Early Autumn by Langston Hughes
Analysis:
The short story „Early Autumn“ by the
American author Langston Hughes, originated in the year 1963, deals with the
coincidental meeting of a former couple and the re-emerging emotions of the
heartbroken and desperate female protagonist.
The short story is set some unspecified
time after the breakup of the main characters Bill and Mary that have split up
for an “not very important” reason (line2). Considering that Bill has two kids
with his wife and Mary having three with her husband it can be assumed that
multiple years have passed between the break up and the following coincidental
meeting in the Washington Square Park at dawn. Mary gets her ex-boyfriend´s
attention by saying his name which is being followed by a short conversation
where both Bill and Mary state their current living situation. At the end of
the conversation Mary invites Bill to meet her and her family someday which
Bill accepts to do. The ex-couple departures as soon as Mary´s bus arrives and
the story ends with a thoughtful Mary that has forgotten to give Bill her
address to come and meet her in the future.
The story begins with a flashback to the
days when Bill and Mary still were a couple. Like the rest of the story this
segment is being narrated by an all-knowing storyteller that reflects what is
happening, what has happened and what Mary is thinking. This flashback is a
short summary that tells the reader that Mary and Bill once been in love until
“something not very important had come between them” (lines 2-3) which led to
them not talking to one another. This impulsive break up over something
unimportant tells the reader right away that this relationship wasn´t the
sturdiest kind of relationship to begin with. The speaker continues to
summarize by telling the reader that Mary went on to rashly marry a man “she
thought she loved” (line 4) while Bill left, now feeling resentful towards
women. This review of the follow up of the break up tells us something about
the characterization of Bill and Marry. Bill seems to have valued this relationship
up until the point of the unnecessary break up which can be seen in his
feelings towards women after the break up. From this point on he feels bitter
about women which might stem from him being let down by his ex-girlfriend that
seems to have replaced him quickly after the break up. So this makes her the
one that initiated this break up. Mary on the other hand replaced her ex-boyfriend
with a man that she doesn´t even really loves. The following impulsive marriage
with this man that she doesn´t really love shows the at times thoughtless
nature of Mary as well as her extreme comprehension with this situation after
the break up. Instead of trying to get back into contact with Bill and maybe
getting back together again she replaces him with another man to fill the void
that Bill has left in her life. The story continues with the coincidental
meeting of Bill and Mary in Washington Square Park. Mary begins a conversation
by saying Bill´s full name which leads to Bill stopping. The speaker explains
that he didn´t recognize his ex-girlfriend at first which comes from the fact
that she looks old in Bill´s eyes.
That Mary looks old to him might have two
different reasons: The first one being that Mary has lost her beauty over the
years after their departure because of the loveless life she has brought
herself in. The other reason she looks old to Bill might be because to him she
has lost all her attractiveness because of what she did to him. He might resent
her so much that this blurs his vision when looking at Mary. Seeing how both
reasons don´t contradict one another it might also be possible that both
interpretations are right. When he finally recognizes her he asks her where she
had come from. Mary responds by lifting up her face expectantly to receive a
kiss but Bill has already held out his hand for a handshake which Mary takes.
That she expects a kiss from her ex-boyfriend again might be interpreted in two
different ways. The lifting of her face might be a reflex from older days in
which Bill kissed Mary every time they see each other and this coincidental
meeting might take her back to these days which would make Mary feel like a
younger girl again or it might be interpreted as Mary still having an affection
for Bill just like she did all these years ago. After Mary answered Bill´s
question by telling him that she is currently living in New York he smiles
politely while saying “Oh” (line14) in a surprised manner which is being
followed with a little frown. This surprised gesture of Bill indicates that he
thinks poorly of Mary´s current situation.
Which follows is a quick sequence of short
questions by Mary and just as short answers by Bill that states that he is
married, has two kids and that he works as a lawyer in downtown New York. This
short sequence of quick questions and answers depicts this situation as
unpleasant for both Mary and Bill. Bill just seems to want to get this
situation over with already which is why he just gives Mary these quick answers
to get this conversation over with fast. Mary on the other hand seems to be a
bit disappointed with the seemingly good life Bill is living which is even
clearer with her reaction after Bill told her that she is married.
