Summary

In “Slumming,” the narrator admits that by the standards in the poor town of Alna, she was rich even though she believed she only made a meager living as a school teacher. She owned a summer home in Alna, that she had bought cheap from the bank. She did not consider herself a resident of Alna. She believed she was only “slumming” (110) there during the summers.

The narrator explains that she met Clark, who acted as her property manager, at a bar. She talked to him because he seemed educated even though he was nearly bald. She indicates she looked over his other faults “his arrogance, his airs, his bony, hairy hands” (113) because he was kind. She agreed to take him home with her. They slept together and he helped her fix up the house. Clark introduced her to drugs...