“Janus” by Ann Beattie presents a contemporary protagonist
with an interesting obsession. She really likes a bowl that she found at a craft fair.
This is an important fact because later the narrator gives more pertinent information
about the bowl.
The narrator for the story is the
protagonist, Andrea, a real estate agent, who is talented and sells homes successfully.
The key to selling her homes, she believes, is placing her bowl in just the right place
in the house for sale.
There is nothing special about the
bowl. Andrea describes the bowl as though it were a dog with no pedigree. However, some
mutts are the cutest and best of pets. This bowl is not exactly pretty, but rather it is
eye catching.
The wonderful thing about the bowl, Andrea
thought, was that it was subtle and noticeable—a paradox of a bowl. Its glaze was the
color of cream and seemed to glow no matter what light it was placed in. Something about
the colors and their random placement suggested
motion.
Andrea is married to a nice guy who is successful.
Her husband, a stockbroker, thinks the bowl is ‘‘pretty’’ but pays it no special
attention. He no longer takes particular pleasure in the possessions they have acquired
''to make up for all the lean years when they were graduate students.” Nothing more is
really known about her marriage. Obviously, they have a strong connection. Her life
seems secure in every way. Despite all of this, she seems to be a little unhappy and has
an unusual attachment to this bowl.
Throughout the story,
the bowl is empty. When Andrea displays it in the homes that she is showing, it sits
empty with nothing else on the table. She does not even put anything in the bowl when
she is at home. She describes it as “perfect: the world cut in half, deep and smoothly
empty.
At night, Andrea would get up from bed and stare at
the bowl. Then, finally, in her thoughts, the reader learns the truth about the bowl.
She was not alone at the craft fair when the bowl was purchased. Her lover purchased the
bowl for her. He had bought her other things, but this was the most special to her. He
also said that she should stop being so two-faced, end her marriage, and live with him.
The lover finally gives up.
The Title of the
Story
Calling Andrea two-faced and telling
her that why should she think that she can have it both ways is the trigger for the
title of the story. The name Janus comes from the Roman god with
two faces. He is the Roman god of doorways and archways, after whom the month of January
is named. Often depicted as a double-faced head, he was a deity of beginnings and
ambiguity. The title fits the story since the protagonist is unable to make up her mind.
She tries to live with the best of both worlds.
The bowl,
which is always empty, symbolizes Andrea’s inability to choose. Because she wants to
continue living in two worlds, the lover leaves her. By leaving the bowl empty, Andrea
demonstrates the hold the past has on her. It means a little bit of her lover is still
present. Placing something in the bowl symbolizes that she has moved on and decided to
reside in one world.
With all of her success, she is not
happy. The moral of the story proves that in order to be happy, letting go is
important.
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