Much of the early dialogue between the two characters concern fishing. “They aren’t striking.” However, instead of discussing what to do, it seems more like a routine where both characters are familiar with what needs to be done. “They made a fire with driftwood.” Although Marjorie seems to be competent at fishing, Nick is the expert and shows this when he advises her. “You don’t want to take the ventral fin out”. Later Nick says, “I’ve taught you everything.” He may be referring to fishing or perhaps about life itself. Yet, there is also evidence to show that Marjorie dominates Nick as when he says he is not hungry Marjorie insists “Come on and eat, Nick.” Nick is subservient in this case at least. The dialogue becomes tenser towards the end of the story when Marjorie asks, “What’s the matter, Nick?” Nick replies “I don’t know” suggesting something is wrong but perhaps he is unsure what it is or he does not want to discuss it. It is up to the readers again to draw their own conclusions. This also keeps the reader into suspense and creates tension. Marjorie is somewhat unwilling to communicate and Nick initiates the conversation. “There’s going to be a moon tonight” this may be because Marjorie is unable to face up to the problems in the relationship and tries to avoid it by turning her back to Nick.
The journey in the story is the journey to the end of the relationship of Nick and Marjorie. When Marjorie leaves Nick in the woods, it signifies the end of the relationship. However, Marjorie does not seem too upset and perhaps this is because they may have argued before about it and the relationship has survived. This also is ambiguous. The twist in the story comes at the very end with the entrance of Bill, a character who is not previously mentioned so comes as a shock to the readers. The most significant line is “Bill didn’t touch him, either” this hints that Bill and Nick are close to each other and perhaps in a relationship.
“Here we are” is also third person narration but as in “the end of something” the author seems to sympathise and focus on the male character rather than the female. This is evident as the man is described first, “The young man in the new blue suit”, and the girl is described through the eyes of the man. “He sat down…opposite the girl in beige.” The style is colloquial and the words used are simple.
There is a distinct difference in the two stories. “Here we are” contains very little narrative, apart from the primary paragraphs. The dialogue between the man and the girl form the bulk of the story and through their conversation, the readers are able to form opinions of them. The writer is American and the story is set on a train bound for New York and the use of expressions such as “knockout”, “gee” and “queer” words typical of that time in America, reflects this. The dialogue is sometimes overly polite and the characters seem insincere. “I’m so terribly glad”. On other occasions, it is very argumentative, much like Nick and Marjorie towards the end. The pronouns are bland and following verb is always “said” which is very non-descriptive. This makes the tone in which the characters speak unknown and ambiguous, and therefore is open to interpretation.
The man uses diminutives such as “honey”, and “baby lamb” which show his dominance over the girl and in some ways, he is devaluing her. The connotations of these words are ‘sweet’ and ‘innocent’ which perhaps show the nature of the girl. The man shows traits of being jealous, possessive and insecure when he talks about Joe Brooks. “That’s what I think of your friend Joe Brooks.” However the man is also patient and tries to keep the peace between them. “Honey” he said “what is all this?” The girl is also insecure in the relationship and shows jealousy when she asks, “why didn’t you marry Louise?” She is also very argumentative and paranoid which is evident when she picks fights with the man over trivial things like her hat. This may be, as the man points out, that she is nervous being alone with him. The girl appears to be naïve and constantly requires reassurance form the man and gains this by using tag questions such as “aren’t we?” or “haven’t we?” She is also subservient and apologises to the man. “I’m so sorry I was cross.” The man and the girl both seem to be insincere characters who appear to be playing roles. This is shown in their obvious uneasiness with each other and the words “concentrated care” and “politely” show this. Their lack of eye contact shows that they are not comfortable in each other’s company where Nick and Marjorie are. The girl “rested her gaze just above his right shoulder.”
The dialogue between the man and the girl tell us a lot about their relationship. They seem uncomfortable in each other’s company and try to avoid discussing sex. If they think the conversation is remotely leading in that direction fillers such as “I mean, I mean - well...” are used to divert the exchange. The dialogue is swift and the lack of narrative makes the story fast paced. However, when the narrative interrupts the dialogue it creates tension and slows the pace. Sentences such as “There was silence with things going on in it” are ambiguous.
The train journey signifies the beginning of the couple’s marriage and the reiteration of the word “new” emphasises this. This is the opposite of Nick and Marjorie’s relationship, which is ending. The story has no twist, unlike ‘The End of Something’, but the fact that the end “Here we are” is the same as the beginning and the title, shows that nothing has been resolved.
The two stories are very ambiguous and the authors invite the readers to read between the lines and make their own conclusions. Terminology is used to illustrate the machinery and fishing in ‘The End of Something’ but words are not specialised in ‘Here we are’, although idioms are used. Nick and Marjorie have been together for a long time and are comfortable with each other, but their relationship is coming to an end. In ‘Here we are’ the man and girl are newly wed and in a new and unfamiliar relationship. The train journey is the journey into married life, which has only just begun for them. In both stories, there is suspense and tension throughout brought on by the language, style and dialogue between the characters. The language used and how the characters respond to each other allows us to form informed opinions of them.
