Susan Sontag
THE WILL AND THE WAY
1.
The story begins in a crowded place, something like a
Greyhound bus station, only more refined. The main character is
an intrepid young woman, of irreproachable white Protestant ancestry
and even, regular construction. Her only visible fault was mirrored
in her name, Miss Flatface.
Buffeted by mechanical stares, Miss Flatface decided to enter
upon a career of venery. The spirits of Ben Franklin and Tom
Paine whispered hoarsely
in
her ears, beckoning and forbidding.
Miss Flatface lifted up her skirts. A gasp was heard from one
and all. "No sex, no sex," the crowd chanted. "Who could inspire
desire with that face?"
"Try me," she murmured bravely, backing against a white tile
wall.
They continued to taunt her, without moving.
Then Mr. Obscenity bounded into the room, wearing white
knickers, a plaid shirt, and a monocle. "The trouble with you fel–
lows," he said, leering at Miss Flatface, then dramatically ripping
open her nylon blouse without bothering to undo the buttons, "is
that you've got principles. Too esthetic by far, that's what's wrong
with you." He gave Miss Flatface a shove for emphasis; she stared,
surprised, her eyelids fluttering. "Mild as any sucking dove," he
added, seizing her left breast and aiming it at the enrapt spectators.
"Hey, I'm her husband, you know," said a sturdy young fel–
low-Jim was his name- who separated himself from the crowd.
"Miss Flatface is only her maiden name. Back home she's plain
Mrs. Jim Johnson, proud wife and mother of three, Den Mother,
Vice-President of the PTA at Green Grove School-that's where our
