Jacklighting by Ann Beattie
"Jacklighting" by Ann Beattie explores themes of loss, memory, and the complexities of human relationships following the death of Nicholas, a character who suffered injuries from a motorcycle accident. The story unfolds over the anniversary of Nicholas's birthday, where the narrator and her boyfriend, Wynn, visit Nicholas's brother, Spence, who is now alone in their shared home. As they grapple with their grief, the characters engage in mundane activities, like making jam and bread, while avoiding direct conversations about their feelings and memories of Nicholas.
The narrative also delves into the lives of Spence's girlfriend, Pammy, a medical student with a complicated past, and Wynn, who is facing a mid-life crisis and contemplating his relationships. The atmosphere is tinged with nostalgia as the characters reflect on how Nicholas influenced their lives, contrasting his vibrant spirit with their current emotional states. The absence of celebration on what was once a festive occasion highlights their collective struggle to cope with loss. Ultimately, "Jacklighting" presents an intimate portrayal of how individuals navigate grief and the echoes of those they have lost, inviting readers to consider the fragility of life and the persistence of memory.
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Jacklighting by Ann Beattie
First published: 1982
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of work: The 1970's
Locale: Charlottesville, Virginia
Principal Characters:
The anonymous narrator , a womanWynn , her boyfriendSpence , their friend, whom they are visitingPammy , Spence's girlfriend
The Story
Nicholas has died sometime during the past year from injuries incurred while he was taking a midnight ride on his Harley and a drunk, driving a van, hit him head-on. Last year, on his birthday, he was alive but in the hospital, brain-damaged from the accident. This year, on his birthday, he is dead, and the narrator and her boyfriend, Wynn, both of whom used to drive from New York to Virginia to spend Nicholas's birthday with him, have come instead to visit Nicholas's brother, Spence, who now lives alone in the house that the brothers once shared.
The first half of the story takes place on the day before the anniversary of Nicholas's birthday. It is August and hot, but Spence makes jam so the narrator and Wynn can take some back with them to New York. He stays in the kitchen cooking because he does not want to talk with them. Spence's girlfriend, Pammy, sleeps upstairs with a small fan blowing on her. She is a medical student at Georgetown and has just arrived in Virginia after finishing summer school. Wynn stands in the field across from the house, pacing with his head down. At thirty-one, he thinks that he is in love with one of his students and is going through a mid-life crisis. The narrator watches Wynn from the house as he swings a broken branch and bats hickory nuts in the field. When Spence walks through the living room, he comments on Wynn's foolishness and on Wynn's September birthday, of which he wants to be reminded. The narrator tells Spence that last year she gave Wynn a Red Sox cap for his birthday.
When Nicholas was hit by the van, he, presumably, was not wearing his helmet because he had established in it a nest of treasures—dried chrysanthemums, half of a robin's blue shell, a cat's-eye marble, yellow twine, a sprig of grapes, a piece of a broken ruler—while baby-sitting the neighbors' four-year-old daughter. The narrator realizes that the head-on collision could have happened to her or Wynn or Spence because they all had ridden on the back of the Harley without helmets. She also wonders how she and Wynn and Spence are going to feel without Nicholas—the Nicholas who saw the world, the Nicholas who taught the narrator to trust herself and not settle for seeing things the same way, the Nicholas who made her a necklace with a lobster claw hanging from it and placed it over her head.
Even though the second half of the story takes place on the anniversary of Nicholas's birthday, no one brings it up. Spence makes bread. Pammy and the narrator sit on the porch: Pammy reading the Daily Progress and polishing her nails, and the narrator waiting for Wynn to return from his walk. Pammy mentions that she is older than she looks but that Spence, for a "joke," tells people that she is twenty-one. She also mentions that she was once addicted to speed. During that time, she traveled the subway, watched horror films, and slept with a stockbroker for money. She considers that time of her life actually another life and feels snobbish toward other people (including the narrator, Spence, and Wynn) who have not lived this way. The narrator, in turn, feels snobbish toward Pammy because Pammy's addiction makes the narrator realize that other people are confused too.
Spence and the narrator play catch in the heat to distract her from Wynn's taking a walk. Spence suggests that next year they go to Virginia Beach, rather than smolder at his house, in tribute to Nicholas's birthday. The narrator says that she and Wynn came because they thought it would be a hard time for Spence and they did not know that Pammy would be there. Spence does not know why he failed to mention the person who is supposed to be his lover.
Nicholas's past birthdays were celebrated with mint juleps, croquet games, cake eating, and midnight skinny dips. However, there is no celebrating on this anniversary of his birthday: Wynn is sure that he is having a crisis, Spence is crying about his overdone bread, and Pammy feels both isolated from the others and unsure about continuing medical school. The narrator, depressed and drinking on the porch, remembers Nicholas as possessing imagination, energy, and a sense of humor. She realizes that she knows nothing. She remembers that the drunk in the van had thought he had hit a deer when he hit Nicholas. She sees the intense stars. She remembers that every year Spence reports people on his property who are jacklighting.
Bibliography
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