Dwarf House by Ann Beattie
"Dwarf House" is a short story by Ann Beattie that explores themes of happiness and contentment through the lives of its characters, particularly focusing on James and his bride, both of whom are little people. The narrative contrasts their joyful existence with that of MacDonald, James's brother, who embodies the so-called "normal" life yet grapples with his own discontent. Upon visiting the titular "dwarf house," MacDonald learns of James's newfound fulfillment, as he is in love and planning to marry, which starkly contrasts MacDonald's own struggles with marital fidelity and the pressures of societal expectations. The story examines the complexities of happiness, suggesting that true contentment may lie outside conventional norms. Beattie's writing invites readers to reflect on the nature of fulfillment and the societal definitions of normalcy, as seen during the poignant moments at James's wedding, where a bird is released to symbolize freedom and hope. Overall, "Dwarf House" challenges perceptions of happiness, urging a deeper understanding of what it means to truly thrive in one’s life.
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Dwarf House by Ann Beattie
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1975 (collected in Distortions, 1976)
Type of work: Short story
The Work
“Dwarf House,” which first appeared in The New Yorker magazine, was included in the first collection of Beattie’s short stories, Distortions, the following year. Because in this story James and his bride, both little people, are the only characters to have found happiness, Beattie seems to pose a question about the essentials for contentment. In contrast to James and his bride-to-be, MacDonald, the so-called normal brother, returns from a visit to the “dwarf house” (inhabited by one of his brothers, several other dwarves, and a giant) to report to his self-pitying mother not only that James refuses to return to the home of his previous misery but also that James is working, he is in love, and he plans to be married. When MacDonald telephones his own wife from his office with the usual “late-night meeting” excuse, after which he takes his secretary for a drink, he discovers that more things are askew. His secretary manages to smile only with the help of drugs, and she has recently had an abortion.
When the family assembles for James’s wedding, the minister releases a bird from its cage to symbolize “the new freedom of marriage and the ascension of the spirit.” This is marvelously apt, for the bride’s true radiance challenges all the “normal” characters—MacDonald, his wife, MacDonald and James’s mother—to a painful awareness, but only if they can perceive it.
Bibliography
Centola, Steven R. “An Interview with Ann Beattie.” Contemporary Literature 31 (Winter, 1990): 405-422.
Friedrich, Otto. “Beattieland.” Time 135 (January 22, 1990): 68.
Hill, Robert W., and Jane Hill. “Ann Beattie.” Five Points 1 (Spring/Summer, 1997): 26-60.
McCaffery, Larry, and Sinda Gregory. “A Conversation with Ann Beattie.” Literary Review 27 (Winter, 1984): 165-177.
Montresor, Jaye Berman, ed. The Critical Response to Ann Beattie. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1993.
Murphy, Christina. Ann Beattie. Boston: Twayne, 1986.
Plath, James. “Counternarrative: An Interview with Ann Beattie.” Michigan Quarterly Review 32 (Summer, 1993): 359-379.
Schneiderman, Leo. “Ann Beattie: Emotional Loss and Strategies of Reparation.” American Journal of Psychoanalysis 53 (December, 1993): 317-333.
Young, Michael W., and Troy Thibodeaux. “Ann Beattie.” In A Reader’s Companion to the Short Story in English, edited by Erin Fallon, R. C. Feddersen, James Kurtzleben, Maurice A. Lee, Susan Rochette-Crawley, and Mary Rohrberger. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001.