Five-Twenty : Summay

In the short story 'Five-Twenty', written by Patrick White, we can find the themes of confidence, freedom, guilt, identity, control, isolation and escape, all woven together. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator it becomes clear to the reader that White may be exploring to set the theme of lack of as well as gain of confidence as the most important one. Ella lacks any sort of confidence, bowing before the whims of her husband, and after his death, she seems to have regained her confidence and sets eyes on getting new things in life. Her life appears to be revolving around every whim that Royal commands. She does everything for him even though he is ungrateful to her. So low is her confidence that she seems to be controlled by him. It is as though she lives her life at his beck and call in the first half of the story.

Ella and Royal Natwick, having retired to a small bungalow along Parramatta Road, a decaying suburb of Sydney, are spectators to the modern, industrial world that passes by them. Their chief activity in the summer is to sit at the veranda and watch the traffic flow on the road in the front each day.

Royal, a belligerent, insensitive invalid, is confined to the wheelchair. Ella, his lifelong devoted mate, dotes on him, suppressing any display of emotion that might upset him. As they watch one of the frequent traffic jams, Royal singles out for ridicule a man driving a pink-and-brown Holden: The car’s colour betrays masculinity, and the man’s head appears deformed. Ella, without directly challenging Royal, suggests that the man may have a domineering wife and notes that the man passes each day at five-twenty, suggesting that he may be a business executive. That comment brings further slander from Royal, who complains ironically about the lack of achievement by white-collar workers: His own life has been a failure to achieve the status that he now belittles.

One evening, Ella assists the victim of a traffic accident that occurred in front of their house. Royal, who is indifferent to others' tragedy, worries only about how Ella will wash the blood from blankets that she has provided. In response, she kisses him on the forehead, immediately regretting her public display of affection for underscoring his powerlessness in the chair. Royal’s only concerns are what he is to eat, his illusion of superiority over Ella, her proper care for him, and the habitual flow of traffic, in which Ella always notes “that gentleman . . . in the Holden”.

The narrator provides, amid their evening recollections, fragmented flashbacks over the course of the Natwicks’ lives. Royal’s family had settled in Australia from Kent. Royal’s ambitions surpassed those of his bookkeeper father, but he never made them fruitful despite a series of moves from one town to another, until finally settling in Sydney.

Ella is depicted as subservient to Royal, she is ready to do anything for his sake, without thinking of herself. At Fulbrook, she had worked as a waitress, nurturing both their savings account and her husband's deluded self-image as a successful businessman. At another instance, at Sarsaparilla where Royal opened a grocery store, she postponed having a child at Royal’s admonishment that starting a new business would not be compatible with starting a new family. Throughout those years Ella defended Royal from customers’ complaints and continued her devotion to him.

Ella is so low on confidence that she does what he tells her to do without thinking about herself. It is only after his death that Ella cultivates a sense of freedom, and with this, her way of thinking and working undergoes a change. She allows the dust to gather in the house and she is not as bothered about having to do things as she had previously been. From her conduct, it may seem to suggest that her lack of concern for the world around her is a sign of depression after her husband’s death; but the facts bear out clearly that it is more likely that she starts to feel free after his death and wants to come to her own. She has committed her whole life to Royal and appears to have suffered from low confidence as a consequence.

Royal has spent his life belittling Ella and she has only too readily accepted that she may not be as clever as Royal. He is seen correcting her use of words, though at the same time, he himself is unable to pronounce the word 'cineraria'. Ella doesn’t really have a voice and feels guilty that she may not be a good wife, the quality of being 'good' is defined through Royal’s eyes.

It is also interesting that Ella has never questioned Royal about the possibility that they may never have a child due to his infertility. Rather she bears the responsibility for being childless on her own shoulders, even though the doctor has told her that the problem could be with her husband. She lacks any sort of identity or individualism. Her life is based entirely around Royal’s life and how he wants to shape life. She never questions any of his actions nor does she ever answer him back. It is also noticeable that she has no friends in the story, highlighting the fact how immersed she might be in her marriage. There are no outside influences or friends that she speaks to. She lives her life isolated from others.

The end of the story shows remarkable change in Ella's personality. Royal dies the same year. Until now, she had been conducting herself as per the wishes and whims of her husband, but now, she feels freer. She appears to have found her voice. She is not only no longer answerable to Royal, but also gets an opportunity to live her life with passion, and she comes to have come under the control of her passion. Until now, she had not taken care of herself, but now she goes out to buy make-up for herself. She also takes fancy of the man who drives the Holden. She seems to be looking after herself rather than somebody else. It is also noticeable that her confidence is restored while she is waiting for the man who drives the Holden. It is as though she has rediscovered who she is.

Despite her age she is a vibrant woman who feels free of her past. She is trying to break free of her past, yet is a little unsure of herself, which is clear from the incident when she does not move Royal's teeth kept in the bathroom. The man who drives the Holden is an important symbol as he represents not only the escape, but also passion for her. The reader can sense that there was previously no passion in her life while Royal was alive.

But the situation takes a different turn towards the end of the story. Ella comes to see the man driving the Holden in close proximity when he calls in needing to make a telephone call. Despite the ugly shape of his head, Ella comes to like him as his eyes shows kindness. During the very first meeting, they came close, holding and embracing each other; she seems to be expressing her suppressed love and sexuality. The man returns with a promise to come the following day.

On the following day, Ella grows anxious as the new man in her life was very punctual, bypassing her house at five-twenty everyday, but today, he had promised to come, but was late. She hears of an accident in which some people had died. As the man does not come, she is anxious and imagines if he had been injured or killed in the accident. And the worst comes before her before long.

The man appears at the gate and she rushes to him, snapping the flowers on her way. The man complains of pain, first in the arm, and then in the shoulder, and then he seems to be slipping down to the earth. As he seems to be not breathing, she says he needs air, and puts her mouth on his, still he seems to be slipping past her. He dies, and Ella did not know his name even.

The symbolism used in the story becomes a mask for the quest of love. Even Ella’s kisses in the mock mouth-to-mouth resuscitation of the final scene symbolises her attempt to love both of them back to life. Her attempt to save the dying man is a last attempt to save her own momentary wholeness on which her goodness rests, and gasps. And did he die because she pressed her lips against his too hard?