Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Truman Capote was an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, playwright, and actor who was born on September 30, 1924 and died on August 25, 1984. He is best known for his short novel Breakfast at Tiffany (1958), and his true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966). Another noteworthy novel written by him was Other Voices, Other Rooms which was published in 1948. His first published short story was titled Miriam and it was published in the June 945 issue of the women’s magazine Mademoiselle. The story deals with the issues of isolation, loneliness, insanity, double personality disorder, schizophrenia, and the supernatural.
Characters of Miriam:
Mrs. H.T. Miller is a 61 years old widow woman living alone in her pleasant apartment. She is a lonely introvert woman who hardly speaks to anybody. After her husband’s death, she never spoke to any of her relatives Mr. H. T. Miller had left a reasonable amount of insurance and Mrs. Miller is content with her isolated lifestyle. She had a pet canary and she spent most of her time with the bird. Miriam is the eponymous character of the story. She is 17 year old young girl. She is a mysterious girl who meets Mrs. H.T. Miller at a cinema and develops a rapport with her. The name Miriam is symbolic as in Hebrew, it can be translated as “wished-for child.” A newly wed young couple lives in the same building where Mrs. H.T. Miller lives. Though Mrs. Miller has never spoken with the young couple, she does ask for their help when Miriam barges into her apartment and creates trouble for her.
Summary of Miriam:
Mrs. H.T. Miller is a 61 years old widowed woman who is living alone in her two-room apartment near the east river. She is a very conserved woman who has no friends to speak with. After her husband’s death, she does not keep in touch with any of her relatives. She prefers a planned daily life with little or no spontaneous action. She hardly goes anywhere other than the nearest grocery store. She keeps her two-room apartment immaculate, smokes occasionally, prepares her own meals, and tends to her canary.
One night, after taking her dinner, Mrs. Miller notices an advertisement of a picture playing at a neighborhood theatre in the afternoon newspaper. The title of the movie intrigues her and she decides to go watch the movie. It was lightly snowing that night. The picture was a hit and there was a long queue of ticket buyers in front of the box-office. Mrs. Miller waiter for her turn in the queue while she starts observing the people. Suddenly, her eyes turned toward a beautiful young girl. Mrs. Miller found her very impressive. The girl too turned and looked at her and smiled. Mrs. Miller was happy seeing her smiling at her. The girl approached her and asked if Mrs. Miller would do a favor for her. Mrs. Miller asked what does she want? The girl replies that its no bid deal but she wishes Mrs. Miller to buy a ticket for her because the usher will not let her in without the ticket she cannot buy the ticket as she is underage. The girl offers the money (Two Dimes and a Nickel) for the ticket to Mrs. Miller. Mrs. Miller thinks for a while and then decides to buy the ticket.
After buying the ticket, Mrs. Miller and the girl went over to the theatre where the usher directed them to a lounge to wait for a while as the previous show was still going on. As they sat, Mrs Miller observed the girl closely and found that more than her hair, her eyes are more impressive. Mrs. Miller offered a peppermint to the girl and asked her name to which the girl answered that her name is Miriam. Mrs. Miller was excited as her first name too was Miriam. She exclaimed, what a coincidence, isn’t it funny that my name too is Miriam, though it is not a common name, we both share it. The girl nodded affirmatively, Mrs Miller asked again if she didn’t find it exciting to which Miriam answered it is ‘moderately’ exciting. After some time, the two parted ways as Mrs. Miller had to go to search for her seat. After watching the movie, Mrs. Miller returned to her home.
