A Silver Dish Analysis

Then for the rest of the week Woody was busy, had jobs to run, office responsibilities, family responsibilities. He lived alone; as did his wife; as did his mistress: everybody in a separate establishment. Since his wife, after fifteen years of separation, had not learned to take care of herself, Woody did her shopping on Fridays, filled her freezer. He had to take her this week to buy shoes. Also, Friday night he always spent with Helen—Helen was his wife de facto. Saturday he did his big weekly shopping. Saturday night he devoted to Mom and his sisters. So he was too busy to attend to his own feelings except, intermittently, to note to himself, “First Thursday in the grave.” “First Friday, and fine weather.” “First Saturday; he’s got to be getting used to it.” Under his breath he occasionally said, “Oh, Pop.”

From Saul Bellow, "A Silver Dish"

In this paragraph from A Silver Dish, Bellow uses both parataxis and hypotaxis to effect. While parataxis is the dominant syntactical structure, there is an inherent ranking of the elements of his sentences, that sometimes breaks out into overt hypotaxis. The paragraph is a listing of Woody's responsibilities that he busies himself with after his father's death. The paratactical listing is detached and unemotional, reflecting Woody's reaction to his father's death, or way of mourning. "Then for the rest of the week Woody was busy, had jobs to run, office responsibilities, family responsibilities," writes Bellow. While this sentence does not explicitly rank Woody's responsibilities in order of importance, the ordering of each task between commas instructs the reader as to Woody's priorities. We learn that in the ranking of Woody's life, his family responsibilities come last, after all of his busy work is finished, exactly what the rest of the paragraph demonstrates in its structure and syntax. The first sentence is also asyndetic, emphasizing the lack of connection Woody feels to these responsibilities, most significantly, those to his family.

The next sentence makes use of anaphora. "He lived alone; as did his wife; as did his mistress: everybody in a separate establishment." Again this paratactic sentence has an inherent hierarchy in its structure. Woody comes first, then his wife, then his mistress. The structure also underscores the separation of each of Woody's family members from him, with the short clauses separated by semicolons. Despite their separation, the anaphora connects them across the semicolon breaks in a polysyndetic manner.

Alliteration in the subsequent sentences highlights the repetitive schedule of Woody's life and its obsessive organization. "...fifteen years of separation... shopping on Fridays, filled her freezer." In the next sentence, alliteration brings out the chiasmus, again emphasizing the routine that even enters into Woody's relationship with his mistress, which arguably should be more exciting, a high point in his week. "Also, Friday night he always spent with Helen—Helen was his wife de facto." Bellow could have written the sentence "Also, Friday night he always spent with Helen, his de facto wife," or he could have used a word other than de facto, but de facto mirrors Friday, and the parallelism seems to reflect a mutual affection in Woody's relationship with Helen. Alliteration continues in the next sentences, "Saturday...shopping. Saturday...sisters. So..." This alliteration connects these asyndetic sentences, which could have been connected more explicitly, since they clearly proceed in a chronological order. When at the end of the paragraph, and the end of Woody's week, Bellow is able to put aside the business of Woody and attend to his mourning for his father, the structure of the sentences proceeds in the same way, beginning with the day of the week and focusing on the passage of time. "'First Thursday in the grave.” “First Friday, and fine weather.” “First Saturday; he’s got to be getting used to it.'” Since none of these days included scheduled time with his father, Woody is able to put aside his feelings of grief, since nothing is really missing. Bellow's structuring of this paragraph heightens the emotional impact when he ends the paragraph with, "Under his breath he occasionally said, 'Oh, Pop.'” Leading into the next paragraph, in which Woody really delves into his mourning of his father, Bellow's narrative structure allows the reader to experience Woody's sense of loss when he gets to the end of his carefully ordered week and is unable to live out his Sunday as usual.

Bellow, Saul. "A Silver Dish." The New Yorker 25 September 1978, Fiction. New Yorker.com. 8 September 2009