Assignment for 9/9 - Saul Bellow

Then for the rest of the week Woody was busy, had jobs to run, office responsibilities, family responsibilities. He lived alone; as did his wife; as did his mistress: everybody in a separate establishment. Since his wife, after fifteen years of separation, had not learned to take care of herself, Woody did her shopping on Fridays, filled her freezer. He had to take her this week to buy shoes. Also, Friday night he always spent with Helen—Helen was his wife de facto. Saturday he did his big weekly shopping. Saturday night he devoted to Mom and his sisters. So he was too busy to attend to his own feelings except, intermittently, to note to himself, “First Thursday in the grave.” “First Friday, and fine weather.” “First Saturday; he’s got to be getting used to it.” Under his breath he occasionally said, “Oh, Pop."

Lanham claims that there is usually perfect syntactical marriage between subject and style in fiction, because fiction "creates the reality it describes." (Lanham 41) The beauty of Bellow's sentences is in how they provide information about, not only the narrative in which they occur, but the subtext as well. The parataxis in this passage mirrors the information that Woody was habitually too busy to think, especially about his father. Think about the life that is described here. Woody is a man with a wife who he's been taking care of for fifteen years of separation, a mistress, his mother, sisters, shopping for two households, everything compartmentalized in the sentences as it must be in Woody's head.

Bellow's sentences vary between short fragments, and longer, more complicated strings. "Since his wife, after fifteen years of separation, had not learned to take care of herself, Woody did her shopping on Fridays, filled her freezer." The hypotaxis leads us on a path through the relevant information, (Woody has a wife, separated for fifteen years, she still relies on him for everything)
and suggests fatigue by the time it arrives at, "filled her freezer." This is a woman who will not do a thing for herself, and we feel Woody's unspoken exhaustion at having to do for her, even though the matter-of-fact litany underscores the fact that Woody will not do anything but cater to her.

The next sentence, "Also, Friday night he always spent with Helen—Helen was his wife de facto," calls the reader's attention back to what immediately precedes it. He shops and provides for his wife on Fridays, but he spends his Friday nights with his "de facto" wife. I.e., the woman he sleeps with. The guilt is built into the structure of the sentences. It continues with, "Saturday he did his weekly big shopping. Saturday night he devoted to Mom and his sisters." His weekend is spent being dutiful, even to his own mistress. Note that "de facto" is not italicized. It is just part of the vocabulary used to describe Woody's life, and no other attention is called to it.

Repetition forms a big part of the description of Woody's schedule, as it does in the schedule itself. "Office responsibilities, family responsibilities," "He lived alone, as did his wife, as did his mistress." "Everybody body in a separate establishment... after fifteen years of separation." Friday repeats, Saturday repeats, then later on they repeat again as he thinks about his father lying in the ground. Woody's life is busy, lived by rote, except for the occasional flashes of what is going on in the ultimate resting position of death.

The way Woody pauses, "to note to himself" about his father's death is more like how someone would write in a diary. “First Thursday in the grave.” “First Friday, and fine weather.” “First Saturday; he’s got to be getting used to it.” Only in the third 'note' does Woody even disassociate himself from the man in the ground. Woody, by the construction of the first two 'notes,' might be the dead one. He even says, "Oh, Pop," under his breath.

Bellow's sentences are suited to the information and the feelings that they are trying to convey. This introduction to Woody's schedule is also a valuable window into what is important to him, and how he moves within his own life.