{"id":89,"date":"2018-03-09T15:42:27","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T15:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/?page_id=89"},"modified":"2018-12-07T00:33:21","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T00:33:21","slug":"buses","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/transportation\/buses\/","title":{"rendered":"Buses and the Spaces They Separate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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” Marie, to avoid arguments, allowed Wilamena to walk with her from time to time to the bus stop, but no farther.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

–\u00a0 Edward P. Jones , “Marie” (232)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Map layer of the bus routes in Washington DC and Locations in Marie and Young Lions\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Buses in\u00a0Lost in the City<\/em>\u00a0seem to be a less prominent means of transportation than trains<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0cars\/cabs<\/a>, which are each the setting of a\u00a0whole story (\u201cThe Orange Line Train to Ballston\u201d and \u201cLost in the City,\u201d respectively). Each bus trip and bus stop mentioned in the collection seems to provide only ordinary details, but\u00a0together, they build a vibrant vision of Washington, D.C., connected to the characters\u2019 ages, genders, and social backgrounds.<\/p>\n

There are two stories in the collection which buses played an important role both as settings and story line,\u00a0\u201c<\/strong>Marie\u201d\u00a0<\/em>and \u201cYoung Lions.\u201d The stories have two very different protagonists who use buses for different reasons.\u00a0 Marie Wilson, the oldest character in the book, uses the bus to go to Social Security Office, whereas Caesar Matthews, a twenty-four year old man with a criminal record, uses the bus to track a woman with a cognitive disability whose house is close to a bus stop. In both cases, despite their reluctance, buses seem to be their last resort. Marie, in addition to her physical disability, cannot afford to take any other type of transportation, while Caesar, in order to execute his plan, has to follow a woman who takes bus to work most days. Bus trips create a narrative standstill, where\u00a0a thin veil exists between the commuters, creating a sense of fleeting safety before danger arrives.<\/p>\n

Marie\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>has to take the early bus every time she is summoned to the Social Security office. (We all know how unreliable buses can be!) She feels safer taking the bus as a routine. She does not dread the bus specifically but is weary of the repetition and\u00a0aware of the risks of crime walking in her neighborhood.\u00a0Marie habitually carries a serrated knife whenever she leaves her apartment, and she has used it on one occasion to slash a would-be purse-snatcher\u2019s hand while going to buy some oatmeal. She does not seem to like taking the bus; however, it is her only option. (She takes a taxi only in confusion and humiliation). For Marie, buses represent journeys to places of disrespect and embarrassment.<\/p>\n

In \u201cYoung Lions,\u201d buses again represent the lack of privacy due to stranger\u2019s surveillance. Caesar never uses the bus except to follow a woman to plan his scheme of tricking the poor woman out of her paycheck.<\/p>\n

Week after week, Caesar had followed the retarded woman as she made her way to work, sitting in the back of the bus so he could see where she got off (63)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Caesar intentionally avoids any interaction with the woman by watching from afar, and like Marie, he never chooses a bus for convenience. But unlike Marie, who is afraid of the risk of exiting the bus, Caesar himself is the risk. The bus acts as a kind of equalizing force, keeping everyone in static similarity, but when they leave the vehicle, the morph into completely contrasting personae.<\/p>\n

Buses in\u00a0Lost in The City\u00a0<\/em>do not connect people. Jones chooses instead to use buses to show separation and alienation, with characters living in their own minds, riding the buses for different reasons. They might be afraid or eager to leave the bus, but for a brief time, they are all along for the same ride.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

” Marie, to avoid arguments, allowed Wilamena to walk with her from time to time to the bus stop, but no farther.” –\u00a0 Edward P. Jones , “Marie” (232) Map layer of the bus routes… <\/p>\n

Continue Reading Buses and the Spaces They Separate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":48,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-89","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":785,"href":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89\/revisions\/785"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/48"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eriksimpson.sites.grinnell.edu\/lightingthepage18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}