Two Stories by David Wong Louie
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Two stories by David Wong Louie, "Social Science" and "The Movers" use houses and men's relationship to them as their central metaphors. In "Social Science," the principal character, Henry, is waiting for his rented house to be sold by the owner. In "The Movers," an unnamed narrator fights with his lover on the day they are moving into a new house. In both stories the departure of women serves as the catalyst for the characters' unusual reactions to the houses. It is the end of their relationships that sets up the dynamic between the men and their houses. These houses are not homes and the men are, therefore, homeless in some sense. In the case of Henry, the homelessness and the behavior of the major characters can be seen as a metaphor for the breakup of the social fiber of the United States. In the case of the narrator in "The Movers," the house and the absence of the woman make him question his place in the world. Being an Asian American, he is also questioning his place in American society. The house that is not a home is, in Louie's stories, a metaphor for the absence of roots and the ways people fill space but do not truly inhabit it. "The Movers" is an eerie story in which a young man, abandoned by his lover as they are about to move into a new house, waits for the movers and encounters several people. Throughout the story the narrator is mistaken for someone else. His condition appears to be one of anonymity, not just with the reader but with everyone he
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ft with nowhere else to go.
The narrator of Louie's story finally seems like a ghost haunting this house. The house is empty, no one can see him clearly, and in the end, when he reaches out to touch one of the people, he is shocked by how warm his hand is. He pathetically suggests that maybe he'll go along with the boy. But, like a spirit haunting the house, he cannot leave. He cannot merge with the lives of the people around him but there is nowhere else for him to go.
The problem of identities is also at the center of "Social Science." But in this story, rather than being based on feelings of displacement in a society where one is a minority, the identity problem seems to be an epidemic. The story is told in the third person, but the point of view is that of Henry, the divorced man waiting for his rented house to be sold. Henry is depressed, bored, and lonely. He fears that once his house has been sold he will have to face up to the fact that he is divorced and that his wife is never coming back. What he fears most, however, is going out on his own to face the world. Then Dave Brinkley arrives and Henry's life is revitalized by the example of someone in far worse shape than he is. The story is darkly comic and hol
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Asian American, China Chinese, Dave Brinkley, Social Science, Christie Brinkley, Dave Brinkley's, Asian Americans, Melon Balls, Dave Henry, Henry Dorrine, social science, language spoken, dave brinkley, american society, dave brinkley's, david wong, house sold, york plume-penguin 1991, former residents, appearance dave, buy house, foreign land language, rented house sold, pangs love york, louie david wong,
Approximate Word count = 2036
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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