3/30/07

"The Persistence of Desire" by John Updike. pg 560

pg 561. "On the sidewalk, haltered girls identical in all but name with girls he had known strolled past in twos and threes."

This quote shows as well as much of the story shows that not much has changed in the small town he had lived in. The people were still the same. Different people but they still acted the same as the people he knew when he was young. It is a small town so not much goes on. The doctor is still the same, the people are still the same. The linoleum on the floor was still the same and smelled the same.


pg 570. "...he believed he could make out her handwriting - slanted, open, unoriginal - familiar to him from other notes received long ago. This glimpse, through the skin of the paper, of her plain self quickened and sweetened his desire more than touching her hand."


This again touches on the theme of unthinkingness. Everything is the same. His feelings for Janet haven't changed even though they are both married and living ther own separate lives. Persistence means the prolonged existence of and this defiantly describes Clyde's feelings for Janet. His desire for her has not changed since when they were in love. This notes that she has given him brings him back to the time of their love and makes him want it again even more. He loves even just the sight of her handwriting and the comfort in recognizing it.