Brother Grasshopper (1987). Content and Description

“Brother Grasshopper” is a contemporary variation on Aesop’s “The Ant and the Grasshopper.” In the fable, a grasshopper, enjoying the summer, sees an ant busily storing food for the winter. The grasshopper mockingly asks the ant to join him at play. But, the ant insists that he must store up food for the winter and suggests that the grasshopper do the same. The grasshopper, content in the moment, replies, “Why bother about winter?” When winter begins, the ants have plenty of food, while the grasshopper dies of hunger. The moral of the story: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

“Brother Grasshopper,” first printed in the New Yorker (December 14, 1987) and then collected in The Afterlife and Other Stories (1994), tells the story of Fred Emmet’s relationship with his brother-in-law, Carlyle Saughterfield, over the course of about 25 years. As the ant, Fred is thrifty and hardworking, characteristics emphasized by his contrast with Carlyle, who, in Fred’s eyes, is eccentric and conspicuously wasteful. Told in the third person, the story covers a broad span of time yet focuses on one aspect of Fred’s life: his relationship with Carlyle.

A major theme in the story is perspective. The story begins with Fred Emmet’s reflection on his father’s relationship with his brother. Fred, who is an only child, has only one view of life. His father’s brother gave his father an additional perspective—a second way of looking at the world. To Fred, Carlyle, who is first his “brother in courtship” and later his brother-in-law, becomes that second perspective.

The story chronicles the events leading to Fred’s epiphany at the end. The lesson ultimately learned fills the lack that is implied at the beginning. As an only child, Fred lacked completeness. He lacked the fulfillment of a sibling. When he marries, it is to supply “himself with another roommate.” A spouse should “augment” one’s existence and give it an additional dimension available to him all his life.

Central to this theme of perspective is the camera. Carlyle “had become a fervent photographer, first with Nikons and then with Leicas, until he discovered that an even more expensive camera could be bought—a Hasselblad” (35). Fred sees the cameras in terms of cost, but they are different types of cameras—a single-lens reflex (SLR), a rangefinder, and a square format camera—and thus capture the images differently.

Carlyle uses a variety of cameras to see the world diversely and to capture memories in different ways. In contrast, Fred sees the world in only one way. It is not until the end of the story—presented as a photographic moment—that Fred realizes that Carlyle has been desperately trying to forge and capture memories for his family. The appearance of the sun as an “instant of illumination” functions as a camera flash and represents the moment of Fred’s epiphany.

In Aesop’s fable the ant stores seeds for the winter, while the grasshopper plays. In Updike’s story Fred, as the ant, is the embodiment of America’s Protestant work ethic. Yet, Fred seems to be at once critical and admiring of the indolent Carlyle. There is something celebratory in Carlyle’s love of life and eternal optimism. Whereas Fred works hard and slowly accumulates wealth, Carlyle, born wealthy, is careless with his money, but nonetheless creative. In addition to his interest in photography, cooking, and movies, he has six children (overindulgence in Fred’s eyes). Fred realizes in the end that Carlyle’s creative impulse offsets his fragile health. In the end Carlyle is referred to as “the dead man,” a nameless corpse, emphasizing how we will all end. How we live our lives will not change our fate but will affect other people’s lives.

Updike draws from the Disney version of the fable, which casts the grasshopper as a musician—an artist—who has at least some value. In the end of this version the grasshopper earns his keep by entertaining the ants. Produced during the heart of the depression, the Disney version effectively argues for the value of entertainment in a time when movies were perceived as an indulgence but also a way to escape. While the movie industry was a viable business in the 1960s, Carlyle’s investment in “blue movies” undercuts his legitimacy. This is the facet of Hollywood still considered indulgent and countercultural in America.

In many ways the characters in “Brother Grasshopper” are evocative of the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925). Early in the story Fred’s view of Carlyle is reminiscent of Nick’s view of Tom Buchanan. Both are strong and athletically intimidating and have “confident access to the skills and equipment of expensive sports” (30). Both are conspicuous in their spending. As the story develops, Carlyle’s love of life and eternal optimism suggest the romanticism of Jay Gatsby. Just as Nick is subsumed by Gatsby, Carlyle’s personality overshadows Fred’s. Yet, it is Gatsby’s fatal flaw, his inability to deviate from his goal and his blind adherence to his code, that links him to Fred.

Like Gatsby, who follows a strict daily schedule, as prescribed by Benjamin Franklin, and religiously adheres to achieving his goal, Fred is fundamentally shaped by his Protestant work ethic. Throughout the story, his view of Carlyle is tainted by this ethic. When he turns down Carlyle’s invitation to invest in his film project, his rejection becomes a rhetorical death sentence for Carlyle.

The significance of this similarity to Gatsby indicates Updike’s message that, while Aesop provides good advice for conducting our lives, life in contemporary America is more complex. Moreover, while Fred gives Carlyle the “brotherly lesson in limits” that kills him, Carlyle gives Fred the final lesson. Although we all return to the earth (ashes to ashes, dust to dust), we leave behind a legacy of human relationships forged over time. In the end Fred has a much larger family than he began with.

For Discussion or Writing:
1. The story is based on the fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper.” In the fable the ant is industrious and the grasshopper is lazy. How does Updike develop the ant and grasshopper into characters who have both positive and negative traits?

2. Several times in the story Fred sees a “watery warm-eyed look” in Carlyle. What does this look represent? Does it reveal Carlyle’s helplessness or his introspection?

3. At the end of the film The Maltese Falcon (1930), Sam Spade describes the falcon statue as “the stuff that dreams are made of.” Carlyle’s foray into the movie business represents a uniquely American passion that leads to “the stuff that dreams are made of.” Carlyle is seduced by the Southern California lifestyle, and this seduction leads to his death. How do Carlyle’s forays into business and artistic ventures and finally film ventures reflect his lack of dreams?