comment on theme

The typewriter is the common symbol and theme found across Uncommon Type, giving the collection its name. The machine sometimes presents itself as the focus of the short story and sometimes is just mentioned in passing. Clearly a supporter of the now outdated device, Hanks seamlessly weaves its presence into the core of the collection. Perhaps the most typewriter-advocating story is “These Are the Meditations of My Heart” in which a young woman who purchased a “toy” typewriter is talked into buying a real one by an avid, screaming shop owner (231). The old man declares about the apparatus, “they were meant to last forever!” (232).