In his story “Outage” American writer John Updike presents a society in a gloomy state of dependence on technology and electricity, which directly relates to the title he chose for this short tale. Updike starts by portraying the reaction of an unnamed New England town when a blackout occurs. Brad Morris, the main character of the story, tries to run some errands but is unable to do so since the entire town relied heavily on electricity to sustain itself; Brad himself felt the strike of this outage when trying to use his computer, to no avail (Bedford, 1). As Brad drives around the city he “was startled by the sight of two young women embracing, before they began to converse, as if renewing a long-neglected acquaintance. People stood talking, …show more content…
Furthermore, Brad’s wife works at a Boutique, while Lynne’s husband is in Chicago on a business trip (Bedford, 3). From Lynne’s comments on her husband one arrives at the conclusion that he does not have such a strong relationship with her. In fact, Mrs. Willard seeks company in her friends and in alcohol, as noticed per the sweet smell Brad senses when she gets in his car (Bedford, 4). Brad does not talk about his wife, but he obviously forgets all about her when Lynne starts flirting with him. The scenes henceforth allow for the main theme to become clearer: in this society, sex is but a tool, a mere pleasure activity. Everybody is so busy that there is no time for love. For example, when Lynne starts kissing Brad, the latter begins to compare Lynne’s caresses to his wife Jane’s: “She came to him to help him undress, something Jane never did (Bedford, 4).” After a while, Mr. Morris felt the age difference and the implications of this act between the two of them, nonetheless he “reassured himself this was human and harmless (Bedford, 5).” Such a statement is difficult to endorse; for one, he “did not want to feel that this neighbor was much younger than he, but an age difference was declared in how calmly and quickly she shed her clothes, as if it were no big deal (Bedford, 6),” on the other hand, he questioned these feelings constantly as both Lynne and he were preparing for the sexual …show more content…
Updike then gives the story a turn at the end: the power is back up and all electronic devises start functioning again. This particular element might symbolize the deeper effect technology has in the lives of the inhabitants of this New England town; the return of electricity means that all is back to its initial place. Consequently, Brad now puts his clothes back on and disposes himself to resume his normal goings-on. There is no more need for the luxury of sex; the time for one to fulfill one’s responsibilities has come. And thus, the story abruptly ends, with the two characters just as lonely as usual. They did not get to finish what they started; Brad only decides that the sudden return of the power “… is saying, ‘I’m in charge now.’... “It’s saying,” … “’this is how it is. This is reality.’” He then goes away, leaving the audience with a bittersweet sensation about his reasoning and overall