The Balloon - Essay

The Balloon “The Balloon” is a story created by the postmodernist author, Donald Barthelme, in 1968. The story really lacks a plot and to put it simply it’s about a man who inflates a balloon over a city, watches people’s reactions and then takes it down when his loved one returns, however, Barthelme takes this and makes it way more complex. The story is not necessarily about how the main character is feeling but really how the rest of the people feel about the presence of the balloon. Personally, I believe the balloon represents loneliness while also representing a form of companionship, the main character only puts the balloon over the city when he really has no one; especially when this female character is absent from his life (she eventually will come into the story later on).  I believe that the point where he had the balloon expand from is where he first saw the girl. He says on page 53 “The balloon, beginning at a point on Fourteenth street, the exact location of which I cannot reveal..” meaning that this specific spot on this specific street is incredibly important to him due to the fact that he could've started the balloon anywhere however he chose this “exact location”. This quote shows how the specific location on fourteenth street is important to him otherwise he would have started it anywhere else in the city. A lot of the characters do not understand the balloon and some feel scared and constrained while other characters feel weirdly comforted, sheltered and warm. Later on, everyone in the city then begins to accept the existence of the balloon and they even create meeting points at certain locations where the balloon caves to the side of the building or when it comes low enough to walk on. The author says on page 57 “People began, in a curious way, to locate themselves in relation to aspects of the balloon: “I’ll be at the place where it dips down into Forty-seventh Street almost to the sidewalk, near the Alamo Chile house,”. Many people in the city are quickly adjusting to the fact that the balloon is over the city. Although the rest of the city had already gotten used to the balloon, when the female finally returns from her trip the main character says: “I met you under the balloon, on the occasion of your return from Norway; you asked if it was mine; I said it was. The balloon, I said, is a spontaneous autobiographical disclosure, having to do with the unease I felt at your absence, and with sexual deprivation, but now that your visit to Bergen has been terminated, it is no longer necessary or appropriate.” This shows how when she was gone he felt alone and sought companionship. He found this in the form of a balloon that he used in her place until her return. Upon her arrival, he knew the balloon was no longer necessary due to the fact that he could actually be with her. No matter how the other people felt about it, since he did not need it to fill the spot of the girl then he quickly took it down. In conclusion, Barthelme uses the balloon to help the main character cope with his emotions. The balloon gives him a companion so he's not lonely while also helping him feel comforted and whole while his loved one is away. No matter how the other people in the city for the main character selfishly makes it about him and takes it down as quickly as he had put it up. By the time he finally sees the girl and that she has returned he realizes that he didn't need the balloon to feel whole and destroys it. Barthelme does not use names for the characters or anything however you can still feel the emotion that the characters are feeling through the authors detail.