A Silver Dish

"That was how Woody wanted it all. At the graveside, he had taken off and folded his jacket, rolled up his sleeves on thick freckled biceps, waved back the little tractor standing by, and shovelled the dirt himself. His big face, broad at the bottom, narrowed upward like a Dutch house. And, his small good lower teeth taking hold of the upper lip in his exertion, he performed the final duty of a son. He was very fit, so it must have been emotion, not the shovelling, that made him redden so. After the funeral, he went home with Halina and her son, a decent Polack like his mother, and talented, too—Mitosh played the organ, at hockey and basketball games in the Stadium, which took a smart man because it was a rabble-rousing kind of occupation—and they had some drinks and comforted the old girl. Halina was true blue, always one hundred per cent for Morris."

This passage thoroughly explains a physical and emotional state and Bellow uses very descriptive words to get his message across. "taken off" and "waved back" emphasize the description of his actions in a powerful way and like Lanham Bellow's structure has an interesting pattern. Every sentence flows easily and follows a pattern of intriguing description. He designs his paragraphs almost like a "flow chart" - if that makes any sense. To me, it flows but with pattern and with a sense of belonging. Especially in this paragraph, we read a succession of events that are descriptive of what the characters are doing and how they are reacting. For example, He was very fit, so it must have been emotion, not the shovelling, that made him redden so. After the funeral, he went home with Halina and her son, a decent Polack like his mother, and talented, too—Mitosh played the organ,..."

Bellow beautifully links words together in a sentence to create the easy flow.

"There were Woody’s two sisters as well, unmarried, in their fifties, very Christian, very straight, still living with Mama in an entirely Christian bungalow. Woody, who took full responsibility for them all, occasionally had to put one of the girls (they had become sick girls) in a mental institution. Nothing severe. The sisters were wonderful women, both of them gorgeous once, but neither of the poor things was playing with a full deck."

I love the first sentence of this passage. It demonstrates how Bellow's words combined into a great sentence with emotion and humor simultaneously. His descriptions of the people echo throughout the story because of his organization.