Dec 11, 2009

A Canary for One | Summary

First published in 1927, “A Canary for One” occurs in the early 1920s on a train headed toward Paris. Its three characters, an older wealthy woman and a couple in their late twenties, are all Americans; only at the end do we realize that the young husband is the actual narrator of the story. As they sit together on the train, the older woman initiates and then dominates the conversation. She first voices her concern that modern trains move at such rapid rates that wrecks are bound to occur but then turns to the topic of marriage, asserting that only American men are suitable...