The Burning House, by Anne Beattie

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The Burning House, written by Ann Beattie, centers around a narrator, Amy, her relationship with her husband, Frank, and to a lesser degree Amys interactions with and insights to Franks half brother, Fred, along with two of their closest friends, JD and Tucker. Amy and Frank are having a dinner party with Freddy, Tucker and JD as guests. They are all frequent visitors. As the dinner party progresses, it becomes apparent that there is tension or at least something not quite right between Frank and Amy as they do not interact much. A conversation between Amy and Freddy later reveals that Frank is having an affair and Amy is aware of it. Not too much later, a telephone call discloses that Amy is also having an affair. It is not clear which affair began first or if one affair is the result of the pain caused by the first? Neither person shows great pain from the knowledge of their spouses affair. Neither does either one of them show remorse. Amy does however make note that she knows the little things and personal things about her husband and friends; however, she has known the for years, "and as time goes by I know them all less and less." In the end, Amy asks Frank if he is going to stay or leave and he replies that he is leaving.

Critical Response

The story is about how we change over time, being close to someone and yet not knowing them, deceptions, and aspiring for fulfillment and happiness. Freddy is watching the full moon at the beginning of the story. Later, he mentions that everyone should take a walk out by the lighthouse after dinner and watch the moon. I believe that Ann Beattie is using the moon as a metaphoric foreshadowing of Amys realization that she and the people around her, along with her marriage, changes over time. Similarly, the moon constantly changes. Nearing the end of the story, Amy describes the glass prisms, which hang in their bedroom and catch the morning light. Prisms cause light to bend and dance in beautiful colors, moving and changing as the lighting changes through the day, just as people change through their days. Amy herself has gone through changes in her life over the years. She had been a full time mother until her son, Mark, went to school. Following that she went back to school herself to obtain her MA in art.

It is quite plausible that Amy does not know the people in her home any longer because they have all been changing over time. Amy realizes that she has, "known everybody in the house for years, and as time goes by I know them all less and less" p. 4, line 148. And then she comes to further realization that, "all those moments, and all they meant was that I was fooled into thinking I knew these people because I knew the small things, the personal things" p 50, line 147. Conversely, Amys husband Frank further explains to her that although she has surrounded herself with men, she does not understand them at all. He states, " You know what we feel inside that you dont feel? That were going to the stars." p 5, line 16. Furthermore, if people are being deceptive to one another, then they are bound to become more and more like strangers, knowing each other less and less.Custom writing service can write essays on The Burning House, by Anne Beattie

Amy and Frank are being deceptive to each other in their adultery. Even the family friend, JD is deceptive through his conspiring with Amy in her affair with Johnny. It is interesting to note that JD first appeared at the house wearing a goats head mask, symbolic of all of the deception in the story. Foreshadowing earlier, Tucker had told a story of one of his clients living a deceptive, hidden homosexual life.

Amy and Frank are searching for happiness and fulfillment partially through their affairs. While lying in bed with Amy, Frank explains that, "men think theyre Spider-Man and Buck Rogers and Superman" that all men feel inside "That were going to the stars" p 5, line168. Frank is leaving Amy and his marriage in to acquire happiness, or as he says to reach the stars. When he confirms his decision to leave, he tells Amy that he has found, or acquired happiness, as he is looking down from space.

Frank was very clever in his dialogue when he let Amy know that he was aware of her affair. He let her know that although she may be uncomfortable in her home, it could be worse. She could be living in the midst of violent and turbulent storms. As it is, I believe that their house is just smoldering around them, burning down slow enough for them to escape. Or, it is less likely; he could be insinuating that if she were in Key West with her lover, there would be violent storms. He also mentions that a travel agent recommended panning for gold in Peru. He is suggesting here that he is going to go and mine his treasure and happiness, and he may be suggesting that she should do the same.

Personal Response

The story is like a spider web, what a tangled web we weave. Amy and Franks affairs are affecting not only themselves, the people they are having an affair with, but also their son Mark, brother Freddie and their friends. Amy is aware of the effects her troubled marriage is having on her son. She mentions the thumb sucking and climbing into the parents bed every morning. While it is uncertain whether Freddie is aware of Amys affair, he expresses his displeasure at his brothers affair. Of course it is true in any family, whatever one person does, right or wrong, it will affect all of the others either positively or adversely. I also agree with the theme in the story about people always changing and that even when we live with someone, we still may not know them. Anyone living with a teen will especially know this to be true unless you tie the teen down and force them to allow you to spend time with them, talk to them and work at the relationship.

I enjoyed the story even though I found it depressing. I prefer the happy ending, which the title foreshadows there not to be. As Freddie says, it is a wicked fairytale ending with hearts breaking and houses burning.

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