A.M. Homes, straight out of Washington D.C., represents her fearless hometown with her controversial novels, and strange short stories. Known for never pulling punches, she has written for several publications, including BOMB Magazine. She currently writes for shows as well. But despite all this, despite publishing her first book back in 1989, Homes wrote one story that touched many an avid reader, more than anything else she’s ever written: “Things You Should Know.”
What is “Things You Should Know” About?
The main character is never named, nor gender-specific, but we go through a lifespan of turmoil over a list, appropriately named “Things You Should Know.” The character explains that due to a fever and ear infection, he/she cannot go to school one day, and goes back only to feel as though everyone else is speaking another language. They clearly got the list that the teacher had made years and years ago, when she was still a student. A list people get and base their life off of. The character obsesses over the imaginary list so much, that he/she gets sent to the psychiatrist.
As time goes on, and the character grows up, he/she becomes deaf in one ear, the same one that had an infection all those years before. He/she still obsesses over the list, and “finds” a part of it in a bookstore. A paper labeled “Chin San Fortune Company lines 1 through 32.”
Several more years later, and the character feels as though all young people seem to know less than he/she ever did. The character stands in front of a group of people, most of whom had the list. He/she reads the story, and finally says “It is a list you make yourself. And at the top of the page you write, “Things You Should Know.”
What Symbolism Can Be Found In “Things You Should Know”?
The Main Character Is All of Us
The reason the character remains unnamed and gender-specific throughout the story is simple: it is supposed to be everyone in the world. At some point, or even several points in life, we feel lost, behind the pack. We feel like everyone knows something we don’t. And like things aren’t lining up right, because we lack that certain information. This is how the character felt throughout his/her life, only about a list.
The List Is Everything That Haunts Us
The list is symbolic itself, since it represents everything we feel like we should know, but don’t. When we see others, in their walk through life, we see a variety. We see success, balance, disarray, and seclusion. But every now and then we see the person doing what we wish we could, doing what we strive so hard to accomplish, but can’t seem to quite make it. Clearly, they must know something we don’t. They must have a knowledge well somewhere that helps them know enough to land a certain job, partner, or lifestyle.
The Ear Wouldn’t Let The Character Listen To Reason…Or Did It?
The character starts off with an ear infection, that turns into a burn from a heating pad, and then later, being deaf in the ear. It is never specifically connected or explained, but rather, logically insinuated that these things are connected. It is with basically every phase of life, that it is mentioned in a changed state, all but the last, when the character finally finds clarity.
The ear is symbolic for the phases of life in which the character wouldn’t listen to people repeating the same thing, that there is no list. The character wouldn’t listen, but in the end, turns out being right: everyone makes their own list of things they should know. A list that is ever-changing and expanding, although rarely written down. It is the gems of knowledge through experience that we share with others in moments of great need. It is the voice in your head that reminds of you of that time, way back when. The guide that, hopefully, keeps you from making the same mistake twice.
Summary
A.M. Homes is brilliant in that she doesn’t censor her voice to make things pretty. She writes about the world as it is, about the controversial things no one writes about. And when it’s not so controversial, she writes deep-thinkers, like “Things You Should Know.”
This story calms the panicky voice in everyone, the voice that constantly, albeit faintly, asks if we’re doing the right thing. If we know what it is we are doing, in the first place. We may not always know the answers, we might not always have the knowledge, but everything eventually comes with time.
