Average Waves in Unprotected Waters

“Average Waves in Unprotected Waters,” originally published in the February 28, 1977 edition of The New Yorker, is one of American author Anne Tyler’s most anthologized stories. Through the third-person-limited point of view of the protagonist, Bet Blevins, Tyler presents the story of a single mother on the day she intends to institutionalize her developmentally disabled son, Arnold. As Bet struggles to navigate her complex emotions regarding Arnold, the story explores themes of the conflicting and changing roles of motherhood, identity, and self-discovery. These themes appear frequently in Tyler’s novels and mirror some of her own struggles as a wife, mother, and writer. Tyler is a best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and has published widely over the past six decades. Other works by Tyler include Clock Dance, Redhead by the Side of the Road, and French Braid.

This guide refers to the version of the story from the original February 28, 1977 edition of The New Yorker, which can be accessed via the magazine’s online archive.

Set in suburban, middle-class Maryland, the story begins at first light, as Bet wakes her son, Arnold, and dresses him.