Alone With You is an excellent collection of eight short stories written by Marisa Silver that explores the many complexities present in modern relationships and the various rarely expected ways that love manifests itself in people's lives. The characters in the short stories are brilliantly presented, together with how they confront the different abrupt challenges in the lives with immense grace, lots of fear and humor, and commendable courage. Silver successfully renders the fictional characters in the stories in a manner the readers can easily relate with and equate to their personal lives. Within the eight mouth-watering short stories, many themes are apparently present, and they are superbly woven in them. The various characters are used aptly in presenting varying themes that encompass human life.
In “Temporary,” the issue of poverty and lack is explored. Both Shelly and Vivian “lived in downtown Los Angeles, in an industrial space that, belonged, nominally, to a ribbon factory whose warehouse was attached,” (Silver, 2010, p.1). Shelly had discovered this place when the band she was a member in had played in a concert there. After the evening, everyone had gone to his or her homes but Shelly decided to stay a little longer. Immediately her male companion she had met that previous evening left, Shelly did not hesitate to arrange with the ribbon factory’s owner on taking the place as her residence. The financial insecurity Shelly aptly comes out in the arrangement she had with the owner. Making an industrial place a home shows she barely afford the rents for genuine homes. In this arrangement, Shelly had to specifically pay rent in cash to the owner, and at any moment she was discovered by the housing authorities to be living in illegal space, the owner of this industrial space would offer claims to them that she was a squatter who lacked residence (Silver, 2010, p.1).
Moreover, “Temporary” superbly presents the theme of a carefree living. Shelly had a carefree lifestyle, and this amazed Vivian. Occasionally, Shelly would live her money lying on tables, and throwing numerous dinner parties was her in-thing (Silver, 2010, p.2). She also had an amazing random character whereby she would give her jewelry and clothes to Vivian provided she had given a compliment about them. It was her habit of “taking off whatever it was that Vivian liked and giving it to her”, (Silver, 2010, p.2). Sleeping around with men and women she had met the previous evening was something Shelly engaged in consistently indicating her carefree lifestyle that lacked caution or inhibitions. Vivian was amazed by the adventurous nature of Shelly’s life and admired her outrageous experiences. She would like to borrow a leaf from Shelly, but her yearning is securing something permanent, be a job or residence.
Additionally, the theme of living a mediocre life and lack of motivation is presented in “Temporary”. Shelly had “negligible professional skills”, (Silver, 2010, p.2). This indicates that she had failed to pursue professional skills that could enable her get meaningful jobs. For Vivian, she got a job at an adoption agency doing clerical work merely because she was an adopted child. This is the core qualification she had for this job, but she is not sufficiently qualified to offer assistance in adoption issues, or making profound decisions on those who might turn out to be better parents for the adopted children. She could only type sixty words but did not know how to prepare a spreadsheet. Her lack of professional training or depth is corroborated by the description her adviser had written one of her midterm evaluations: she was a below-the-radar kind of girl (Silver, 2010, p.4). This underscores the mediocrity inherent in their lives, and the hard truth that Vivian could not a make a leader.
In the title story, “Alone With You” the theme of disillusionment and family breakup is explored. Marie feels the need to leave those she loves due to her illness. She is so against letting her family care for her in her illness. She is deeply disillusioned at the idea of letting her family provide medical care. ‘It was only that they had discovered that they needed to look away from one another to find their futures,’ (Silver, 2010m, p. 164)? The family was not a single unit anymore; it had broken into pieces. Marie feels it will be worthwhile for the family members to look away from each other in order to realize their dreams.
In “Night Train to Frankfurt,” the journey of ailing Dorothy and her daughter Helen is documented. The theme of experimentation is presented. Dorothy and her daughter Helen set out to travel Frankfurt, Germany to seek experimental medical treatment. ‘They were going to boil Dorothy’s blood. Take it out, heat it, and put it back in. The cancer would be gone. Well, that wasn’t exactly it.” This medical experimentation is fraught with risks that could be disastrous to Dorothy. Moreover, the journey provides Helen with an excellent opportunity to reflect on the relationship with her mother and break the barriers that existed between them.
In the short story “The Visitor,” cruelty as a theme is explored. Candy is nurse’s aide devoid of emotions, and quietly braving to the many losses she has suffered. At the V.A hospital, she tends to patients who are seriously injured. One patient, El Lobo, brings out her cruel side. El Lobo is severely wounded, “The new boy was three-quarters gone. Both legs from the knee and the left arm at the shoulder were completely gone” (Silver, 2010). Candy pinches him under the covers and prefers to hold back his food apparently to frustrate him. This demonstrates intense and unwarranted cruelty that Candy subjects El Lobo to. This hostility appears human due to the source of rage and grief that Candy experiences in her life. At her home, she has to bear with living with her mother’s stubborn ghost and her grandmother, Marjorie. Candy has practically lost most of her relations. Her mother occasionally stayed away from her, but in her death she comes back as a ghost only to steal some house essentials. This is devastating to Candy has to take dead mother’s reminders that she is still present whilst she was ever absent from her while she was alive. Lust is also tackled in “The Visitor” in a scene whereby Candy cleans El Lobo’s naked using her hand, thus making him aggressive. She lusts at her body while well aware that the soldier is terribly incapacitated and has refused to speak to her.
The theme of pre-marital sex and bearing out of wedlock is tackled in “Pond.” Martha, Julia’s twenty-four-year-old daughter, is hypersexual and lacks self-consciousness. She gets pregnant by a young person with Downs Syndrome at a care program for adults. Martha’s parents contemplate to force her to abort, but Julia drops this agitation, and Gary is born out of wedlock. Because of Martha’s immaturity, Burton and Julia will be tasked with shouldering the burden of caring for Gary.
Additionally, infidelity is a theme tackled in two short stories; “Pond” and “Leap.” In “Pond,” Burton, Julia’s husband engages in infidelity and moves out of their house. The philandering behavior of Burton is both an insult and relief to Julia. Likewise in “Leap,” the theme of infidelity is presented. Sheila, Colin’s wife who is recovering from bypass surgery of the heart, has feelings of being drawn to Colin after his affair: “Colin’s adultery exposed her desire, turned it into something both pornographic and banal, private and essential,” (Silver, 2010, p. 24).
In the short story, “In the New World,” courage in moments of despair is articulated. Tomasz says, “His father had lost three children. But in the end, the man was not scared by death. It was the fact that Tomasz had healed that terrified him, which made him mute and unknowable to his youngest son. Each day Tomasz lived was another day he could die. It had never occurred to Tomasz that he could have hurt his father simply by being alive,” (Silver, 2010, p.81). Tomasz’s father faced the death of his three children courageously without falling into the trap of despairing, or being sad. Death did not scare him at all. This portrays hardened hearts that can easily move on with life despite the devastations of death.
The beautiful collection of short stories in “Alone With You” is filled with many themes that form part of human life. The various issues touch on almost all aspects of human life, and the short stories paint the reality in modern human relationships. The different attributes of people that enable them to confront the challenges in their lives are also precipitated out in the different short stories.
Works Cited
Silver, Marisa. Alone with You: Stories. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. Print.
