After the Fair by Dylan Thomas
"After the Fair" is a short story by Dylan Thomas that unfolds in the aftermath of a local fair as the crowd disperses and the attractions close down. The narrative centers on a young girl named Annie who, left behind amidst the remnants of the fair, searches for a place to sleep. As she explores the deserted grounds, she encounters an Astrologer's tent where she discovers a moving bundle of straw, which turns out to be a baby. With nowhere to go, Annie approaches a nearby trailer, where she meets the generous yet imposing Fat Man.
Their conversation reveals Annie's precarious situation, as she hints at a troubled past involving money and the police. The Fat Man, embodying a jovial character, introduces her to the surreal world of the fair, and they bond over shared experiences. As the story progresses, Annie, with the Fat Man's help, seeks to soothe the crying baby by taking it for a ride on the merry-go-round. This whimsical yet poignant scene captures a moment of joy and connection amidst the darkness of Annie's circumstances, making the story a complex exploration of innocence, desperation, and the human capacity for kindness in difficult times.
On this Page
After the Fair by Dylan Thomas
First published: 1934
Type of plot: Sketch
Time of work: 1933
Locale: Wales
Principal Characters:
Annie , the protagonist, a homeless young motherThe fat man , a circus freak who befriends her
The Story
After the crowd goes home from a local fair and the booths and rides are closed down, a young girl named Annie remains behind. Surrounded by the shapes of wooden horses and fairy boats, she begins to look for a place to sleep for the night. Peeping into tents and behind stalls shrouded in canvas, she continues searching for a suitable bed but fails to find a comfortable place. When she comes to the Astrologer's tent, she discovers a bundle of straw in the corner. When she touches the straw it begins to move. She then kneels by its side, puts out her hand, and feels a baby's hand touch her own.
Having nowhere to sleep now, she decides to walk toward the trailers where the workers from the fair make their homes. Most of the trailers are dark, so she chooses to knock at the door of one of the only two that still have their lights on. The fattest man she has ever seen in her life opens the door and invites her in. After they share some buttered toast, the large host explains to Annie that he is the Fat Man. As he puts it, "I've always been a fat man . . . and now I'm the Fat Man; there's nobody to touch me for fatness." When he asks her why she left her home in Cardiff, Annie simply replies, "Money." He, in turn, tells her about the fair, the places he has been, and the people he has met. Annie finally tells him about the baby in the Astrologer's tent. "That's the stars again," he replies. Annie merely says, "The baby'll die."
When the Fat Man suddenly leaves the trailer Annie assumes he is going after the police, and the narrator explains that she does not want to be caught by the police officer again. It is not clear why she is sought by the police, but her earlier remark that she left Cardiff because of money implies that she may have stolen some cash. One is also led to assume that she is now down on her luck, a vagrant, and that the abandoned baby is hers.
The Fat Man, however, returns to the trailer smiling and carrying the baby in his arms. "See what the stars have done," he announces. She takes the child, which has begun to cry, and holds it against her small breast. She tells the Fat Man that a police officer is after her, but when he asks her why the police want her, she does not answer but holds the child closer to her "wasted breast."
As the baby's cries grow louder, both Annie and the Fat Man become distressed. Annie decides that the only thing they can do to silence the child is to take it on the merry-go-round. The three of them move through the darkness of the deserted fair toward the place where the wooden horses stand waiting. With the baby clutching her neck, Annie climbs into the saddle of one of the horses and calls out for the Fat Man to start the engine. The machinery set into motion, the Fat Man gets up by her side, pulls the main lever, and climbs into the saddle of the smallest horse of all.
As the merry-go-round picks up speed, the baby stops crying and begins to clap its hands out of sheer excitement and pleasure. The noise of the ride brings out the men from the other trailers who see this amazing spectacle: the Fat Man and a thin girl dressed in black with a baby in her arms, racing round and round on the wooden horses to the blaring music of the organ.