Donald Barthelme, "See the Moon?"


1. "It's my hope that these souvenirs will someday merge, blur--cohere is the word, maybe--into something meaningful," the narrator tells us. "Fragments are the only forms I trust." What kinds of fragments can be identified in "See the Moon?" What kind of meaning can be derived from these fragments? Are the meanings as distinct as the fragments, or do they indeed "cohere"--and, if so, into what totality of effect?

2. Describe the narrator. Is his life heroic, antiheroic, or heroic in a different way?

3. Who is the narrator talking to? Why and how does this form of address play with and against the tone of the writing?

4. Near the conclusion of the story, the narrator decides that the moon "hates us." How is the narrator able to reach this conclusion, and what, exactly, is meant by it?

5. Describe the role of popular culture in the story. How is it important to the narrator's vision of the world?

"Sentence"