Life, 1925-11-12 · page 36 of 41
Life — November 12, 1925 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This story satirizes the suffocating grip of married domesticity on a man's spirit. **Trenholm** is a meticulously routine-bound husband who has lived the identical schedule for 25 years—so predictable he knows what salad dressing he'll eat on specific dates in 1925. His soul yearns for travel and adventure, but his wife keeps him literally and figuratively bound to home. The satire's point: middle-class marriage transforms a man into a fixture as immobile as the Palisades cliffs. When his wife finally leaves for Colorado and offers him Europe, he plans escape—yet the narrative's final detail reveals he arrives home *three minutes late*, suggesting even freedom cannot break his domesticated habit. The piece mocks both rigid conformity and the woman's role in enforcing it, reflecting 1920s anxieties about marriage as entrapment.
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Why not Smoke the Finest ? s Wi ak ce oF WALES wan PRING LONDON | CIGARETTES 25¢ for Twenty To be had everywhere A Correction Kino Strancer: Are you the little man I gave candy to yesterday? Tiny Tot: No, I'se the little girl who heard ‘bout you. A FrexcuMan recently invented a radio set to be carried in an umbrella. But the umbrella that won't shut up is not a recent invention. Se How to Win Success in Music Begin with the right instrament. This is the advice ‘of the world’s foremostarusts. Conn instruments, and endorsed by the most successful players, are easier to play, most beautiful in tone, perfect in scale; reliable in action—possess many exclusive features, yet cost no more than others Free Book by Sousa and nine other famous artists ‘on “Success in Music,” helps you choose the instrument for your tal- ent. Send now for your copy and details of Free Trial, Easy Pay- ments on any Conn'insrrument, C.G. CONN, LTD. 1121 Conn Bldg. Elkhart, Ind. BAN INSTRUMENTS ee eer a LIFE Pernicious Domesticity For some men, travel is an adven- ture; for others, it is a nuisance. A scant few contrive to make it an art. For Trenholm, it was an escape; men- tally, that is, for in habit he was as thoroughly domesticated as a stationary wash tub. The Palisades were not more rigidly fixed in place than was he. His world would not have been more surprised if one of those geographic centers had gone a-wandering than if Trenholm had decided to move from the exact cycle of his ways. Twenty-five years in the same house had placed him for aye. He had moved in when he returned from his honeymoon. His friends expected him to move out when next he required the services of a clergyman. For Tren- holm lived and had his being according to a program the rigidity of which made a concrete wall seem elastic by comparison. So perfectly arranged was his schedule that he knew on December 4, 1901, what kind of salad dressing would be provided with dinner on March 26, 1925. He knew it would be French dressing, because the 26th was an even date. Russian dressing came with odd numbers. And yet, strange as it may seem, Trenholm was not content. His mun- dane self might be caged in an adjust- able arm chair, but his soul went marching on. It tramped along roads pink with a roof of cherry blossoms in springtime. It trudged down strange, crooked streets in towns smelly with the spice of foreign lands. It swelled mightily on shipboard when a silver finger beckoned across the uncasy sea. Trenholm had a five-room-and-bath wanderlust. Also, he had a wife. Every night for twenty-five years, when he had seen the last brick thrown in the last sector of the last comic strip of his favorite paper, Trenholm planned a new tour to begin on that glad day when he was temporarily free from the marital shackles. But for twenty-five years he never was free. His wife moved not from his side. He moved not from hers. After the celebration of their silver wedding anniversary, she suddenly an- nounced that she was going to visit her sister in’ Colorado. “Why don’t you go over to Europe while I'm gone?” she asked Trenholm. “L'll be away for three months and I'm sure that a vacation will do you good.” “I might do that,” said the mental voyager, counting Europe only a way station on the travels he would make. So Mrs. Trenholm went away. The day she had gone, Trenholm came home from the office, rounding the corner of the street on which was his home at exactly 5:39, three minutes behind his schedule. The maid served CHASE'S DOMINO lave a Domino?” It's that delicious mint in the form of a domino. Se0410 cents in stamps for sample box W. P, CHASE CANDY CORP, Brooklyn, N. Y. dinner—with Russian dressing for salad—and on its conclusion, Trenhe sought the adjustable arm chair. When he had grinned at the last brick thrown in the last comic strip, he rose. A great freedom pervaded him; a great zest for adventure surged through his soul. “Mary,” he said, grandly indifferent to all ties and responsibilities, “I'm going out. I don't know when I'll be back.” He walked thrice around the block, smoked one cigar and returned to his home. At 10:57 p. s., according to custom, he was asleep. J. K. M. Tne ultimate in futility is taking a college course in journalism and then joining the staff of a tabloid newspaper. 0 6 6 6 © © « inthe workshops ofauthors . 2. 6. 6 6 ee eee THE WRITER s3suiiSnv MONTHLY FORUM Short-stories analyzed in detail; les on writing for publication in various popular forms; reports, from lat ing magazine editors of their manuscript needs and other aids to literary workers. id 2S¢ for latest issue Circulation Department, THE WRITER Harvard Square Cambridge, Mess. For CuristTMas—a good FOX-TERRIER Wonderfal watch-dogs and comicbooks.com