“Snakes’ Shoes” (1975)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1975/03/03/snakes-shoes
In this short story by Ann Beattie, a divorced couple, Alice and Richard, reunite for a weekend on the invitation of Richard’s brother, Sam. Alice is accompanied by Richard’s and her daughter along with her ten month old son with her new husband, Hans, whom she had had an adulterous affair while with Richard. Sam makes an effort to connect with his niece, playing along the pond, near the motel that they are renting rooms at. The dysfunction and inevitable dissipation of this family is symbolized through Sam’s tale to his niece of disappearing prints left in the dirt by snakes who lose their legs and their shoes.
On the surface, not much happens during the evening that the story takes place. The adults and children all perch upon a rock overlooking the pond and retreat within themselves for much of the encounter. Beattie’s use of third person limited narration, gives us the backstory to Alice and Richard’s marriage through Sam’s perspective. This story’s use of sparse language forces readers to read between the dialogue and pick up on what has happened in each characters’ lives that allow them to behave so coldly towards one another. With economy of language, Beattie’s entire story takes place within an evening, but all the action has already taken place in the subplot that has already happened before the story has taken place– completely adhering to Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory.
Literary Minimalism Anthology 