The Babysitter by Robert Coover
"The Babysitter" by Robert Coover is a complex narrative that explores the intertwining of reality and fantasy over the course of a single evening, from 7:40 to 10:30 p.m. The story is structured through over a hundred paragraphs that present multiple viewpoints, revealing the chaotic and often conflicting perceptions of the characters involved. Central to the plot are the Tuckers, a couple preparing for a cocktail party, and their baby-sitter, whose experiences are shaped by the fantasies of both the children she looks after and her boyfriend and his friend nearby.
As the evening progresses, various scenarios unfold, raising questions about the nature of desire, power, and safety. The narrative offers a multitude of potential outcomes, leaving the reader to ponder the implications of these competing fantasies. The story's richness lies in its exploration of choice and consequence, as each character's imagination shapes their reality. With at least five hundred possible plot lines, "The Babysitter" challenges traditional storytelling by blurring the lines between different narratives, ultimately inviting readers to reflect on the complexity of human relationships and desires.
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The Babysitter by Robert Coover
First published: 1969
Type of plot: Antistory
Time of work: The 1960's
Locale: Suburban United States
Principal Characters:
Harry Tucker , a middle-aged manDolly Tucker , his overweight wifeJimmy Tucker , andBitsy , their young childrenThe baby-sitter , an unnamed schoolgirlJack , the sitter's boyfriendMark , Jack's friend
The Story
In just over a hundred paragraphs presenting several different points of view, the story recounts the confusing events of a single evening, between 7:40 and 10:30 p.m. The multiple viewpoints frequently collide and even merge as the story revises itself, offering concurrent and competing plots. In other words, several plots occupy the same time and space and involve the same characters, whose fantasies influence reality. The story seems to ask the question, what would the world be like if everyone's competing fantasies were to come true?
As Harry and Dolly Tucker dress for a cocktail party, the baby-sitter arrives at their house. Harry imagines that the girl is arching her back, jutting out her pert breasts, and twitching her thighs just for him. After the Tuckers leave, their young children, Jimmy and Bitsy, attack the baby-sitter playfully, jumping on her and tickling her. Jimmy fantasizes that his baby-sitter will overpower him and spank him.
Meanwhile, the baby-sitter's boyfriend, Jack, and his friend Mark are playing pinball in a nearby arcade, discussing the idea of visiting her. Although the boys have carefully studied the pinball machine, they still cannot easily beat it. Jack would like either to collaborate with Mark in the seduction or rape of his girlfriend or protect her from Mark's advances—or possibly both.
The story soon becomes an exercise in multiple choices. Does Mr. Tucker return home to discover the baby-sitter watching television alone, or has she been having sex with Jack and Mark, or is she giving Jimmy a bath? Does the baby-sitter spend a quiet evening alone, or is she harassed all night by anonymous phone calls and Peeping Toms? Is she raped and murdered by Jack, or by Jack and Mark, or perhaps by Mr. Tucker? Does the baby choke on a diaper pin or drown in the bathtub? Does everyone die at the end of the story, or does everyone quietly go to bed?
The answer to all these questions is yes. As one critic has pointed out, there are at least five hundred possible plot lines in this story.
Bibliography
Andersen, Richard. Robert Coover. Boston: Twayne, 1981.
Cope, Jackson. Robert Coover's Fictions. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986.
Evenson, Brian. Understanding Robert Coover. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2003.
Gado, Frank. First Person: Conversations on Writers and Writing. Schenectady, N.Y.: Union College Press, 1973.
Gordon, Lois G. Robert Coover: The Universal Fictionmaking Process. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983.
Kennedy, Thomas E. Robert Coover: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1992.
McCaffery, Larry. "As Guilty as the Rest of Them: An Interview with Robert Coover." Critique 42, no. 1 (Fall, 2000): 115-125.
McCaffery, Larry. The Metafictional Muse: The Work of Robert Coover, Donald Barthelme, and William H. Gass. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982.
Maltby, Paul. Dissident Postmodernists: Barthleme, Coover, Pynchon. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992.
Pughe, Thomas. Comic Sense: Reading Robert Coover, Stanley Elkin, Philip Roth. Berlin: Birkhäuser Verlag, 1994.