Exposure

The author uses the image of the man's furniture displayed on the lawn as a narrative impetus for exploring the exposure of the self to others. At the start of the story, the reader learns that the man has taken nearly all of the furniture from his bedroom, living room, and kitchen, and arranged it "in his front yard" (3). Besides the stripped mattress, the man decides that "things looked much the way they had" inside (3). While this moment from the story's first page refers immediately to the appearance of the belongings in the yard, it is also a metaphor for the man's state of mind. Presumably after he and his lover split up, the man decided to disassemble the private belongings that defined their life together, and expose them outside the house for everyone to see. As he stands at the kitchen window and observes his...