Ramblings In George Saunders The Falls

593 Words2 Pages

George Saunders 1958 short story “The Falls” alternates between two main characters, Morse and Aldo Cummings. Saunders begins with the third person ramblings from Morse, an insecure, overanalyzing, easily distracted yet conscientious family man who is walking home though the St. Jude Catholic School campus. Aldo Cummings, the yet to be discovered starving writer gives his own third person account of his world, all while sharing the walking path along the Taganac River with Morse. Although both men are taking the same physical path throughout the story, their lives, like Bryce Falls, have taken their own unique tumbles, leaving the reader to question whether the title has more to do with Morse and Aldo’s personal struggles, whether real or …show more content…

Through his ramblings, Morse deliberates his facial expression while commuting across the “nerve-wracking” St. Jude’s campus. Concerned with his impression as he walked among the students, “he felt that if he smiled at the uniformed Catholic children they might think he was a wacko or pervert and if he didn't smile they might think he was an old grouch made bitter by the world” Morse strives to portray the most important characteristic of all, humility. The reader quickly senses that Morse has failed personally, professionally, financially, and these characteristics plague his journey. Like a light switch, Morse flips between feeling inadequate and overwhelmed by his failures (small rental house, awkward social presence, and inability to remember important dates) to wondering, “Why should he be worried when all he was doing was going home to enjoy his beautiful children without a care in the world”. In stark contrast, Aldo Cummings, a forty year artist still living at home views Morse as part of the “power elite”, a wealthy member of the upper class and one who could not possibly understand Cummings or any other artist under any circumstances. Along the path, Cumming is pleased after he “so decisively snubbed Morse” and quickly moves into a

Open Document