Scene 9 Summary

This scene consists of Bernie's telling a long story of a job he did one New Year's Eve while he was still working for the phone company. He tells how he went to a party, smashed his beloved car on a telephone pole but drove away from the accident, got called in to repair the telephone pole, and sat in the phone company's truck drinking while the coworker who accompanied him on the call did all the work.

Scene 9 Analysis

Although Bernie's rambling story is evocative of some of the good times he had in his earlier life, it's a clear contrast to all the negative stories he's told so far. Because it's juxtaposed with the following scene, it serves as an illustration of how Bernie must let even the good things in the past go so that he can face the future...