We Are Looking at You, Agnes
Encyclopedia
"We Are Looking at You, Agnes" is short story
by Erskine Caldwell
, originally published 1931 (http://id.mind.net/~fletch/stories.html), included in We Are the Living
(1933).
The entire story is told as a single interior monologue of the protagonist, a young woman named Agnes.
From the way that her family members (father, mother, brother and sister) look at her, Agnes is sure that they know her guilty secret—but never talk about it. As the reader learns, five years before Agnes was sent to Birmingham, Alabama
in order to study stenography at a business school
, for which purpose her father gave her fifty dollars. Instead, however, she went to a "beauty-culture school" and learned to be a manicurist.
Afterwards, Agnes worked as a manicurist in a series of barber shops at Birmingham, Nashville, Memphis
and finally on Canal Street, New Orleans
—each of a lesser quality than the earlier. In each she found herself wanted for purposes other than as a manicurist, by men who "put their hands down the neck of my dress and squeezed until I screamed" and who afterwards talked to her about things which she "never heard of at home".
After some time, finding that she was "making more money on the outside than at the [manicuring] table", Agnes left the barber shop altogether and went to live in "a cheap hotel".
Agnes is still coming every year to spend Christmas with her family. From the way that they look at her, and from the fact that they never ask any questions about her supposed work as a stenographer in Birmingham, she feels sure that they know how she actually earns her living - but they never speak of it. She in fact desperately hopes that they would, whereupon she would tell the truth and then she won't have to come again in the following years for visits which have plainly become an ordeal. But they never do speak up, and neither does Agnes herself.
Near the end, the reader learns that Agnes' parents regard her as literally "unclean
": Whenever she leaves the room, her father wipes the chair she sat on with a cloth soaked in alcohol, and after meals her mother takes the dishes she had used and scalds them in the sink.
Still, the parents and siblings never speak up, and the story ends as it began: with the others sitting at the other side of the parlor and looking at Agnes, silently and accusingly.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Erskine Caldwell
Erskine Caldwell
Erskine Preston Caldwell was an American author. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native South like the novels Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre won him critical acclaim, but they also made him controversial among fellow Southerners of the time who felt he was...
, originally published 1931 (http://id.mind.net/~fletch/stories.html), included in We Are the Living
We Are the Living
We Are the Living is a 1933 collection of short stories by Erskine Caldwell, comprising some of this writer's earlier works.-Style:The stories are of different characters, some obviously intended as humorous or satirical while others are lyrical, romantic and/or tragic...
(1933).
The entire story is told as a single interior monologue of the protagonist, a young woman named Agnes.
From the way that her family members (father, mother, brother and sister) look at her, Agnes is sure that they know her guilty secret—but never talk about it. As the reader learns, five years before Agnes was sent to Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
in order to study stenography at a business school
Business school
A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in Business Administration. It teaches topics such as accounting, administration, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems, marketing, organizational behavior, public relations, strategy, human resource...
, for which purpose her father gave her fifty dollars. Instead, however, she went to a "beauty-culture school" and learned to be a manicurist.
Afterwards, Agnes worked as a manicurist in a series of barber shops at Birmingham, Nashville, Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and finally on Canal Street, New Orleans
Canal Street, New Orleans
Canal Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of New Orleans. Forming the upriver boundary of the city's oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter , it acted as the dividing line between the older French/Spanish Colonial-era city and the newer American Sector, today's Central Business District.The...
—each of a lesser quality than the earlier. In each she found herself wanted for purposes other than as a manicurist, by men who "put their hands down the neck of my dress and squeezed until I screamed" and who afterwards talked to her about things which she "never heard of at home".
After some time, finding that she was "making more money on the outside than at the [manicuring] table", Agnes left the barber shop altogether and went to live in "a cheap hotel".
Agnes is still coming every year to spend Christmas with her family. From the way that they look at her, and from the fact that they never ask any questions about her supposed work as a stenographer in Birmingham, she feels sure that they know how she actually earns her living - but they never speak of it. She in fact desperately hopes that they would, whereupon she would tell the truth and then she won't have to come again in the following years for visits which have plainly become an ordeal. But they never do speak up, and neither does Agnes herself.
Near the end, the reader learns that Agnes' parents regard her as literally "unclean
Unclean
Unclean may refer to:* Unclean animals, those whose consumption or handling is labeled a taboo* Unclean food, in Jewish dietary custom* Unclean hands, a term in contract law* Unclean , from 1984* Unclean spirit, in Christianity...
": Whenever she leaves the room, her father wipes the chair she sat on with a cloth soaked in alcohol, and after meals her mother takes the dishes she had used and scalds them in the sink.
Still, the parents and siblings never speak up, and the story ends as it began: with the others sitting at the other side of the parlor and looking at Agnes, silently and accusingly.
Critical Review
“We Are Looking at You, Agnes” is unique in that it is written as a stream of consciousness. The use of this technique usually makes a story very difficult for poor readers because comprehension cannot be based on following a sequence of actions. However, this particular story is extremely simple in terms of syntax and vocabulary; it is highly repetitive and emotionally charged. We think it will offer an excellent introduction to a technique of writing which our students may begin to understand and even choose to use in their own writing if they are adventuresome. (Alice Mick and Karen Wolff, Yale-New Haven Teachers Institutehttp://yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/4/79.04.05.x.html)