Table for Two

Towles’s presentation of happiness is varied throughout the works in his collection, but an essential theme across the stories is the need for satisfaction and the different ways an individual can pursue and achieve happiness. The collection opens with “The Line,” which features Pushkin’s poetic view of the Russian pastoral experience as a site of contentment: He feels “in his heart that theirs was a satisfactory life” (3). Pushkin’s circumstances change, but the story still ends with Pushkin giving another man a “friendly wave” (39)—switching from being a farmer, to waiting in lines in the Soviet Union, to waiting in a bread line in the US does not dampen his spirits. Instead, he refuses to see his position as metaphorical: Being at the end of the line for charity is not, to Pushkin, “the end of anything at all” (39). This attitude is a testament to his resilient contentedness. Pushkin’s happiness is simple, relying primarily on his safety and comfort, unlike with Irina’s happiness, which is rooted in hard work and accomplishment.

Towles’s characters come alive in the moments in which they feel most happy—though this does not necessarily cause similar pleasure to those around them. In the fourth story of the collection, “I Will Survive,” John’s method for achieving happiness is the focal point of the conflict between him and his wife Peggy, who sees John’s roller-skating as tantamount to a sexual affair.