Short Story #263: Pygmalion by John Updike

By -

Title:  Pygmalion 

Author:  John Updike

Summary

Painting of John Updike. Source: https://flic.kr/p/6fRSKz
The husband likes the impersonations that his first wife did of other people they encountered.  He even appreciated the impersonation of Gwen, his current mistress by his wife.  He is fond of Gwen because she was quite lively in bed.  His first wife  typically would asked to have her back rubbed and promptly fall asleep.  Soon, the husband divorces the first wife and moves onto Gwen.  Initially, the husband has trouble eliciting responses from Gwen about people they encounter that are anything but pleasant. He tries to encourage a stream of thought that includes criticizing these people but Gwen is more interested in having sex at the end of evening, even though the husband warns that it is light.  However, Gwen begins to impersonate more after they meet the new husband of the ex-wife.  She continues to do this and he enjoys it more and more, until their nightly routine becomes her impersonations followed by him giving her backrubs and falling asleep. 

Reflection

The title hints at the resolution, which is that the husband continues to try to make his women into what he believes he wants, but often loses interest while the women simultaneously lose a bit of themselves as they are physically and mentally molded into what the husband wants.  

 Short Story #263 out of 365
Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)
Date Read:  8/1/2014
Source:  The short story can be found at this website.  

For a full listing of all the short stories in this series, check out the category 365 Short Stories a year.


 Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and check out some of my other posts!. You might also want to keep up to date with my blog by signing up for them via email.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Short Story #362: The Day The World Almost Came to an End by Pearl Crayton

By -
Image
Title:  The Day The World Almost Came to an EndAuthor:  Pearl CraytonSummary The narrator explains that when she was twelve years old, she was committed to being a sinner.  However, she lived with a family and community whose lives revolved around the Church. One day, her cousin Rena insists that the world is coming to an end because she heard her mom and another woman discussing it and that it would happen with the eclipse that's occurring in two days.  Rena insists but the narrator finds fault with her claims.  However, when a woman comes by affirms what Rena is saying, the narrator becomes lost in thinking about what that could mean for her.  Later when her dad comes home, she asks him if the world is going to end and explains why she is concerned.  He says that it's nothing to worry about and that the world is going to end when it's going to end.  This only convinces the narrator that it will end sooner rather than later.  Unable to be calmed, she stays up all night wor…
Read more

Short Story #288: The Hack Driver by Sinclair Lewis

By -
Image
Title:  The Hack Driver Author:  Sinclair LewisSummaryThe narrator after working his way through law school finds himself working in a law office that is sending him out to serve a summons, which he thinks is below him.  He travels out by train to New Mullion to find this person.  Upon arrival, he finds he needs to get around and find this person so he talks to the first person he encounters.  He says he is looking for Oliver Lutkins and hopes the man can help him.  The man, Bill Magnuson, says he saw him a brief while ago and that he would be happy to drive him around to find the man.  The narrator knows the man is trying to get some money out of him and he is ok with that so long as they find Lutkins.  Over the course of the next few hours, Bill brings the narrator all over town where they keep missing Lutkins by a briefer periods of times.  Eventually, Bill brings him to Lutkins mother who also spins a tale of frustration about her son.  The narrator returns to the office empty han…
Read more

Short Story #239: The Night the Bed Fell by James Thurber

By -
Image
Title:  The Night the Bed FellAuthor:  James ThurberSummary The narrate relates an incident of his youth when a bed fell on his father.  The father occasionally slept in the attic where he would think and eventually sleep on an old wooden bed.  The house is filled with an eclectic range of family members including a nervous cousin who is afraid of falling asleep and stopping breathing.  He shares a room with the narrator who promises the cousin that he will keep an ear open for breathing.  One of his aunts fears the day when someone will chloroform her bedroom to get her belongs.  By midnight of the particular night, everyone was in bed.  At two in the morning, the narrator's own bed (an army cot) tipped over, which he all but slept through.  The noise awoke his mother who thought that the wobbly headboard on the bed in the attic had fallen on the father.  His cousin awoke during the shouting from the mother believing that he was not breathing and he poured a glass of camphor over …
Read more