Mary reacts to this information’s just as
Bill did in line 14 by saying “Oh” (Line 10). This surprised and maybe
disappointed reaction goes back to the interpretation of Mary still having affection
for Bill and that because he already has a family she loses this glimmer of
hope of escaping her own loveless life by getting back with Bill. The speaker
continues on by explaining the scenery in which Bill and Mary are located. The
ex-couple is being surrounded by a lot of people that, like Bill and Mary, are
passing through this park. These people are being described as “people they
didn´t know” (line 22) which paints a picture of a seemingly fateful meeting
of two people in the midst of hundreds of strangers. This image of many people
is one of the two big images in this short story that also function as
metaphors which I will detail as we progress. The scenery is further explained
as it being “late afternoon”, “nearly sunset” and as “cold” (line22). This
description of a dark and cold scenery is a metaphor for the distant
relationship between Bill and Mary.
The conversation continues with Bill asking
Mary about her husband and with that about her current life situation. Mary
answers by stating the same things that Bill has stated before her: She states
that she has three children with her husband and that she works in an office.
This explanation of Mary´s life situation stands in contrast to Bill´s who
depicts himself as a successful family man while Mary seems unsuccessful in her
career, probably working as a secretary, and we already know that she doesn´t
have a lot of love for her husband. This contrast makes Bill look like the
“winner” of this break up because he went on to live the better life of the
two. Bill answers by saying “You´re looking very... well” (line25) but as the
speaker tells us that he originally wanted to say that she looks “old” (line
25). This very weak executed compliment that was originally planned as an
insult once again shows that Mary has lost all her attractiveness to Bill and
seeing how he wanted to tell her that she doesn´t look attractive to her it is
most likely that he wants her to know that he resents her. The speaker explains
that Mary understood what Bill originally wanted to say which shows that Mary
is very much conscious about Bill´s feelings towards her.
Another interpretative approach is that
Bill didn´t originally wanted to insult Mary but she just thought that this is
what Bill thought about her. This would make Mary the actual speaker of this
short story that isn´t really all-knowing but rather tells from her own
experiences and guessing what Bill was thinking and that also talks like a
third, observant and distant character. This would clear up a contradiction
with the character of Bill. While Bill has been shown as a polite man
throughout this story he was shown as rude when he makes a compliment towards
Mary but thinks in actuality he thinks poorly of her. This would show that not
Bill but Mary herself has this negative view on herself. But seeing how it is
unclear, if the speaker actually is Mary or if it is an omniscient narrator
(allwissender/auktorialer Erzähler) that isn´t related to either of the two
characters but rather a biased entity observing the situation, I will continue
to title the storyteller simply as “the speaker”. Next up the speaker gives
insight into the emotions that Mary is currently going through. The speaker
explains that Mary is “desperately reaching back into the past” (line 27) which
explains quite clear that Mary is clinging on her past and with that he past
self, her past relationship with Bill and her old life in general which shows
her as wanting to escape the loveless life she is currently living. To her Bill
is this way out of the life she is currently living. He could help her escape
by getting back together with her and like that rescue her out of her life.
This clinging on the past makes clear that she is unhappy with her life and
that she is ready to leave behind what she has built up with her husband and it
also shows that she was once happy, back when she was still with Bill.
Another reason for the clinging on the past
is shown in the following two lines where the speaker explains that Mary does
not look young anymore while Bill looks just as young, which clarifies the
other reason why Mary is clinging on the past and that is that Mary recognizes
that she is growing older. Her withering advances more and more and she becomes
undesirable and her imminent death becomes clearer and clearer.
But different from her Bill hasn´t aged all
that much. To her Bill “was still young” (line28). That he still looks young to
Mary might be a consequence from Mary glorifying Bill because to her he stands
for everything she once were and everything she wants to be again.
Youthfulness, freedom and most importantly time. In her mind she could once
again be young if she is with Bill. The invitation that Mary makes Bill to meet
her and her family might be considered as an approach to get back nearer to
Bill. Bill accepts this invitation and says that “Lucille and [he´d] love to
have [her]” (line 32). That he immediately brings in his family into this
invitation makes clear that he is very proud and happy of his family and his
wife Lucille, which he explicitly names.
He might have taken this invitation for two
different reasons: the first one being that he did it just to be polite. He
didn´t wanted to be rude and hurt Mary´s feeling by refusing Mary´s invitation
even though he didn´t wanted to visit her in the first place which is clearer
when he doesn´t give her his address nor asking for her one. But that she
forgets to swap their addresses might also been an unfortunate accident. The
other reason he might have taken the invitation might be because he wanted to
show his family and his luxurious lifestyle as a successful lawyer which is
being underlined by the fact that he wants Mary to visit his home even though
Mary has invited him into her home before.
