Glossary

dissolution ("Marriages, like chemical unions, release upon disso­lution packets of energy")—decomposition into fragments or parts; termination of a formal or legal bond or contract.

bonding ("the energy locked up in their bonding"}—the force that holds atoms together; when the bond is broken, energy (motion, heat, or light) is released.

to go mad ("the dog goes mad"}—to become infected with rabies (a dog); to become insane.

to score ("the Turners had scored again")—to make a point in a contest.

to hold court ("would hold court all day")—to entertain visitors, as a queen receives courtiers.

a solicitation ("stuffing ... pornography solicitations into the mailbox")—(1) a request made using persuasion; (2) an offer of sexual services. Both meanings apply here.

an au-pair girl ("Swiss au-pair girls'")—a young woman who lives with a family and looks after the children in exchange for room and board.

an honor system ("an honor system shoebox containing change")—an informal agreement that, without supervision, peo­ple will follow a set of rules.

Darien ("softball team from Darien")—a very fashionable Con­necticut suburb of New York.

Hartford ("archery champion of Hartford)—an unfashionable city in northern Connecticut.

Good Intentions ("rock group called the Good Intentions")—from the proverbial expression "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Aly Khan ("an ex-mistress of Aly Khan')—a Pakistani prince known as a playboy and sportsman in his youth; Pakistani ambas­sador to the United Nations, 1958-60.

lavender-haired ('the lavender-haired mother-in-law")—with white hair tinted a purplish-blue.

Nixon ("a Nixon adviser")—Richard M. Nixon, American presi­dent, 1969-74.

a parkway ("killed the next day on the Merritt Parkway")—a high­way on which no trucks or commercial vehicles are allowed.

a Maoist ("a student Maoist")—a follower of Мао Zedong, the primary Chinese Communist organizer and theoretician from the 1920s to his death in 1979.

Wesleyan ("from Wesleyan")—a fashionable private university in western Connecticut.

beaux ("The few lingering babysitters and beaux")—plural form of beau, a boyfriend.

ticklish ("The settlement was at a ticklish stage's—delicate, easy to upset.

Questions

1. "Upon dissolution," the narrator says, both chemical unions and marriages release energy that had been "locked up in their bonding". That is, when either chemical or social bonds are broken, energy is released. According to the examples in the first para­graph of the story, what kinds of energy are released when a marriage ends in divorce?

2. What details in the second paragraph of the story estab­lish that the Turners are part of the American upper-mid­dle class?

3. How, when the Turners were gone for the summer, did their swimming pool become a center of neighborhood activity? How did the neighbors justify using the pool? What did the neighbors need to do to feel that every­thing was in order?

4. In every culture, people who fit in are seen to be "the same" as everyone else in their group—the same, for example, in age, income, religion, appearance, and opinion. In Updike's humorous catalogue of people who swam in the Turners' pool, how is each person or group "different"—different, that is, from the Turners and their neighbors?

5. What picture does the story present of the sex lives of the American suburban upper-middle class in the 1960s?

6. What are the ironies (the differences between what could be or was expected and what actually happened) of the weekend when Ted came back to the house? For example, why weren't he and his mistress recognized when they arrived at the house? Why couldn't they enjoy a swim in the pool? What was the difference in their reactions to the situation of being trapped inside the house?

7. Linda's question is referred to twice—at the beginning of the story as "a worrisome, or whimsical, question" (lines 24-25) and the end of the story as "that troubling question" (line 153); but she never asks the question. What do you suppose it was?