A Story by Dylan Thomas
"A Story" by Dylan Thomas captures an annual outing undertaken by a group of men from West Wales, ostensibly to visit the seaside town of Porthcawl. However, the true purpose of their journey is to indulge in a leisurely exploration of various public houses along the way, fueled by accumulated funds for pale ale and the camaraderie of old friends. The narrative is conveyed through the eyes of a young boy, who possesses a keen poetic sensibility and an imaginative perspective on the eccentricities of the men he accompanies. Living with his uncle's family in modest circumstances, the boy observes the colorful dynamics of his relatives and their friends, transforming mundane realities into vivid portraits filled with personality and humor.
As the men embark on their trip, the boy serves as both guardian of their bus and an astute observer of their antics, capturing their joyous revelry amid the backdrop of rural Wales. The revelry escalates as they visit whimsically named pubs, leading to a night filled with boisterous behavior and heartfelt camaraderie. The story culminates with a poignant, serene moment as the boy drifts to sleep in the warmth of his uncle’s presence, encapsulating a fleeting escape from daily responsibilities. Through its rich imagery and layered characterizations, "A Story" explores themes of companionship, nostalgia, and the simple pleasures of life.
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A Story by Dylan Thomas
First published: 1953
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of work: The early twentieth century
Locale: Wales
Principal Characters:
The narrator , a boy on the threshhold of adolescenceMr. Thomas , his uncleSarah Thomas , his auntBenjamin Franklyn , ,Mr. Weazley , ,Noah Bowen , ,Enoch Davies , ,Will Sentry , andO. Jones , his uncle's mates
The Story
In an attempt to provide a momentary respite from the rigors of work and the limits of domesticity, a group of men in West Wales go on an annual outing. It has as its ostensible destination the town of Porthcawl, but it is actually designed to stop at every inviting public house along the way. During the course of the year, a fund is gradually accumulated sufficient to purchase twenty cases of pale ale to supplement the fare of the local pubs and to hire a sightseeing bus for transportation. The story is told from the perspective of a young boy with a poet's flair for descriptive language and a fascination with the eccentricities of the men he accompanies. Because the boy lives in relatively meager circumstances with his uncle's family in a small house adjoining their tiny shop, his range of social circumstances is limited to the intricate detail of the shop, his observations of the peculiarities of his uncle's friends, and the energetically inventive stretch of his imagination. He first hears of the event when he reads an advertisement for sheep-dip, "which was all there was to read."
Because he spends so much time with his relatives, he has created an image of them that gives them a dimension beyond the mundane facts of their lives. His uncle is described as a huge old buffalo bursting the bounds of the little house; his aunt is reduced to a tiny mouselike creature. When his uncle's friends gather to plan their yearly outing, the boy turns his enthusiasm for local mythmaking toward their individualistic turns of speech, rendering their banter as the declarations of men with a singular capability, each exhibiting a skill appreciated and encouraged by the others, and each with a local history that includes some memorable feat from past excursions. There are certain conventions that have become a part of the preparation for the trip, including a temporary tiff in which the boy's aunt, Sarah Thomas, withdraws to her mother's house for the weekend. The uncle's decision to include the boy is a change in the routine, although not without some historical precedent, greeted predictably with good-natured, characteristic complaints before the men subside into tacit acceptance and find other things about which to disagree.
The tour bus leaves the village on a beautiful August morning, making a brief return to collect old O. Jones who, typically, has missed the bus. With impeccable timing, the men arrive at the first public house just as it opens. The boy is instructed to guard the bus against thieves—a preposterous notion—and occupies himself by wistfully looking at the cows while the men carouse in the bar, feeling a familiar sense of isolation ("on the lonely road, the lost, unwanted boy, and the lake-eyed cows") that is at the root of his poetic portraiture. When the men emerge, they are already becoming garrulous and boisterous, a mode of behavior that is compounded by further stops at a series of such exotically named pubs as the Twll in the Wall, the Sour Grapes, the Shepherd's Arms, and the Bells of Aberdovey. The boy remains an observer as the procession continues; he records the men's joyous exclamations, which reveal them in the spirit of freedom that is the goal of their journey. At the close of the day, he describes them as "thirty wild, wet, pickled, splashing men."
At the last stop, a stranger tries to impress everyone with spurious boasts, only to be devastatingly exposed through the rapier wit of Enoch Davies, evidence of the bountiful effects of the entire enterprise. As the bus heads home through the moonlight, the men continue their idiosyncratic behavior with hilarious persistence. Mr. Weazley demands they stop for another drink, while Jones begins to cook supper on his portable stove. Because all the pubs are closed, the party stops and Jones sets up a makeshift kitchen in a field. While he prepares a classic Welsh meal of sausage and mash, his contribution to the gathering, the men drink and sing, their dull cares banished momentarily. The wonderful mood of celebration and ease is evoked in an image of serenity as the boy recalls that he drifted to sleep, feeling safe against his uncle's large waistcoat. For a moment, separated from the obligations of their lives and wives, the company of men has come in contact with eternity.