This isn’t a story so much as it is a tale about what happens when the carnival comes to town, and no one knows about luck and chance, and what happens when you bet your money, hoping that luck and chance collide over your head like a storm cloud.
Updike swears dangerously close to a meditation on what it means to be young, willfully unknowing, and somehow brave enough to risk what little money there is on a game that is rigged only to take it. It’s the cynic in me that keeps my son away from the boardwalk, as my money will soon be separated from my wallet if we aren’t careful. Ben, the pint-sized hero of this story, is exicted by the fact that something new has arrived, driven in while he looked the other way, and then he turned his head and it had set up, tents, games, ferris wheels, cotton candy, and something that can only be seen at night, anticipation.
I felt a strong pull into these stories with this little sliver, or it’s more like a cloud, or a ripple of mist, something that you know, but can’t quite put a finger on. Ben watches the adults, one with the word Peace written in blue ink on his hand, spin the wheel with the numbers on it, and Ben quickly places his bets, his day is done, and now he wants to forget his life for a while and make some money. His loose change, almost half a dollar, slips away like clipped finger nails, now you see it, now you don’t. What Ben doesn’t know is that this is life, it’s all a struggle, a bet to be lost, a feeling that is there as an idea, but never amounts to much, and Ben wants to give into this feeling of something, anything, and maybe he’ll find it at the Carnival. But now he’s broke, Updike took his money, there was no pause, the wager was made, a number taken, and now your money is gone. Ben, go home, grow up, get married, find a job that you don’t hate, well, don’t hate too much, and try to find happiness. But keep your money in your pocket. This story leads off the Olinger stories, and is a fine introduction for what comes next. -JR
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