Short Fiction · Chapter
The Rubaiyat of a Scotch Highball explained
Bob Babbitt, a young man in New York, decides to quit drinking after overhearing a friend describe him as 'full as a boiled owl.' His sudden sobriety disrupts the bohemian lifestyle he and his wife Jessie have built, which was fueled by alc
What happens
Bob Babbitt, a young man in New York, decides to quit drinking after overhearing a friend describe him as 'full as a boiled owl.' His sudden sobriety disrupts the bohemian lifestyle he and his wife Jessie have built, which was fueled by alcohol and carefree revelry. The tension culminates when Bob recites a verse from Omar Khayyám's Rubaiyat, a poem that once symbolized their love and idealism. Jessie, realizing the emptiness of their false Bohemia, smashes the whiskey bottle and embraces Bob, shattering their old life to remold it 'nearer to the Heart's Desire.'
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Bob and Jessie's bohemian lifestyle is revealed as a 'false Bohemia,' masking their true selves and the emptiness of their habits.
Love and Romance
The couple's love, symbolized by the Rubaiyat, ultimately redeems them as they choose to rebuild their life together.
Ambition and Failure
Bob's attempt at reform initially fails to bring happiness, highlighting the struggle between personal ambition and marital harmony.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator directly addresses the reader, blending humor and moral commentary on drinking and marriage.
- Bob Babbitt
The protagonist who quits drinking after a moment of self-realization, causing a rift with his wife Jessie.
- Jessie Babbitt
Bob's wife, initially distressed by his sudden sobriety, but ultimately joins him in shattering their false bohemian life.
Key passages
“Bob Babbitt was 'off the stuff.' Which means—as you will discover by referring to the unabridged dictionary of Bohemia—that he had 'cut out the booze'; that he was 'on the water wagon.'”
Bob Babbitt had quit drinking alcohol.
The narrator humorously defines the slang term 'off the stuff' for the reader.
“He was a drunkard, and had not known it. What he had fondly imagined was a pleasant exhilaration had been maudlin intoxication.”
Bob realized that what he thought was fun was actually drunkenness.
Bob's moment of self-awareness leads to his decision to stop drinking.
“Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring The Winter Garment of Repentance fling: The Bird of Time has but a little way To fly—and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing!”
Seize the moment and cast off regret, for life is fleeting.
Bob recites this verse from the Rubaiyat, which triggers Jessie's epiphany.
“Would not we shatter it to bits—and then Remould it nearer to the Heart's Desire!”
We would break the world apart and rebuild it as we truly wish.
Jessie completes the verse, symbolizing their decision to destroy their old life and start anew.