Plainsong

“Here was this man Tom Guthrie in Holt standing at the back window in the kitchen of his house smoking cigarettes and looking out over the back lot where the sun was just coming up.” 

The opening sentence of the novel sets the tone for the entire narrative. Guthrie, as close as the novel has to a protagonist, is standing at the window in his house ruminating about the coming day. The phrase “here was this man” sounds awkward at first, but the colloquial stylings seem personable and intimate. From these first moments, it is apparent that Guthrie is an anxious man. He is up before dawn, already dressed and smoking cigarettes, as he stares down the sunrise. As revealed later, he has only recently started to smoke again. Given the complicated, strained nature of his life, this quiet moment of self-destructive introspection provides insight into the unfolding tragedy of Guthrie’s life. 

“She lay in the guest bed on her back now with her arm still folded across her face like someone in great distress. A thin woman, caught as though in some inescapable thought or attitude, motionless, almost as if she were not even breathing.” 

Ella’s depression is not greatly explored in the novel, though the effect which her condition has on her children is a central premise in the book. In this scene, Bobby and Ike return from collecting the money for the newspapers and go to see their mother. They prepare themselves, combing their hair and washing their faces as though they are about to attend a formal event.