Say Yes by Tobias Wolff
"Say Yes" by Tobias Wolff is a short story that explores the complex dynamics of an interracial relationship through the lens of a white couple, the unnamed husband and his wife, Ann. Set in the familiar backdrop of a middle-class American kitchen, the narrative unfolds primarily through dialogue as the couple debates the feasibility of love across racial lines. The husband expresses skepticism, citing divorce statistics as a pragmatic argument against the endurance of interracial marriages. In contrast, Ann holds an idealistic view, believing that true love can overcome any societal barriers.
As their conversation escalates, it becomes evident that the discussion is less about race and more about the underlying tensions in their own relationship. A moment of physical injury—a cut on Ann’s thumb—serves as a poignant metaphor for their emotional struggles, highlighting the complexities of care and conflict within their marriage. Despite the husband's attention to Ann's wound, the unresolved nature of their argument leaves a palpable distance between them. By the end of the story, as they lie in bed apart, the couple grapples with feelings of estrangement, suggesting that even in love, significant barriers can exist. This thought-provoking narrative invites reflections on love, understanding, and the challenges posed by societal perceptions of race.
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Say Yes by Tobias Wolff
First published: 1980
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of work: The early 1980's
Locale: An unspecified American suburb
Principal Characters:
The husband , the unnamed protagonistAnn , his wife
The Story
On its surface, "Say Yes" concerns racism, specifically, opposition to interracial love and marriage. The unnamed protagonist and his wife, Ann, both white, discuss the subject. They quarrel, or at least disagree, and nothing is resolved except that they are really fighting about their own relationship.
Sitting in any kitchen in any house in the white suburbs of America, this typical middle-class couple are doing nothing more than talking while doing the dishes one night after dinner. Most of the two-thousand-word story is dialogue about this one topic: Can two people who are from different backgrounds love and understand each other completely and meaningfully?
The husband argues "no" and the wife argues "yes," but neither offers convincing arguments. The husband appeals to practicality, citing divorce statistics that show that such relationships are doomed to separation and failure. By contrast, Ann cites an abstract ideal of love, which would have it that if two people love each other they should be able to overcome such obstacles no matter what.
The tension builds as they snap and quip at each other, both being careful not to cross an unstated line over which they cannot retreat. In her nervousness, Ann cuts her thumb on a knife in the dirty dishwater. When she bleeds, her husband gives her every kind of attention in the forms of rubbing alcohol, bandages, and sympathy.
As the husband continues to dry the dishes, Ann resumes the argument, determined to make him agree with her. She forces speculation about what would have happened had she been a member of another race. He counters by arguing that in such a case they would have been from different social groups, would never have met, and therefore would never have fallen in love and married. Ann cannot accept this. She persists, attempting to get him to say that he would have loved her unconditionally, no matter what. She insists that this is the only possible way in which their relation can be meaningful, lasting, and pure.
On finishing the dishes, the husband notices blood on the kitchen linoleum from Ann's wound, which he now thinks that he has caused. He meticulously cleans up the stain, leaving the floor spotless. Needing to leave the kitchen, he performs the husbandly ritual of taking the trash out to the street. He breathes deeply, focuses on the traffic, and calms himself down. Two dogs fight over the garbage can in much the same way he and his wife had been fighting over the dishes.
He returns directly to a dark house, one in which Ann has already gone to bed—but not to sleep. After he undresses and gets in bed, they lie quietly but have no contact. Ann gets up from the bed and goes quietly into the silent house. He hears her movements and knows that his wife is a stranger, if not to herself then at least to him.
Bibliography
Challener, Daniel D. Stories of Resilience in Childhood: The Narratives of Maya Angelou, Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Rodriguez, John Edgar Wideman, and Tobias Wolff. New York: Garland, 1997.
Cornwall, John. "Wolff at the Door." Sunday Times Magazine (London), September 12, 1993, 28-33.
DePietro, Thomas. "Minimalists, Moralists, and Manhattanites." Hudson Review 39 (Autumn, 1986): 487-494.
Hannah, James. Tobias Wolff: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1996.
Lyons, Bonnie, and Bill Oliver. "An Interview with Tobias Wolff." Contemporary Literature 31, no. 1 (Spring, 1990): 1-16.
Wolff, Geoffrey. The Duke of Deception. New York: Viking Press, 1986.