Author | Truman Capote |
---|---|
Original title | Miriam |
Illustrator | Sandra Higashi |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Pages | 40 pp |
ISBN | 978-0-87191-829-1 |
OCLC | 8747954 |
"Miriam" is a short story written by Truman Capote. It was originally published in the June 1945 issue of Mademoiselle. [1] "Miriam" was one of Capote's first published short stories, and in 1946 it earned an O. Henry Award in the category Best First-Published Story. [2]
Carson McCullers' sister, Rita Smith, who worked as an editor's assistant at Madmoiselle recommended Capote's story "Miriam." She assisted George Davis, who gave Truman his first start in being published. [3]
"Miriam" is about a 61-year-old widow named Mrs. H. T. Miller wants to spend the remaining years of her life alone in her apartment near the East River after the death of her husband, H. T. Miller. She is very lonely, has no friends to speak of and does not keep in touch with any of her relatives.
One day, going into a movie theater, she meets a young, intelligent girl named Miriam. Mrs. Miller is intrigued that the girl's first name is also Miriam. Miriam asks Mrs. Miller to buy her a movie ticket because the usher will not let her in. She gives Mrs. Miller 25 cents (two dimes and a nickel) to buy her a ticket. They part as Mrs. Miller goes in search of a seat. When the movie ends, Mrs. Miller returns home. The following week, there is a knock on Mrs. Miller's door. When she answers it, she finds out it is Miriam, the girl she met at the movie theater. Mrs. Miller asks Miriam to go home, but Miriam refuses and asks Mrs. Miller to make her a jelly sandwich. After Miriam agrees to leave if given the sandwich, she goes into Mrs. Miller's bedroom and finds a cameo brooch that was given to Mrs. Miller by her deceased husband. She asks Mrs. Miller if she can keep it, and Mrs. Miller, despite her desire to stop her from taking it, relents in helplessness. Miriam then goes back to the couch and finishes her sandwich.
Before leaving, Miriam asks Mrs. Miller for a kiss goodnight, but Mrs. Miller refuses. Miriam walks over to a nearby vase and smashes it on the floor, tramples the bouquet, then leaves. The next morning, Mrs. Miller leaves her apartment to spend the day shopping at various stores around New York City. Upon arriving home, Miriam returns, insistently ringing the doorbell while Mrs. Miller refuses to open the door. After the doorbell ringing ends, Mrs. Miller goes to her door to see if Miriam has left. Miriam has not, and rushes inside the house before Mrs. Miller can close the door. Miriam perches upon the couch and tells Mrs. Miller to bring in the large box she brought with her. Out of curiosity, she does. While commenting on the cherries, almond cakes, and white flowers that Mrs. Miller bought while she was shopping, Miriam tells Mrs. Miller to open the box. All she finds are clothes and a second doll similar to the one Miriam was holding. Miriam then tells Mrs. Miller that she is going to live with her.
A frightened Mrs. Miller goes to the apartment downstairs where a young couple lives. Mrs. Miller tells them that a young girl keeps on appearing and will not leave her alone. She convinces the man living there to check upstairs while his wife comforts Mrs. Miller. The man returns downstairs and says that there is no girl upstairs. Mrs. Miller asks if there was a large box, and the man says that there wasn't. Mrs. Miller goes back upstairs to find no one is there. Scared more than ever at the startling emptiness of the house, she slumps onto the couch, drained. She closes her eyes and calms down, reminding herself that she is Mrs. H. T. Miller, the woman who lives alone and does everything for herself. She then becomes aware of another sound, the sound of a silk dress ruffling. She stiffens and fearfully opens her eyes to see Miriam staring at her. The last line of the story " 'Hello,' said Miriam" is ambiguous, in that it is unclear which Miriam is speaking.
"Miriam" was reprinted as early as 1949 in Capote's short story collection A Tree of Night and Other Stories. It was published in independent hardback form in September 1981, under the title Miriam: A Classic Story of Loneliness. Most recently it was included in The Complete Stories of Truman Capote, published in 2004.
"Miriam" is noted for having a "dreamlike, psychological quality" and a theme exploring double personality disorder. [4]
Reynolds Price observes that two of Capote's early short stories, "Miriam," along with "A Jug of Silver" reflect his familiarity with fellow contemporary southern writing, specifically that of Carson McCullers. He also notes "Miriam" is imbued with a "perhaps too-easy eeriness.". [5]
Readers have noted symbolism in the story, in particular the use of colors in clothing. Blue, Mrs. Miller’s favorite color, is seen as a symbol of sadness. Plum is viewed as a symbol of wealth and white a symbol for being clean, good, and healthful. Notably Miriam often wears white, and many times during the story it is snowing, and snow is also white. The Hebrew origin of the name "Miriam" may translate as "wished-for child," which could explain a great deal about what Mrs. Miller wants and sees in her young visitor. Miriam may be viewed as a symbol for the angel of death.[ citation needed ]
Capote also comments on the themes of identity that lie within the story:"... For the only thing she had lost to Miriam was her identity, but now she knew she had found again the person who lived in this room, who cooked her own meals, who owned a canary, who was someone she could trust and believe in: Mrs. H. T. Miller” (Capote, 49) [6]
Adaptations of "Miriam" are incorporated into Frank Perry's 1969 anthology film Trilogy (aka Truman Capote's Trilogy), which also includes adaptations of "A Christmas Memory" and "Among the Paths to Eden."
