Hear that Long Train Moan by Percival Everett

The first reading of the story did not make sense at all. The only thing I understood was, Virgil is a retired dentist who considers his “train-making” the most important job, more important than dentistry and takes it very seriously. Morrison, most probably his friend, is a passive participant of the conversation who keeps following Virgil’s rabbit trail.

The first paragraph seemed to be too distant from the story or the conversation between the two men and during the first reading, I tried to look for some relevant portion that would connect with it. Also, I was unsure why Virgil wouldn’t like his grandson. He was a little boy after all and a man living all alone must cherish the company. The train model did not make sense, neither did Virgil’s comment that he could do nothing to prevent the collision of two trains.

After reading the notes and realizing that it was supposed to be an allegory, I read the story again and the narration, the conversation began making sense. It is a more universal or you can say, on a much grand scale that one expects in the first reading. Probably this is why the author refrains from giving clear description of the characters. I cannot picture anyone accurately – it’s a universal story - maybe the author intends for every person to fit into the story. Moreover, the first few lines of the story make more sense if the story is read as an allegory. It is like a prologue to the conversation, a small description of the changing world and how it must look in the eyes of the creator.

The conversation between the two men represents the conversation between God and one of his subjects in modern times. The events have been set in motion since time immemorial, probably when the world was inhabited by the first humans and since then, it seems like God is observing, which course we take.

Virgil loves the train model, his entire house has tracks and the trains keep moving, just like time keeps ticking and the world keeps evolving. He hates Williston for touching the trains and leading them to a path of collision but avoids doing anything. Morrison suggests he shuts the power off but Virgil refuses saying its too late to take any action. This part specifically attracted my attention as it represents conflicting views. Morrison, like humans, believes or expects easy solution to every problem – he thinks shutting the power or taking one of the trains out of the track will solve the problem, but is it that simple? Is like that simple? Can we really solve the issues of our lives with a simple solution? I wish we could and in some cases, we indeed sort out the problems with immediate solutions, but that is not the case always.

In Virgil’s’ words – this shit is not easy.