The Persistence of Desire

John Updike, The Persistence of Desire
Pg.563

" Well, that if I hurt you, it was stupidity, because I was young. I've often wondered since if I did, because it seems now that you were the only person outside my family whoever, actually, liked me."

In this particular passage, the main character (Clyde) is having a conversation with his ex-girlfriend Janet. Since this story takes place around the 1950's, its clear that people in this time period believed in society living similar lifestyles and hiding their diversity under a fascade. When Clyde states that, "you were the only person outside my family whoever, actually, liked me", he means that Janet was the only one who accepted him for his diversity and his true personality in life. Clyde regrets leaving Janet for a life of similarity and routine. His "young" dreams of achieving that American Dream of the 1950's led him to believe in his mid-stages of life, that maybe this American dream isn't the zenith of his life. Janet, who showed him to be himself, was the one that brought happiness to his life. Janet is actually a metaphor of his true personality under his fascade casted in society.

John Updike, The Persistence of Desire
Pg. 569

"Ringed by the judging eyes of the young and old, he felt like an actor snug behind the blinding protection of the footlights; he squinted prolongedly at the speedometer-clock, which, like a letter delivered on the stage, in fact was blank."

In the beginning of the story, Clyde looks at the "speedometer-clock" and notices time slipping bye with each movement of the hand. However, ironically, towards the end of the story when he recieves glasses and a letter from Janet he turns towards the clock and finds that it is blank. This shows that now that he has found his personality, his inner self, once again time seems to stop. Instead of living in routine and hopes of living similar lives, while time is effortlessly passing by, Clyde finds that while in finding his true self, time never seems to pass by. Every second of time while living a life of his own, is made worthy, instead of effortlessly flying by uncontrollably.