The Glass Mountain by Donald Barthelme
"The Glass Mountain" by Donald Barthelme offers a modern twist on classic fairy tale motifs, presenting a surreal narrative filled with symbolic and allegorical elements. The story follows a narrator as he climbs a treacherous glass mountain, striving to reach a castle made of gold that is guarded by an eagle. Below, a group of acquaintances engages in reckless behavior, highlighting a stark contrast between the climber's quest for meaning and the chaotic lives of those around him.
As the narrator ascends, he reflects on the need for symbols in contemporary life, challenging traditional distinctions between literary symbols and modern signs. This journey is not merely physical; it represents a deeper search for purpose in a world filled with distraction and superficiality. Upon reaching the castle and claiming the enchanted symbol, the narrative takes an unexpected turn, revealing the darker implications of his actions as he discards the symbol, transformed into a princess, into the hands of his acquaintances.
Barthelme's work engages with themes of disenchantment and the complexities of modern existence, prompting readers to reconsider the nature of happiness and the symbols they pursue. The story's unconventional ending invites reflection on the narratives we construct and the meanings we ascribe to our quests, offering a rich ground for interpretation and discussion.
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The Glass Mountain by Donald Barthelme
First published: 1970
Type of plot: Metafiction
Time of work: 1970
Locale: Manhattan
Principal Characters:
The narrator , a mountain climberThe enchanted symbol , the reason for the narrator's climbThe eagle , the guardian of castle tower
The Story
Above a mob of acquaintances, the narrator climbs against a bitter wind, inching up the glass mountain toward a castle of pure gold that is guarded by an eagle. In it sits the beautiful enchanted symbol of happily-ever-after fairy tales. The narrator is two hundred feet above the street. Below him, his rapine acquaintances pillage among groaning knights and horses—who are apparently failed climbers of the mountain.
These acquaintances pass around a brown bottle, speak inanities, and jeer crudely at the climber. As he climbs six feet higher, it becomes evident that he is new to the neighborhood; that the people below have disturbed eyes. He tells readers, "Look for yourselves." Hundreds of young people shoot up drugs and older people walk dogs.
Climbing the mountain requires a good reason; the narrator's reason is to "disenchant a symbol." Contemporary egos still need symbols; he considers conventional literature's arbitrary distinction between its "symbols" (nightingales) and mere contemporary "signs" (traffic lights); he sees a nightingale fly past with traffic lights affixed to its legs. From a surreal, slightly unconventional but nevertheless happily-ever-after Americanized fairy tale, he learns the conventional means of gaining the castle: that "means" is an eagle. The tale makes him afraid, but recalling a literary quotation that celebrates humankind's imagination, he bravely follows its conventions. The eagle appears, and he uses it to reach the castle, where he claims the beautiful enchanted symbol. Unlike the aforementioned tale, the climber's story continues: At his touch, the symbol changes into a beautiful princess, whom he promptly throws down the mountain where his acquaintances will deal with her. A final paragraph deconstructs any conventional theme or meaning that the story's prior content may suggest.
Bibliography
Barthelme, Helen Moore. Donald Barthelme: The Genesis of a Cool Sound. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2001.
Gordon, Lois. Donald Barthelme. Boston: Twayne, 1981.
Hudgens, Michael Thomas. Donald Barthelme: Postmodernist American Writer. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2001.
Klinkowitz, Jerome. Donald Barthelme: An Exhibition. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1991.
McCaffery, Larry. The Metafictional Muse: The Works of Robert Coover, Donald Barthelme, and William H. Gass. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982.
Molesworth, Charles. Donald Barthelme's Fiction: The Ironist Saved from Drowning. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1982.
Olsen, Lance, ed. Review of Contemporary Fiction 11 (Summer, 1991).
Patteson, Richard F., ed. Critical Essays on Donald Barthelme. New York: G. K. Hall, 1992.
Roe, Barbara L. Donald Barthelme: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1992.
Stengel, Wayne B. The Shape of Art in the Short Stories of Donald Barthelme. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1985.
Trachtenberg, Stanley. Understanding Donald Barthelme. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1990.
Waxman, Robert. "Apollo and Dionysus: Donald Barthelme's Dance of Life." Studies in Short Fiction 33 (Spring, 1996): 229-243.