But Mary still accepts gladly. Next up is
the other big metaphor in this short story: the autumn. The title “Early
Autumn” already gave away the first interpretative approach. The autumn doesn´t
only stand for the time period this short story is set in but it also stands
for something withering and ultimately coming to an end. This withering that
the autumn represents is present in the line 33 where the speaker explains that
the “leaves fell slowly” and that they “fell without wind”. These leaves are a
reflection for the passing years of Mary that, like the autumn, has reached a
period in her life where she is threatened with her aging and her imminent end
one day. This realization is getting clearer and clearer for her which is why
she is clinging so hard on her past to deny the fact that she is in an advanced
age. That these leaves are falling without wind indicates that these leaves
fall without force just like Mary´s age is also advancing without any force.
The aging just like the falling of autumn leaves is depicted as something
natural that needs to happen and can´t be reverted by any force in the world.
This natural decrease is also just attacking Mary as shown in the next line
that describes the scenery as “Autumn dusk” which in turn stands also for
Mary´s situation of being at the beginning of the autumn of her life. That the
leaves are falling “slowly” (line 33) also explains that the autumn has just
begun and that she and the actual autumn this story is set in is still in its
beginning phase. Her “summer” has already been past her and she misses that and
she hopes that Bill that is a relict out of that “summer of her life” can give
her back her youthfulness. Another image is presented, after Bill proudly says
that Mary needs to see his kids when she visits them. That details the lights
of the oncoming bus, that Mary needs to take in order to get back to her home.
These lights are described as “chains of misty brilliance in the blue air”
(line 38) which stand for the shackles that are going to bind her to the family
and home she is stuck with for the rest of her life if she decides to go into
that oncoming bus. Mary decides to take this bus and Bill responds by holding
out his hand and saying goodbye to her. Mary wanted to ask when they she can
come visit him or when he will come visit her but she couldn´t because she had
to hurry to catch her bus that was ready to pull off.
Another metaphor are the lights on the
avenue that “blurred, twinkled, blurred” (line 47) which represents Mary´s
unsteadiness of taking that bus and leaving Bill and with that her past behind
her. It is a hard decision for her to leave her ex-boyfriend behind and then go
on to her regular life but she did so anyway. The speaker explains that Mary
was “afraid to open her mouth” (line 43) and that she was “afraid it would be
impossible to utter a word” (lines 43-44). This again characterizes Mary as an
uneven character. There was most likely a lot she wanted to tell Bill before
she leaves but the decision to leave her and to try to get back together with
Bill tears her apart. One side wants to go with Bill the other side wants to
stay with what she has built up with her family. That she can´t open her mouth
most likely also comes from the fear of what Bill might answer after she says
what she really wants to say. After the bus door has already closed Mary
“shrieked...Good-bye” (line 45) in an attempt to make her farewell but it can
be assumed that Bill hasn´t heard her because the bus door set a border between
the two. The last lines are explanation of the speaker of what happened
afterwards. First the speaker comes back to the metaphor of the many people in
Washington Square. The speaker explains that “people came between them...
people they didn´t know. Space and people.” and that these people are the
reason for Mary that she “lost sight of Bill” (lines 46-47). Here these people
turn into a border between the ex-couple and make sure to separate them and
that these people are also the reason that more and more space comes between
Bill and Mary which makes it impossible for them to get back together again.
For Mary that means that she can´t get back to Bill and that these people that
“swallow up” Bill are taking care that she can´t ever get the kiss that she
wanted before.
That these people are “people they didn´t
know” also tells us something different: Like all these unknown, unimportant
people that are unconsciously walking past each other Bill and Mary are also
two strangers that walk past this mass of people. This could have made this
meeting fateful that could change the future of both characters and their
respective families but because nothing special came out of this encounter this
possible fateful meeting turned into a coincidental meeting of two strangers
that doesn´t really affect the lives of neither Bill nor Mary.
The other thing the speaker explains is
that Mary has forgotten to give Bill her address or to ask him for his address.
As an afterword and a twist at the end of the short story the speaker says that
Mary has also forgotten to tell Bill that she has named her youngest son after
her ex-boyfriend, Bill. This clarifies Mary´s view towards Bill. She has never
really gotten over him and even without both of them meeting over years she has
always kept affection for Bill which is why she made a tribute to him by naming
her son after him. It can be presumed that Mary can´t ever get over Bill
especially as she is growing older and with that keeps on wishing herself back
into these youthful days.
All and all this story can be summarized as
the story of a heartbroken women that is imprisoned in a loveless marriage that
will forever be dissatisfied and the man she will always idolize as the perfect
man because he embodies her youthfulness that she is losing more and more with
every year. That Mary could leave Bill over something not very important and
has made no afford to get back together with him makes clear that she doesn´t
have this strong affection for Bill because of who he is but rather for what he
stands for in her eyes. Her youth and an escape out of the hole she has dug
herself in.
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