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 meets. As Suzy is leaving and angrily assuring him that they have no future together, a young boy appears to collect for newspaper service. He does not seem to understand that these are not the former residents and just keeps saying, "Collect." The narrator demands, "'Can't you see,' I said, 'you've never seen me before?'" (121). The narrator soon stops asking this as he seems to become resigned to never being recognized for who he is. He has left his old l...