Separating (1975). Content and Description

“Separating” originally appeared in the New Yorker in 1975. It was later collected in Problems and Other Stories (1979) and Too Far to Go (1979), a collection of Maple stories. “Separating” tells the story of the parents Richard and Joan Maple’s announcement to their children that they will be separating. While Richard and Joan had carefully planned the event, as so often happens, events do not go exactly as planned, and Richard is forced to confront the issue personally with each child, ultimately realizing the depravity of his decision.

The characters in “Separating” are Richard and Joan Maple, and their four children: Judith, 19; Richard, Jr., also referred to as “Dickie,” 17; John, 14; and Margaret, 13, who is also called “Bean.” The children’s reactions to the parents’ news are more reflective of gender than age, and Judith and Margaret react more passively than the two boys do. This distinction reveals one of the themes in the story: the role of the father. Like many of Updike’s male protagonists, Richard Maple is at once selfconscious and self-absorbed.

At two points in the story, Joan’s comments hint at Richard’s preference for work over family. When Joan states that telling the kids is “not just some corporate obstacle to your freedom,” and Richard says to John, “You were the only one who ever tried to help me with all the goddam [sic] jobs around this place,” it is suggested that Richard values the tangible, solvable problems of the business world over the intangible, amorphous emotions of his family.

The second passage implies that because John helped, he loved his father more than the others did. Indeed, John’s comment “What do you care about us? We’re just little things you had” recognizes Richard’s emotional distance from his family. The subsequent conversation with John, about his miserable school year, reflects Richard’s lack of awareness of his family. Later, when he is driving Dickie home, we learn that he has a lover, whom he plans to marry. His attention is focused outside his home and family.

While John and Dickie seem troubled, the two daughters, Judith and Margaret, appear more stoically resolved. Margaret reacts with relief, and Judith responds pragmatically, saying, “I think it’s silly. You should either live together or get divorced.” The girls’ reactions seemingly echo Joan’s stoic resolve, and they innately align themselves with her. Traditionally, the mother is the bedrock of the family, and the kids know that Joan would never leave them. Consequently, they realize that it is Richard who is leaving. John’s reaction is disappointment that his father, a role model, is failing to reinforce values and family.

Likewise, the “gutted fort” of the church is another irony in the story. The values promoted by Christianity are supposed to strengthen marriage and family. But, while Richard may attend church regularly, his actions across the green undermine what the church represents. Ultimately, the church is ineffectual at keeping their marriage intact. Symbols like the church, the tennis court, and the house suggest that no matter what people build to structure their lives, they cannot ward off the disorder that plagues human relationships.

John’s initial reaction at the table, “Why didn’t you tell us? You should have told us you weren’t getting along” reflects a common reaction of children, who feel somehow responsible for the dissolution of their parents’ marriage and thus can change the outcome. Up until this point in the story, Richard’s emotions are brewing, yet the children seem oblivious to them. His repairing of the lock appears to be a normal event, yet his reasons for doing so reveal the complex emotions of the adult world.

Despite Richard’s apparent lack of awareness of his family, he perceives the symbolic value of the world around him: He sees the need to repair the locks and windows as a need to protect his family from the truth of his own irresponsible actions. The image of Richard repairing the house is the controlling image in the story. He is repairing the physical house, while the emotional home is left in a state of disrepair.

As one of the Maple stories, “Separating” is also contained in the collection Too Far to Go. While the story offers much to be considered on its own merits, students might also want to consider the story in the context of the other Maples stories. In this context, “Separating” details the climax of their relationship. Chronologically, it is preceded by “Nakedness” and followed by the clever “Here Come the Maples,” the story of their no-fault divorce trial. Reading the stories in the collection, one gets a clearer understanding of the characters and the reasons for their split.

For Discussion or Writing:
1. The story begins, “The day was fair. Brilliant.” This sets the tone for the story because it shows the conflict of the Maples’ internal misery and the indifferent world around them. This theme is closely tied to naturalism, which emphasizes nature’s indifference to human suffering. Discuss some other examples in the story that reflect nature’s indifference to human trials and suffering.

2. Discuss the ways in which the tennis court is a metaphor for the Maples’ marriage.

3. The children react to their father’s news in various ways. Discuss how the varied reactions reflect his failure as a father and their frustration about this failure.