Charles Baxter - Vanity

Charles baxter: vanity
English 6

Sometimes there is a big different between young and old and sometimes there is not. Sometimes we see that old people do just the same thing as young people. But young people are often characterized by being spontaneous, free and making rash decisions, where old people are characterized by wisdom, knowledge and experience. Mostly young people are seen as open-minded and free, and therefore act like anything is possible. Opposite are old people seen as someone who is done by living life and have experienced what the needed. But sometimes it is different. Old age is simply a state of mind. The short story from 2015, Vanity, written by Charles Baxter, represents the two typologies, young versus old.

In the short story, Vanity, we meet this young man Harry Albert. He is a young homosexual guy who is on his way to Las Vegas. In the flight he meets his fellow passenger sitting next to him. The fellow passenger is an old man named David Lowie. At first, David Lowie is very quit and doesn’t say a word. The old man is kind of grumpy and is untidy dressed. Harry Albert is politely trying to initiate a conversation, but the old man refuses by ignoring him or answering him with sounds. But then Harry Albert takes his book, Schindler’s List, and starts reading it. This gets the old man’s attention and starts talking. Apparently, to Harry Albert surprise, David Lowie, sitting just next to him, was one of the Jews, who were rescued by Oskar Schindler during the Holocaust, which the book Schindler’s List is about. Harry Albert is very honored to meet David Lowie and the begin to have a conversation

        The old man, David Lowie, is a contrast to the young man, Harry Albert. David Lowie presents the old age with wisdom and the experience, where Harry Albert presents the young age with a good look and knowledge. The short story is written from Harry Albert’s point of view and therefore, we don’t get much information about him. But we know that he is dressed well as it says in the text: “Harry Albert, who, by contrast, dressed rather elegantly and could still turn heads for his handsomeness”^[1] Here we also hear about the contrast between David Lowie and Harry Albert. David Lowie is dressed in a rumpled suit and is therefore seen as a contrast to Harry Albert because of his good look. David Lowie is firstly describes as following: “32-A was a short man, of a certain age, stooped but solid, with hair dyed inky black. Apparently indifferent to mere appearances, he displayed traces of dandruff on his rumpled suit. Dandruff had also made its way onto his soiled and unpressed lime-green necktie.”^[2]. Here we also only know him as 32-A (his seat number). Furthermore, Harry Albert is very polite throughout the whole story, where David Lowie is kind of irritable in the start of the short story. But when they start talking, David Lowie appears as kind and tolerant person. When Harry Albert tells David Lowie that he is gay, he also describes him self as an open-minded person. David Lowie enjoys having fun, which we can see here: “And tonight and tomorrow and the next day, we’re going to the shows. The shows in Las Vegas are the best in the world! The nightlife. It’s – Am I explaining? Even a child knows. Do you like nightlife?”^[3] Furthermore, David Lowie is a man who enjoys every aspect of his life. Harry Albert seems like a man who enjoys his life, but also believes that good looks and having a small fortune are the best things in life.