Dmitri Rybakov

Dmitri Rybakov
Instructor Jennifer Brych
ENGL 1B
15 February 2016
Good Bye
Langston Hughes, an African American writer, poet, playwright, and novelist was one of
the leading voices of the Harlem Renaissance in 1920s. He was born on the first of February in
1902 in Joplin, Missouri and published his first poem in 1921. He attended Columbia
University, but left after one year. (biography.com). Early Autumn is a short story that was
first published in the popular column that he wrote for the Chicago Defender on September 30,
1950, and was later included in his 1963 collection, Something in Common and Other Stories. It
is currently in print in a 1996 collection called The Short Stories of Langston Hughes
(about.com); the story revolves around a chance meeting of former lovers, Bill and Mary. As
they learn through a brief conversation and exchange of emotions between each other, their lives
turned out to be very different due to the choices that were made a long time ago. Hughes story
is about the tough choices we make early on and how these choices can affect our lives and those
around us, leaving us with: a struggle to let go, a lingering thought of what could have been, and
a detriment to our well-being. Perhaps the author was trying to convey the message that we
should take the time and think before we make big choices, especially the ones that have the
power to shape our entire life.
Early Autumn, told by the omniscient narrator (about.com), starts with a quick
background of the relationship between Bill and Mary. They were in love in the past and spent

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many nights walking [and] talking together (Hughes 341), nonetheless Mary broke up with
Bill because something not very important had come between them (341) leaving Bill feeling
resentment towards women. Mary then proceeds to marry a man she thinks she loves on impulse.
Unknowingly, later in life, they both move to New York City, and accidentally meet again years
later in a busy Washington Square where a great many people went past them (341). Mary is
the first to spot Bill and starts the conversation by calling out his full name Bill Walker (341).
She creates the impression that she is very excited to see him, but Bill is not as enthusiastic and
does not reciprocate the feelings and just does his best to be polite while suppressing his true
emotions for Mary. They exchange a few words as they share information about each other and
their jobs and families. Bill mentions that he is a lawyer in a nice firm located way downtown
(341) and has two kids with his wife Lucille. Mary says that she works in the bursars office at
Columbia (341), lives on Central Park West, and has three kids with her husband, who remains
nameless. Their conversation ends abruptly when Mary sees her bus and she leaves Bill with an
awkward good bye, realizing that she may not see him again because she had forgotten to give
him her address or to ask him for his (341).
Mary is bitter sweet about the choice she had made early in her life when she broke up
with Bill, and to this day, unable to let go and struggles with the idea that she had lost Bill
forever. Even after all these years, she still remembers Bills full name and under the impression
that they are still romantically involved when she lifts her face as though wanting a kiss (341).
The author indicates that Mary is still showing interest in Bills current life always wondered
what happened to you (341) and holds on to the memory of their shared past. Although, her
conversation with Bill appears to be full of courtesies, she is shaken emotionally by the whole
experience as she [feels] a little sick (341). After her inquiry into Bills current situation she

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discovers that he is married, we can tell that she is disappointed (about.com) when she responds
with an oh (341). Mary is evasive when her husband is brought up and responds with a subject
changing reply we have three children. I work at bursars office at Columbia. (341). Since
Marys husband is never brought up in the story and remains nameless proves that he is not the
great love of her life and will probably never be, leaving her un-fulfilled, prolonging the struggle,
and further limits her ability to let go of Bill. It can also mean that perhaps he was that
something not very important (341) to come between their past relationship. An approaching
bus that cuts their conversation short, prompting Mary to leave Bill once more, could be a
potential simile that portrays something meaningless that comes between them as well. The
lights on the avenue blurred, twinkled, blurred (341) depicts Marys feelings at that moment,
she is having a hard time coping with the idea that she will never see Bill again as she loses sight
of him in the crowd. Just like she could have waited for another bus, to buy more time with Bill,
if she would have just given it more thought in the past before coming to a decision that would
alter her life, it would have been much different for her, but here she is again making that same
mistake. Marys attachment to the past is almost unbearable to her as she [finds] herself
desperately reaching back in the past (341); she still wants Bills presence in her life and even
names her youngest son after him.
Bill, who is also affected by Marys choice, has completely different feelings towards her.
In contrast, when he sees Mary for the first time in years, he does not recognize her at first and
thinks that she looks old and while struggling to find something complimentary to
say(about.com) almost tells her that she indeed looks old youre looking very (he wanted to
say old) well (341). He has no particular interest in having a conversation with Mary and keeps
his responses short and to a point, going through the motions and smiles to be polite. Bill does

