Ron Carlson‘s “The Great Open Mouth Anti-Sadness,” is short, simple, and direct, and yet, still manages to hide symbolism in its lines. It’s a beautiful combination of simplicity and complexity, and one which surely applies to everyone in some way, shape, or form.
The story centers on a man trying to keep it together after his daughter’s wedding. He lies down and opens his mouth as the fan moves slowly above him. The cat takes his tie out of his hand, and the man is suddenly OK. He describes himself as “something, which was similar to being sad,” but overall, decent enough.
He avoids the real sadness of seeing his daughter leave his arm and take a ring, and with it, a new life, away from him. He contemplates evaporation, how water rises into the air and goes back to focusing in the moment.
The symbolism in this story is hidden where you would expect, but it also conveys a deeper meaning:
- The small things, like the cat taking the tie out of his hand, and the slow-moving fan, are all distractions that serve a single purpose: to keep his mind from wandering too far, and making the real sadness a reality.
- He focuses on his empty hand after the cat takes his tie, much like he mentions his empty arm as his daughter took hold of her wedding ring.
- The slow-moving fan is a representation of the stillness left behind after his daughter is gone.
- He contemplates evaporation, as if to say the fan is cooling him, relieving him of the sadness little by little, until he’s capable of controlling whatever is left. Water rising into the air is a natural process, much like children leaving the nest.
- Avoiding the real sadness, and feeling “something” is obviously, something most people can relate to. This is left ambiguous for a reason, as a matter of interpretation. Often times, we feel things that can’t really be described through a term, but we know that there is a sense of emotion beneath the surface.
Ron Carlson’s story “The Great Open Mouth Anti-Sadness,” is very short, but it is definitely a must-read. Taking a cue from a basic human situation, and focusing on the bare leftovers, is a genius way of showing complexity through simplicity.
Stay tuned for next month’s Story Symbolism here on Literative!
