings on the walls and ashtrays full of cigarette ends
everywhere.
The bathers came back, altering the quiet of the
garden, asking for music, making snob jokes, until they had supper, eating and
drinking a lot. Isabel filled glasses and changed plates. In the end, they all
felt tired and went to bed.
The next afternoon, waiting for the taxi, William was
finally alone with Isabel, but nevertheless he felt there was nothing to say.
Isabel mentioned they almost hadn’t seen each other,
it has been so a short time, the children have been out… The next time!
The taxi arrived, Isabel said goodbye, gave a quick
kiss to William and went inside.
When he was seated on the train with his arms around
the pain in his breast, he began to write mentally a letter for Isabel, the New
Isabel.
When the post arrived, the indolent group were sitting
outside the house. The letter to Isabel had pages and pages, and began with “My darling, precious Isabel”.
William didn’t want to be a nuisance to her happiness.
Isabel passed through different emotions: fear,
astonishment, confusion, and finally she laughed a lot.
She was asked to read out the letter and, as she did,
they all went making laugh and fun about the moving William’s words.
Isabel run up to her bedroom, resenting the vain
behaviour of her friends, while they were calling her from the garden, “Come for
a bathe”!
Isabel knew she should stay and write to William, she had
to decide! But, oh, it was too difficult! Better later… and Isabel ran downstairs
laughing.
In this story, the group of poets appears like indolent,
unproductive people. They don’t care about responsibilities in their life, nor
respect the person who really works and whom they owe meals, house and
entertainments. Even Isabel shares their inconsistent way of life.
I think these are common traits for many artists, like
writers, painters, musicians, philosophers, sensitive people, absorbed in their
creative mind, that must keep apart from every day’s matters to go on with
their artistic or intellectual creation.
But other artists or thinkers can produce excellent works,
earning a living by them, and keeping active compromise with the world they
live in.
What could be the circumstances or conditions that
determine which one of these ways a gifted person has to live in?
QUESTIONS
-Do you always take things to your family / friends
when you go away? What kind of things do you usually take?
-Should taste be taught? Who decides tastes in a
person life?
-How can you define a snob person? Remember, “snob”
comes from “sans noblesse”, that is “without nobility”.
-In the story, Isabel has changed after meeting some
artists ang going to Paris with Moira. Do you think a friend, a book, a travel,
can change radically a person?
-William is a grey, dull person that works in an
office. He has traditional points of view and prejudices (“Hysterical”, of a
girl running along the station.) And Isabel is lively, extrovert. Can
personality decide about your job / loves / happiness? Give examples.
-Isabel new friends are a group of artists. What can
you tell about the group of artists in La Dolce Vita? Can you compare
the couple in La vie d’Adèle to William and Isabel?
-What is the touchstone to know what is really like a
person?
-What do you know about the Ecclesiastes?
-In the station, when William goes back to London,
Isabel wants to carry his suitcase. What do you thing about the traditional
politeness to women?
-In your opinion, does Isabel really love William /
their children? And what about William?
-Why did she laugh reading his letter? Will she write
to him at the end?
-According to your view, who is right in their
disagreement?
VOCABULARY
hard lines, ribbing, scrapped, poky, chambers, pinning,
plait, wad, wiles, paper
AUDIOBOOK
ANOTHER AUDIOBOOK (from minute 32:59)
Marriage à la Mode, by William Hogarth
Line of beauty, by Hogarth
SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS AND CRITICISM
