Tuesday, December 9, 2014

The Birthday Party, parts 3971 - 3974

 3971. But she was not able to avoid the lecture her sister wanted to give her. Clara wanted to talk about her teacher’s favorite topic; Iconoclasm. Her teacher had expounded a bizarre interpretation of the Second Commandment. He suggested that it could be considered a sin to dress up in elaborate clothing and therefore make a kind of “graven image” of yourself.


 3972. “Certainly,” she said, “The good Lord intended for us to wear clothes, especially in cold weather, but all of the complicated things we create and lavish so much time on, is simple making ourselves into little votive statues.” 


 3973. When Harriet gave no reply she said, “Don’t you think so?” Then, when Harriet still did not respond, she said, “Don’t you agree…with what Dr. Freen….with the idea that…”



3974. Harriet’s blood pressure gave her no easy method of escape and, despite her better judgment she said, under her breath, and looking down at her now empty teacup, “Your teacher, Dr. Freen, is just a little idiot.” As she said the word, “Idiot,” Harriet exposed the uniformly small lower teeth that gave her the look of an out of breath bulldog.

No comments:

Post a Comment