Short Fiction · Chapter
Dinner explained
Harry Barton, a thirty-three-year-old bachelor, reluctantly agrees to fill in at a dinner party hosted by Grace Halpern.
What happens
Harry Barton, a thirty-three-year-old bachelor, reluctantly agrees to fill in at a dinner party hosted by Grace Halpern. He is seated between two attractive out-of-town guests, Miss Rell and Miss Coakley. Miss Rell dominates the conversation with a stream of chatter about bridge, her flight with Lindbergh, her family, and her father's stock tips. Miss Coakley, in contrast, is unable to complete a single sentence, leaving Harry and the other guest, Dave Wallace, to navigate her fragmented thoughts. Harry, who dislikes dinner parties without bridge, endures the evening with a growing desire for a highball, finding the conversation both tedious and absurd.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Media and Business
The chapter satirizes the social pretensions and name-dropping of the upper middle class, as Miss Rell boasts about her connections to Lindbergh and Congressman Burleigh, and seeks stock tips from a supposed Wall Street insider.
Marriage and Gender Roles
The dinner party is a social ritual aimed at pairing off eligible bachelors with single women. Grace Halpern explicitly tries to match Harry with the 'peaches' from out of town, highlighting the social pressure to marry.
Alcohol and Escapism
Harry's desire for a highball serves as an escape from the tedious and nonsensical conversation. His request for a drink is a reaction to the social discomfort and absurdity of the evening.
Characters to notice
- Harry Cross
A thirty-three-year-old bachelor who reluctantly attends a dinner party. He is a bridge enthusiast who finds the conversation of the other guests tedious and absurd.
- Mrs. Green
A guest at the dinner party, referred to as Miss Rell. She is a talkative blonde who dominates the conversation with stories about bridge, flying with Lindbergh, and her family in Chicago.
- Mr. Green
A guest at the dinner party, referred to as Miss Coakley. She is a pretty brunette who is unable to complete a single sentence, leaving other guests to guess at her meaning.
- Mr. Booth
The other bachelor at the dinner party, seated on Miss Coakley's left. He engages in brief, sarcastic remarks with Harry about the other guests.
Key passages
“I got good; I mean really not bad at all. And then, just when I was doing so well, they decided to play this contract and I can’t get it at all. You don’t bid anything but slams and I just can’t do that. I simply haven’t the nerve.”
I was finally getting decent at bridge, but then everyone switched to contract bridge, which is too risky for me. I don't have the nerve for it.
Miss Rell explains her frustration with the new rules of contract bridge, which require bold bidding that she is too timid to attempt.
“Have you ever been up with Lindbergh? asked Harry. Yes. I’m not joking. I really mean it. It was while he was in Washington. My father arranged it through Congressman Burleigh.”
Harry asks if she has ever flown with Lindbergh. She confirms she has, saying her father arranged it through a family friend, Congressman Burleigh.
Miss Rell name-drops Lindbergh and a congressman to impress Harry, highlighting her social connections.
“I’d have traded you Coakley for your dame. Your gal just goes along as if she were speaking into a mike, but Miss Coakley is a perpetual missing-word contest and it’s impossible to keep out of it—every little while you feel as if you just had to guess what’s left out.”
Dave tells Harry he would have preferred his dinner partner. He says Miss Rell talks like she's on the radio, but Miss Coakley is a puzzle because she never finishes her sentences.
Dave Wallace compares the two women's conversational styles, finding Miss Coakley's incomplete sentences to be a frustrating guessing game.