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not seem to be as excited as Mary is when he learns that she lives in New York as well, a little
frown [comes] quickly between his eyes (341). Upon hearing Marys invitation to dinner, he
offers the same in return, but is being very vague when he says they should have dinner some
night (341) and might have just said that to be polite or as an excuse to bring up his wife,
Lucille. The only time Bills emotions light up is when he is talking about his current life, his job
and especially his wife and kids you ought to see my kids (341) he says, while grinning. We
can tell that Bills attitude towards women has changed over the years as he was able to find his
true love, perhaps feeling bitter has lead him to it as it made him more careful with his choice for
a partner. He feels no romantic attachment to Mary whatsoever when she goes for a kiss he
[holds] out his hand (341), and the end he is quick to say good bye when she tells him that her
bus is here, once again he simply holds his hand out to keep his distance and walks away
blending in with the crowd.
The setting of this accidental encounter between former lovers helps set the mood of the
conversation. It takes place in the early autumn, late afternoon, nearly sunset. Cold (341), this
sentence sets a perfect tone emphasizing the atmosphere surrounding Bill and Marys dialogue;
which we can clearly see is not mutually enjoyed by both parties. Falling leaves can indicate the
destruction of Marys last hopes of happiness with Bill. Many people go past Mary and Bill
people they [dont] know (341) as they converse with one another, symbolizing all the years
they have been apart in the sea of people that kept them separate are still present. Diving deeper
while examining the location of the meeting which takes place in Washington Square in one of
the busiest cities on Earth; this obstacle does not prevent Mary from being able to recognize Bill,
showing just how hard of a time she has with letting him go. The coldness of the late afternoon,
nearly sunset (341) could relate to Bill as well because his behavior during the conversation is

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cold and apathetic. Falling leaves express that the cycle of life moves forward, and that Mary
would not be able to bring back the past, no matter how hard she tries.
Choices we make can affect our well-being which can in turn skew the aging process.
Bills and Marys age is brought up several times throughout this short story. We are aware of
the fact that Mary was always older than Bill, but since he seems to be very taken by her aging
appearance, something tells us that she had not aged as gracefully now she was not young at
all (341) perhaps due to her inability to deal with the choice she made so long ago. Bill was
still young (341) and easily recognizable probably due to his happy life. The title of this story,
Early Autumn, can take ownership of several meanings. Autumn is the season of change, a
transition from sunny days of summer to long and cold winter nights. While it is undeniable that
Mary still has feelings for Bill, we can argue that after this meeting, things will turn for the
worst. She was able to somewhat move on and start a family with a man she though she loved
(341), but now she knows that Bill is much happier without her and shows no interest , as a result
she is walking away from her sunny existence to colder thoughts of what could have been.
Looking back at the story of Bill and Mary, as an example, we can see that sometimes we
are faced with some tough choices early on in life. As Langston Hughes suggests in his short
story, we must take the time and analyze the situation and come up with the best course of action,
in essence we should not make quick decisions or jump to conclusions just because it feels right
at the time. We should not allow something unimportant to get in the way of our happiness.
Some of these decisions can haunt us for the rest of our lives and we might end up spending our
lifetime, as in Marys case, having hard time letting go and moving on. While thinking of the
good days of the past and all the happiness it brought us, we lose track of the present which can

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affect our current and future well-being. We must also think about how our choices will affect
people involved or others around us; Bill was left bitter, but ultimately walked away with a
happy life. Somebody else may not be so lucky.

Dmitri Rybakov

Works Cited:
Biography.com Editors. Langston Hughes Biography. biography.com.
http://www.biography.com/people/langston-hughes-9346313. Web. 4 Feb 2016.

Catherine Sustana. Analysis of Early Autumn by Langston Hughes. about.com.

http://shortstories.about.com/od/Analyzing-Stories/a/Analysis-Of-early-Autumn-ByLangston-Hughes.htm. Web. 4 Feb 2016.

Langston Hughes. Early Autumn. Abdul, Jabbar. Reading and Writing with Multicultural
Literature In Search of Reconciliation and Peace 4th Edition. San Diego: Montezuma
Publishing, 2015. Print.

Dmitri Rybakov

*for some reason word would not let me indent all of the works cited the way it is
expected, I could only indent 1st citation, middle line of 2nd and none of the 3rd.