Tales of the City

Mary Ann is ostensibly the novel’s protagonist. Though the novel is an ensemble piece, Mary Ann provides the reader with a blank slate on which to etch the images of San Francisco. She arrives as an innocent, inexperienced young girl, and the reader learns about the particular nature of the city by exploring it with Mary Ann. Whether it is learning about the various night clubs or the suicide switchboard or even the names of the streets, Mary Ann’s lack of knowledge is designed to provide a conduit through which the reader can vicariously explore a vivacious and exciting city.

The key to this is establishing Mary Ann’s innocence. In a chapter titled “Taking the Plunge,” Mary Ann arrives in San Francisco on vacation and decides to stay forever. It seems an impulsive decision, made in accordance with “three Irish coffees” (9) and her “Mood Ring” (9). This decision-making process—impulsive, almost childlike—reflects the lack of serious commitments which affect her life. At 25, she has nothing to prevent her from moving across the country. She has no partner, no children, and a job which she can quit by passing a message along via her mother. Mary Ann, a Cleveland girl, sees the potential available in San Francisco and is besotted enough to uproot her entire life.