What Is The Mood Of The Other Paris By Gallant

The Matter of Marriage

Gallant utilizes both narrative voice and characterization in “The Other Paris” in order to provide social commentary to depict a false, hopeless marriage. Both characters, Carol and Howard, are characterized with senses of being rushed and lonely, each depicted by their distinct thoughts and actions. Gallant shows both Carol and Howard feeling rushed to find companionship and also both containing false sense of security and hopefulness. Gallant characterizes these characters through narrative voice and viewing the characters separately, then together, then as individuals once again to warn against rushing into marriages.

Gallant begins “The Other Paris” by viewing Carol as an individual. This usage of narrative voice

This is a stark contrast between how Carol expects to fall in love and be proposed to and how she actually does. Carol expects a luxurious scene with “barrows of violets, acacias in flower, and the [. . .] Eiffel Tower,” (Gallant, Lines 5-6). The flowers and the Eiffel Tower, both symbols of love and peace as the Eiffel Tower is in Paris which is considered a city of love, show that Carol has an incredibly bright, happy idea of how she wants and wishes to fall in love or be proposed to. The pleasantness and romanticness of the scene is a stark contrast to how she actually is proposed to: over a tuna-fish salad lunch. This provides social commentary from Gallant to suggest that many people are similar to Carol and have a much too fantastical view of love and proposals. Gallant suggests that in reality, most proposals do not pan out in the fantastical, romantic way that many people believe they will. Gallant is also depicting this as a letdown of sorts to foreshadow the marriage because Carol’s situation is quite the opposite of the heavily romantic scene she envisioned for herself. Carol is also characterized as being urgent, rushed, and impatient in falling in love. She is described as

This is a contrast to the previous paragraph where Howard and Carol were both viewed and spoken about as a pair. This shift foreshadows and signifies a split or break between the union of Howard and Carol, as Howard is now being referred to and spoken about as an individual. Howard is also clearly depicted as lonely and wishes not to be, as he goes between “a state of numbness and a state of self-congratulation [. . .] and he was discontented with his bachelor households,” (Gallant, Lines 60-66). Howard is characterized as an unhappy, lonely man who is unsatisfied with his life and does not enjoy being alone. The shift of narrative mode to just Howard emphasizes this, as he is being spoken about singularly, with no one else. This also reinforces Howard’s unhappiness with his lonely lifestyle, which may be the reason he is frantically rushing into a marriage. One of Howard’s sisters also “advised him to marry some nice girl before it was too late,” (Gallant, Lines 71-72). This characterizes Howard, similar to Carol, as being much too rushed and frantic in trying to find someone to marry. Also similar to Carol, is the belief that time is running out and Howard must get married immediately or else it will be too late which is completely and entirely false. Howard has plenty of time to truly find someone he loves and cares about to actually