Michael Young

English 217
Matt Oliver
May 1, 2008

“An Event Involving Mr. Colby Williams”

At first glance, the short story “Some of Us Have Been Threatening Our Friend

Colby”, by Donald Barthelme is a comical story that pokes fun at friends taking a

situation too far. However, after a closer look at the story we see that it goes much

deeper than that. The story makes us feel that we are watching an episode of a television

sitcom. Repeated examples of theatrical language, characters, and setting run throughout

the story. In this essay, I will show that the narrator of the story represents society; it is

an unheard entity that can predict and guide the decisions of characters throughout their

lives.

From the beginning of this story, we feel that we are thrown into the middle of a

story already in progress. Much like an episode of a television program, if you have not

been watching the series from the beginning characters seem disconnected, plots do not

make sense, and knowledge about previous situations and story lines is assumed to be

known. We are given a brief ‘previously on,’ but it is insufficient to give a viewer any

sort of detail about the past story line. All we know is that “[Colby had] gone too far, so

we decided to hang him”. We are given no details about why Colby had gone too far or

what exactly he did to deserve his punishment. As viewers of this episode, we are

expected to go along with the story and not question the events that take place, for if we

had seen the previous episodes everything would make sense.

show who everyone knows already. Only first names are used to refer to the characters

and we are only given minor details about them if it relates to their responsibility at the

hanging. By using just the first names, it signals to the audience a sort of friendliness and

camaraderie between the characters. Instead of referring to the characters with a prefix

like ‘Mr.’ we feel comfortable enough with them to call them by their first names. The

only person in the story who has his last name mentioned is Colby. He is referred to,

only once, as Mr. Colby Williams in the invitation to the hanging. Though he is

mentioned more than any other character in the short work, the rest of the time he is

simply referred to as Colby. Interestingly enough, the narrator of the story, who is

present throughout, is never named. This will be discussed more thoroughly later.

Not only do the characters make us feel like we are watching a television

program, but language throughout the story alludes to a set, complete with actors,

directors, and producers. Colby is the main character, surrounded by people who decide

what the best way is to perform the scene. He is an actor completely controlled by the

people around him. To see the direction given to him by the crew we look to the

italicized and quoted words throughout the story. “We had a perfect moral right to do so

because he was our friend, belonged to us in various important senses”.(2) This points

out that Colby is just an actor whose only purpose is to play out the scene the way the

crew wants it. He has no say in how the situation is handled.

While some words make us believe Colby is dependent on the others, some shows

us that he is only taking suggestions. Words such as “Be reasonable”, “raw”, and

“natural” demonstrate the direction. This is the director setting the mood for Colby and
telling him how the scene should play out. He wants the scene to portray real life and to

accurately depict the situation without going too far with theatrics. Another passage

points out that the directors and crew are not really concerned about Colby. “Colby was

in enough hot water already without trying to “upstage” everyone with unnecessary

theatrics”(3). Although Colby is the main character of the episode, the director still

wants credit for his work, for Colby is just a puppet on his strings.

This episode keeps us interested by tricking us into thinking that this situation

could be occurring in our own town right outside our window. Like any good sitcom, the

writers want us to be able to relate to the characters or setting in the show by giving us

the feeling that we know someone or somewhere just like the one depicted. Barthelme is

careful to avoid a specific mention of the ‘where’ and ‘when’ aspects of the setting.

Regarding where, the story tells us that it takes place “in the West”(2). But the West

depicted in the story does not convey images of the wild west, with dusty cities, open

plains, and tumbleweeds. We are told that there are many trees, which will be in full leaf,

and a threat of rain is always present. This moves us out of the dry and desolate

southwest into the wet and forested northwest. This is still a broad area that cannot be

narrowed down any further with the information given. It must have been in one of the

pilot episodes.

We are given a little more information regarding the ‘when’ of the setting. Our

biggest clue to time comes from Harry, who owns a car-and-truck-rental business. He

says “he [has] about ten limousines”(3). This tells us that the story takes place after

around 1915, about the time the limousine was invented. To narrow the time-frame down

even more we are told that “capital punishment has been done away with absolutely,
temporarily”(3) The death penalty was temporarily suspended in 1972 because it was

seen as cruel and unusual punishment. However, it was reinstated in 1976. This narrows

our timeline considerably. Just for extra evidence, we are told that the characters live in a

time of “increased respect for the environment.”(4) The seventies are notorious for

hippies, and environmentalism. The first Earth Day was in the 1970’s.