In the following week, one evening when she had prepared her dinner and was reading a newspaper, she heard the doorbell. Mrs. Miller got startled as hardly anybody visits her apartment ever. She opened the door and found the same young little girl Miriam standing at the door. The girl authoritatively enters her apartment and sits on the sofa. Mrs. Miller asked the girl to go back to her home but Miriam refused and demanded Mrs Miller to make a jelly sandwich for her. Mrs. Miller felt uneasy but she agreed. As she went to the kitchen for preparing the sandwich, Miriam inspected her bedroom where she found a beautiful antique cameo brooch that was given to Mrs. Miller by her late husband. After preparing the sandwich, Mrs. Miler returns to the living room and then follows Miriam into the bedroom. Miriam appreciates the cameo brooch and asks if she can keep it for herself? Mrs. Miller didn’t wish to give it to her as she had some sweet memories attached to the cameo brooch. However, she relents and allows Miriam to keep it if she promises to go straight back to her home after finishing the sandwich. Miriam agrees and goes to the other room and sits on the sofa. After finishing the sandwich, she standsup and proceeds towards the door. But then she stops and asks Mrs. Miller to give her a goodnight kiss. Mrs. Miller was quite irritated by that time and she sternly refuses. This angers Miriam and she goes to the sidewall and picks up a vase and smashes it on the floor. She tramples all the flowers and then goes out. It was difficult for Mrs. Miller to sleep after that incidence.
The next morning, Mrs. Miller decides to go shopping at various shopping malls around New York City. She returns home late in the evening and locks her apartment from inside. After a few moments, the doorbell rings. Mrs. Miriam assumes she must be Miriam and decides not to answer the doorbell. Miriam continues to rin the doorbell again and again but Mrs. Miriam avoids answering back. After some time, the doorbell stops ringing. Mrs. Miller assumes that Miriam went away and goes to check. As she opens up the door, she gets startled. Miriam was standing right on the other side of the door. She rushes inside before Mrs. Miller could close the door back. Mrs. Miller follows her in and sees her sitting on the sofa. Mrs. Miller observes that Miriam is holding a beautiful doll in her left hand. Miriam then asks Mrs. Miller to bring in the large box that Miriam brought with her. Mrs. Miller notices the large box kept just outside the door. Out of curiosity, she brings the box in. Miriam starts rummaging the things that Mrs. Miller bought while she was shopping, she comments on the cherries, almond cakes, and white flowers. Meanwhile, Mrs. Miriam gets curious about the large box and opens it up. She notices that the box is full of clothes of Miriam and there is a second doll just like the one Miriam is holding in her hand. Miriam then announces that she has left her house and now she is going to live with her.
Mrs. Miller gets frightened and decides to run away from there. She goes downstairs to where a young couple lives. Mrs. Miller had seen the young couple many times, but she hardly spoke to them till now. She knocks at their door and as they open the door, she hurridly complains that a young girl keeps on appearing and will not leave her alone. Observing the frightened state of Mrs. Miller, the woman comforts her while her husband decides to go upstairs and check Mrs. Miller’s apartment. After sometime, he returns back and says that there there is nobody upstairs. Mrs. Miller gets startled. She tries to convince again that there was a young girl named Miriam. She asks if there is a large box on the floor to which the man answers that there is none. Mrs. Miller regains her composure and returns to her apartment. She checks both rooms and finds nobody is there. The loneliness of her house scares her. She feels tired and sits on the sofa. She is startled and frightened. She wonders if everything is real or if is it a dream. She wonders where did Miriam go? She convinces herself that there is nobody. She closes her eyes and tries to calm down. However, her mind is restless. She wonders if Miriam was real, did she ever met Miriam in real or if was it just a figment of her imagination. After a while, she convinces herself that it doesn’t matter and that she is Mr. Miller, the strong-willed woman who is used to living alone and doing all her work without depending on others. This thought calms her down and she feels relaxed. After some time, she notices a double sound, a bureau drawer opening, and closing. The double sound continues but gradually, its harshness diminishes and after a few moments, she hears another sound, the delicate sound of furling of a silken dress. The sound continues to reach nearer to her. Mrs. Miller feels the fear again and stiffens herself. As she opens her eyes, Miriam says ‘Hello’ again.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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