The Curse (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Andre Dubus
- First Published: 1988
- Type of Plot: Domestic realism
- Time of Work: The 1980's
- Setting: A small town in Massachusetts
- Principal Characters: Mitchell Hayes, Susan, Bob, Bar patrons
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Crime or criminals, Twentieth century, Restaurants, bars, taverns, or pubs, Guilt, 1980’s, Rape, Violence, Fear, Small-town life, Ethics, Massachusetts
- Locales: Massachusetts
The Story
Mitchell Hayes, a forty-nine-year-old bartender at a small-town, working-class bar, feels old, exhausted, and depressed one night. He is alone in the bar with its manager, Bob, after closing time. The police have just left, after taking Mitchell's statement about a rape that occurred in the bar that night.
Earlier that night, five men had arrived on motorcycles near closing time and ordered beers. The men were loud and edgy, and Mitchell thought they had been using drugs. The stepfather of a teenage boy and girl, Mitchell fears and hates drugs. A young woman...
[The entire page is 1396 words long]
