Literary Criticism: The Gas Station

                                          The Gas Station (Edward Hopper)


Written By: Souvankham Thammavongsa
The Paris Review
(Pages: 131 - 138)

The plot of this short story is around love and freedom, and a healthy selfishness.

The characters are three; Mary a 36 years old, with no pets, with a limited wardrobe, two black pencil shirts, black jacket, two black blouses.

She is an independent accountant, and after years, she decides to come back to a small town, wet by the ocean, in the winter season for two reason, she adore to live alone, and because during this period, the town is like a desert, none to meet, no sidewalks but 'only grassy ditches along the road.'

The second character is an old woman, she is a client of Mary, she is a government's employee, she wants to claim the childcare expenses, she loves the man that gave to her the child.

The last character is the man that works at the gas station, he is not a beautiful man, but he is pleasing to the eyes of Mary.

Mary is a round character we know that she is taciturn and asocial, she thinks a lot, her clients are a perfect tools to see every state of love, a fundamental experience for her freedom and inner growth.

Mary is not a beautiful girl, she is impulsive and touchy, but she is looking for a person to love, she believe that the right man is the gas station man, he is also an artist, that paints only with black, this is their point of contact, fortunately, for her, her love is not reciprocated.

From her experiences, we will know that, the love is a trap, to love a person means give up freedom and Mary is a free spirit without borders.

This piece of writing is a good example to understand what means "showing not telling" and there is not contrast, except the phrase pronounced by the gas station man 'Hey, can I ask you some questions?' she didn't appreciate the tone used by this man.

There isn't enough contrast but it is compensated by the mystery, that lurks in this short story.