Sound of a Drunken Drummer by H. W. Blattner
"Sound of a Drunken Drummer" by H. W. Blattner explores the tumultuous life of Elise, a 27-year-old woman navigating a complex web of relationships and self-destructive behaviors in San Francisco. Elise, described as a classic beauty, struggles with her identity, shaped by a chaotic upbringing and a history of promiscuity. Her relationship with Richard Wrighthill, an affluent middle-aged man, places her in a precarious position as his mistress, leading to a lifestyle marked by heavy drinking, drug use, and emotional turmoil. Elise's conversations with her faithful German shepherd, Rob, reveal her deep-seated cynicism and self-contempt, as she grapples with the consequences of her past choices.
The narrative delves into themes of dependency, the search for love, and the impact of substance abuse on personal relationships. As Elise attempts to fill the void left by her tumultuous interactions, her health and emotional stability deteriorate, culminating in a confrontation with Richard that exposes the fragility of their arrangement. Ultimately, the story presents a poignant reflection on the struggles of a woman caught in a cycle of desire, despair, and the longing for genuine connection, inviting readers to consider the complexities of love and self-worth in modern relationships.
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Sound of a Drunken Drummer by H. W. Blattner
First published: 1962
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of work: Unspecified; apparently the 1950's or early 1960's
Locale: San Francisco, California
Principal Characters:
Elise Lynch , a beautiful, twenty-seven-year-old alcoholicRichard Wrighthill , a wealthy businessmanRob , Elise's dearest companion, a German shepherd
The Story
Elise is speeding through San Francisco, alternately rambling on to Rob and singing along with the radio. Rob, her trusted confidant and one true friend, is a German shepherd. Elise is bright, a college graduate with at least a smattering of foreign-language ability, but promiscuous, cynical, and self-deprecating. Her conversations with Rob reveal her childhood in a financially secure but disordered family with a philandering father. Her self-identity and self-contempt tie into her sexual abilities. She became sexually active in her teens and was briefly married in high school; she attributes the fact that she got a college degree to having slept with one of her professors.
Elise is a classic beauty: golden hair, intensely blue eyes, perfect features, a lithe body, and flawless skin. Although she is twenty-seven years old, she looks like she is barely out of her teens. Men of all types find her irresistible, and she has made her way in life for some time as a mistress. Her current "owner," as she thinks of the men who support her, is Richard Wrighthill, a middle-aged married man with the resources to give her an expensive apartment, a maid, furs, and a new Cadillac convertible. Richard met her at the home of her former benefactor, Wimberley, a middle-aged man dying of cancer. Struck by her exquisite beauty, Richard immediately decided that he was in love. Wimberley, worried about what would happen to Elise when he died, suggested to her that it would be in her best interest to become Richard's mistress.
Richard convinced himself that Elise was as good and sweet as she was angelic-looking, although her constant drinking and apparent drug use—alluded to briefly—should not have been a secret. When they first discussed the possibility of her becoming his mistress, Richard effusively declared his love, while Elise alternated between coarse flippancy and a businessperson's regard for financial details. The next day she left Wim's home and moved into the elegant apartment that Richard leased in anticipation of her consent.
Richard visited for only a few hours in the evenings, leaving Elise with a great deal of spare time to fill. Often she stayed up all night, drinking, going to wild parties at her neighbor Toni's, and driving drunkenly through town with Rob at her side. Existing mainly on vodka, coffee, and cigarettes, she began rapidly deteriorating—physically and emotionally.
After their arrangement had continued for several months, Richard confronted Elise about her association with Toni—whom he considered to be a bad influence—and Elise's drinking. When he said he had hoped that if he gave her enough rope she would straighten herself out, Elise—who had already attempted suicide at least once—snapped, "Richard, you're quite right. People like me should never be given any rope, they think it's to hang themselves with." Unmoved, Richard—who drank relatively little—accused Elise of being on the road to alcoholism, but she defiantly claimed she was already there. Richard's insistence that he would help her if she got into treatment meant nothing to Elise, who believed that his only motivation for wanting her to take better care of herself was to maintain her as a first-rate sexual partner.
After Elise convinced Richard that they should go out for dinner, he refused to let her order a cocktail, insisting that she concentrate on the meal he ordered for her. Her ravaged system, however, could not handle the rich food, so she rushed to the women's room to vomit. Convinced that Elise went to the bar to sneak a drink, Richard became coldly angry and drove her home in silence. When she tried to tease him out of his irate mood, while continuing to drink heavily, Richard's tone and attitude changed. He called her to him and violated her sexually with such ferocity that she was left bleeding and shaken.
Now that Richard has left, Elise dresses and drives off into the night with Rob, again drunkenly attempting suicide.