Dec 16, 2009
Helping | Helping
At a glance:
- Author: Robert Stone
- First Published: 1987
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1980's
- Setting: The suburbs around Boston
- Principal Characters: Charles (“Chas”) Elliot, Grace, Blankenship, Loyall Anderson, Candace
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: Husbands, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Wives, Love or romance, Twentieth century, Marriage, Guilt, 1980’s, Alcoholism or alcoholics, Violence, Vietnam War, Veterans, Boston, Visions, epiphanies, or revelations, Massachusetts
- Locales: Boston, MA
The Story
“Helping” follows Charles “Chas” Elliot, a sensitive, sardonic
Vietnam veteran prone to alcoholic binges when he is frustrated or angry, through a time in his
life when his marriage, job, and social interactions have fused into a flux of turmoil and
disappointment. The omniscient narrative operates primarily as an unfolding present, with long
passages of dialogue illuminating Elliot's evolving psychological response to the
circumstances of his life. The stresses he feels have led to a return to the alcoholic escapism that
he has previously managed partially to...
[The entire page is 1574 words long]
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