Torch Song (short story)
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| "Torch Song" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by John Cheever | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publication | |
| Published in | The New Yorker |
| Publication date | October 4, 1947 |
"Torch Song" is a short story by John Cheever which first appeared in The New Yorker on October 4, 1947. The work was included in the short fiction collection The Enormous Radio and Other Stories (1953), published by Funk and Wagnalls.[1][2] "Torch Song" is included in The Stories of John Cheever (1978).
A work often anthologized, the story is a modern rendering of the mythological Angel of Death.[3][4]
Jack Lorey is a twenty-something transplant to New York City, formerly of Ohio, who is seeking a career in New York City. He encounters Joan Harris, who hails from the same Ohio town as Jack, at a social gathering. She has abandoned her hopes of becoming a professional model, and serves at a number of entry-level jobs to support herself. Joan's demeanor is that of a healthy, well-adjusted and tolerant woman who enjoys social life. Jack and Joan form a casual platonic relationship, each pursuing their own romantic interests.
During the ensuing years Jack is twice married and divorced, yet his life continues to intersect with that of Joan, who retains her preternatural good looks and vitality. Jack notes that her paramours are generally men in their maturity, all of whom are physically impressive, but typically alcoholics down on their luck. Some are European émigrés, one who poses as an impoverished member of nobility. Joan, who exhibits boundless good cheer and stoic patience toward these men—some of whom cruelly abuse her—remains their faithful patroness. Her good health contrasts sharply with the gradual moral or physical deterioration of her lovers.
When Jack returns from serving in the military in World War II, he suffers financial setbacks and falls ill for months. Joan appears at his sickbed and offers to nurture him back to health. Jack has a shocking epiphany: all of Joan's male lovers have never recovered from their illnesses and bad fortune. It dawns on him that Joan is a benevolent Angel of Death, who has arrived only to preside over his passing. Despite Jack's panicked expulsion of Joan from his room, she serenely insists on returning that evening. Jack prepares to flee from the premises, his ultimate fate unknown.[5][6][7]
Critical assessment
James E. O'Hara regards "Torch Song" as one in a "breakthrough trilogy" that marked a distinct advance in the depth and complexity of Cheever's storytelling (The other two stories are "The Enormous Radio and Other Stories" and "Roseheath", also published in The New Yorker in 1947).[8]