The History of Sound: Stories

“Edwin Chase of Nantucket” furthers the collection’s explorations of The Clarifying Power of History through protagonist and first-person narrator Edwin’s encounter with his mother Laurel’s hidden past. In much the same way that Lionel’s past is excavated in the form of David’s phonograph cylinders in “The History of Sound,” in “Edwin Chase of Nantucket,” Laurel’s past resurfaces in the form of Will’s visit. The story is written from Laurel’s son’s point of view and doesn’t provide immediate access to Laurel’s interior. By writing the story from this remove, Shattuck considers how uncovering a loved one’s secret past might challenge Edwin’s understanding of himself.

For Edwin, encountering his mother’s old lover, witnessing her interaction with him, and reading her love letters challenge his sense of truth and reality. This sudden evidence of Laurel’s personal history feels like an affront to Edwin’s entire understanding of himself. Before meeting Will, Edwin’s concept of his family life was limited to his relationships with his mother and father. He saw his mother only through her and Silas’s marriage and her response to Silas’s death. In the narrative present, he is a young man with his life ahead of him—the future is a beacon, rather than an omen. “Especially at night, after dinner,” Edwin thinks “of how [his] life might change, what sadness or unexpected joy might settle in” (33). His youthful hopefulness contrasts with his mother’s outlook on life. Although still young herself, Laurel’s sense of reality is defined by the loss she experienced as a young woman and the longing and loneliness that define her present reality. Edwin has no reason to notice these facets of Laurel’s experience until Will’s sudden appearance at the farm. In turn, Edwin experiences a confused emotional response to accessing his mother’s past. He is removed and touchy while spending time around Will, and he is withdrawn and shut down when Laurel offers to tell him more about her and Will. These responses capture Edwin’s discomfort with facing the past, but at the same time, once he goes through Will’s things and reads Laurel’s letters, he starts to come to terms with Laurel’s compartmentalized history. In turn, he gains some insight into who Laurel really is—and who he might be as a result.

Meeting Will and learning about Laurel’s past also teaches Edwin about Art as a Form of Expression and Communication. He is immediately taken by Will’s painting of the songbird—to Edwin, studying the painting feels “something like remembering, the way the painting looked familiar, but new” (44). Edwin doesn’t immediately understand the painting’s purpose, which is Will’s way of sending a message to Laurel. The bird represents Laurel herself, a creature innately capable of flight but bound by her circumstances, but the ribbon is only on the bird’s leg, suggesting that Laurel can free herself if she chooses to do so. Will may or may not have written letters to Laurel, but the painting conveys the depth and breadth of his feelings without using any language. Art, the story thus suggests, is capable of expressing ineffable emotions.