Glimpse into Another Country by Wright Morris
"Glimpse into Another Country" by Wright Morris is a poignant narrative that follows an elderly academic named Hazlitt as he travels from San Francisco to New York for a medical consultation. The story captures Hazlitt's reflections and interactions with a fellow passenger, Mrs. Thayer, whose behaviors intrigue and bemuse him. As he navigates his journey, Hazlitt wrestles with feelings of isolation and connection, particularly in his clumsy exchanges with Mrs. Thayer, who remains aloof and neurotic. The narrative delves into themes of perception, social etiquette, and the intricacies of human interaction, highlighting the contrasts between Hazlitt's guarded demeanor and Mrs. Thayer's eccentricity.
Throughout his experiences in New York, including a bomb scare and a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hazlitt grapples with personal freedom and the burdens of expectation. His impulsive decisions, such as purchasing extravagant gifts for his wife, reveal an underlying desire for connection and expression, even as he conceals certain truths from her. The story culminates in a nuanced exploration of identity, societal roles, and the impact of fleeting encounters, leaving readers to ponder the complexities of relationships and self-discovery in an urban landscape.
On this Page
Glimpse into Another Country by Wright Morris
First published: 1983
Type of plot: Wit and humor
Time of work: 1983
Locale: San Francisco and New York
Principal Characters:
Hazlitt , an elderly San Francisco academicMrs. Hazlitt , his wifeMrs. Thayer , a visitor to New YorkDr. Thayer , her husband
The Story
Hazlitt, an elderly San Francisco academic, goes to New York to see a specialist about a matter of "life assurance." On the plane, he is bemused by the behavior of the woman seated next to him as she completely ignores him. Hazlitt is not offended because he is "guarded even with his colleagues at the university," and he is attracted by the woman's intelligent profile and "appealing intactness."
Hazlitt considers it rude, however, when she does not share The New York Times with him and is "flabbergasted" when he observes her beginning to read D. M. Thomas's The White Hotel (1981) on its last page and continuing to read the final chapter in reverse. Shifting to a news magazine, she finally speaks to Hazlitt, declaiming about the dangers of travel. The ice broken, he finds himself telling her that he knows the author of The White Hotel (in fact, they have never met), who "would consider it a personal favor if you read his book as it was printed, from the front to the back."
Shocked, the woman complains about this apparent madman to her husband, whom Hazlitt deduces is a fellow academic. Hazlitt apologizes, and Dr. Thayer introduces himself. The neurotic Mrs. Thayer responds by thrusting the "filthy book" at Hazlitt: "Read it any way you like!" She then returns to maintaining "to the last his nonexistence."
Arriving in New York and checking into the Plaza Hotel, Hazlitt remembers his wife's caution to carry a hundred dollars in twenties "so that when the muggers looked for money they would find it." He takes a horse-drawn carriage to Bloomingdale's and on his arrival is surprised to find Mrs. Thayer purchasing something from a street peddler, so surprised that he topples out of the carriage and into the peddler's arms. The peddler is amused and gives Hazlitt "the smile of a collaborator."
In Bloomingdale's, Hazlitt impulsively buys what he considers expensive bracelets for his wife, but while the clerk takes his driver's license away to have his check approved, the store is suddenly closed because of a bomb scare. He calls his wife to tell her about his day but leaves out the bomb scare because it would disturb her, and "for some reason," he does not mention Mrs. Thayer either.
The next day Hazlitt receives the assurance he wants from the specialist and feels that he is now "free of a nameless burden." He returns to Bloomingdale's to regain his driver's licence, and with his new sense of freedom, he impulsively exchanges the bracelets for an expensive strand of pearls. He cannot afford them, but "writing the numbers, spelling the sum out gave him a tingling sense of exhilaration." He imagines his wife's "wide-eyed astonishment, her look of disbelief."
Hazlitt proceeds to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he, as a graduate student, had enjoyed watching people contemplate the works of art. In the gift shop, he sees another browser, the omnipresent Mrs. Thayer, read the last in a collection of Vincent Van Gogh's letters, then the next-to-last, then the next. He goes to the Fountain Court lunchroom, which he remembers so fondly from his youth, but it has been renovated, eliminating the dusky pool and sculptured figures he recalls so vividly.
In the basement rest room, he finds a group of boys, apparently under the influence of drugs, making a toilet overflow to flood the room and smearing themselves with shaving cream. They demand that he give them something but knock the handful of coins he offers into the water. He gives them the pearls and leaves them fighting over their booty.
He returns to the gift shop to buy an Etruscan pin "that he felt his wife would consider a sensible value." Outside, he passes a bus and hears tapping on a window. Mrs. Thayer waves to him, her eyes giving him "all the assurance he needed."
Bibliography
Bird, Roy. Wright Morris: Memory and Imagination. New York: Peter Lang, 1985.
Booth, Wayne. "The Two Worlds in the Fiction of Wright Morris." Sewanee Review 65 (1957): 375-399.
Crump, G. B. The Novels of Wright Morris: A Critical Interpretation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1978.
Howard, Leon. Wright Morris. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1968.
Knoll, Robert E., ed. Conversations with Wright Morris: Critical Views and Responses. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1977.
Madden, David. Wright Morris. New York: Twayne, 1964.
Rice, Rodney. "Photographing the Ruins: Wright Morris and Midwestern Gothic." MidAmerica 25 (1998): 128-154.
Trachtenberg, Alan. "The Craft of Vision." Critique 4 (Winter, 1961): 41-55.
Trachtenberg, Alan, and Ralph Liebermann. Distinctly American: The Photography of Wright Morris. London: Merrell, 2002.
Wydeven, Joseph. Wright Morris Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1998.