144
PARTISAN REVIEW
The other children cannot tolerate the alien creature; the relatives
mostly stay away; the father spends nights in the city. A solu–
tion - the usual one - is found: the fifth child is sent off to an institu–
tion. But the mother, unable to bear its brutality, brings him home
again, only to see him later, in adolescence, join a youth garig and
leave the home of his mother's fantasies forever. The dream is shat–
tered. And the novella ends with dark implications of decay and
dispersion.
It is difficult to know what was Doris Lessing's intention, and,
as we are aware, intention is not the same as meaning. But there
would seem to be some symbolic reference in the story to the modern
situation, at least in England. One easily can read a pessimistic, if
not a tragic, sense of life in this story of a couple presumably trying
to resist the political tide that for a time seemed to sweep away the
traditional-and some of the questionable-values of the past. To
Miss Lessing's credit, it must be said that the narrative has a faint
touch of satire, but it is tempered by a sympathy for the characters
caught in the crossfire of conflicting forces. Nor does she take sides,
as she keeps her authorial distance. The advanced English family
talk-a kind of nineteenth-century modern-tells the story sparely
and almost ironically:
"You aren't really going to have four more children? enquired
Sarah. ...
"Yes, we are ," said David.
"Yes we certainly are," said Harriet. "This is what everyone
wants, really, but we've been brainwashed out of it. People want
to live like this, really."
"Happy families," said Molly critically: she was standing up for
a life where domesticity was kept in its place, a background to
what was important.
"We are the centre of this family ," said David.
"We are-Harriet and me. Not you, Mother."
"God forbid," said Molly....
"Oh all right ," said her son. "It's never been your style."
"It's certainly never been mine," said James, "and I'm not going
to apologize for it."
"But you've been a marvelous father , super," chirruped
Deborah. "And Jessica's been a super mum.. .. "
"I don't seem to remember your ever giving Molly much of a
chance ," said Frederick.
"But it's so co-o-o-Id in England," moaned Deborah.