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, written by George Axelrod, adapted from Truman Capote's 1958 novella of the same name, and starring Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a naïve, eccentric café society girl who falls in love with a struggling writer while attempting to marry for money. It was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures on October 5, 1961, to critical and commercial success.
Truman Garcia Capote was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and the true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966), which he labeled a "non-fiction novel". His works have been adapted into more than 20 films and television dramas.
Answered Prayers is an unfinished novel by American author Truman Capote, published posthumously in 1986 in England and 1987 in the United States.
Backstairs at the White House is a 1979 NBC television miniseries based on the 1961 book My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House by Lillian Rogers Parks. The series, produced by Ed Friendly Productions, is the story of behind-the-scenes workings of the White House and the relationship between the staff and the First Families.
The Grass Harp is a novel by Truman Capote published on October 1, 1951 It tells the story of an orphaned boy and two elderly ladies who observe life from a tree. They eventually leave their temporary retreat to make amends with each other and other members of society.
The Muses Are Heard is an early journalistic work of Truman Capote. Originally published in The New Yorker, it is a narrative account of the cultural mission by The Everyman's Opera to the U.S.S.R. in the mid-1950s.
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a novella by Truman Capote published in 1958. In it, a contemporary writer recalls his early days in New York City, when he makes the acquaintance of his remarkable neighbor, Holly Golightly, who is one of Capote's best-known creations. In 1961 it was adapted into a major motion picture of the same name.
The Black and White Ball was a masquerade ball held on November 28, 1966, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Hosted by author Truman Capote, the ball was in honor of The Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham.
The Thanksgiving Visitor is a short story by Truman Capote originally published in the November 1967 issue of McCall's magazine, and later published as a book by Random House, Inc. in 1968. The story takes the form of a childhood tale about a boy and his bully problem. The story has a strong moral lesson related to revenge. It is a sequel to Capote's A Christmas Memory.
Summer Crossing is the second novel written by American author Truman Capote. He started the novel in about 1943 and worked on it intermittently for several years before putting it aside. For over 50 years Summer Crossing was thought to be lost but it was eventually rediscovered among Capote's papers and was published in 2005.
Other Voices, Other Rooms is a 1948 novel by Truman Capote. It is written in the Southern Gothic style and is notable for its atmosphere of isolation and decadence.
Next Door's Baby is a musical with music and lyrics by Matthew Strachan and book by Bernie Gaughan, based on Gaughan's radio play of the same name. Set in 1950's Dublin, it tells the story of two neighbouring families who attempt to reconcile their lives with secrets they have kept to avoid facing public shame. The two daughters of the families strike up an unlikely friendship which leads them to contemplate running away and leaving their families behind.
Trilogy is a 1969 American anthology drama film directed by Frank Perry and written by Truman Capote. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France.
The Dogs Bark: Public People and Private Places is an anthology of works by American author Truman Capote. It was published on September 12, 1973 and includes essays from Local Color and Observations, as well as The Muses Are Heard.
Observations is a collaborative coffee table book with photography by Richard Avedon, commentary by Truman Capote and design by Alexey Brodovitch. It features a slipcase with color, all-capitalized lettering; the book itself is further housed in a clear acetate/glassine slip cover and is printed with the same bold design as the slipcase in black-and-white. Simon & Schuster published the work in 1959 having it printed using the photogravure method in Lucerne, Switzerland.
A Tree of Night and Other Stories is a short story collection by the American author Truman Capote published in early 1949. The title story, "A Tree of Night", was first published in Harper’s Bazaar in October 1945.
"Children on Their Birthdays" is a short story by Truman Capote, published serially in the late 1940s and appearing in A Tree of Night and Other Stories in 1949; it is noted as one of his better quality early short stories.
Occupant is a 2011 American thriller film featuring Van Hansis as Danny, a young New Yorker about to inherit an old apartment. It was written by Jonathan Brett and directed by Henry S. Miller and shot in New York City, USA. It also stars Cody Horn and Thorsten Kaye.
In the early morning hours of November 15, 1959, four members of the Clutter family – Herb Clutter, his wife, Bonnie, and their teenage children Nancy and Kenyon – were murdered in their rural home, just outside the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. Two ex-convicts, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, were found guilty of the murders and sentenced to death. They were both executed on April 14, 1965. The murders were detailed by Truman Capote in his 1966 non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.
Ann Eden Woodward was an American socialite, showgirl, model, and radio actress. In 1940, while working as a nightclub dancer and radio actress, she was voted "The Most Beautiful Girl in Radio".