A Perfect Life In Ann Beattie's 'Janus'

Many people strive to live a perfect life. They try balancing the unexpected obstacles and the unwanted problems it gives. Although perfection clearly cannot be achieved, hopeful people constantly thrive to live without pain, worry, and discontent. In Ann Beattie's short story “Janus,” the main character, Andrea, reflects on the time spent with her past lover‒ time where she achieves her idea of a perfect, stable life. Now that he is gone, she is left with her husband who fulfills Andrea’s financial needs but not her emotional needs. Andrea keeps a bowl with her to remind herself of her greatest moments with both her lover and her husband. In “Janus,” the bowl symbolizes Andrea’s longing for an unattainable perfect life.

The short story abruptly begins with the succinct sentence “[t]he bowl was perfect” (595). Beattie claims the inanimate object’s perfection with no character or description to expose Andrea’s extreme attachment to a simple home commodity. Following this claim, she develops Andrea’s life as a real estate agent “tak[ing] the bowl from house to house” like a safety blanket (596). Even at home she keeps it in her view because “she like[s] to see it” (596). Andrea also keeps the “perfect” bowl close to her in an attempt to relive

Although Andrea’s circumstances change, the bowl is still depicted the same way: “near the rim, even in dim light, the eye moved toward one small flash of blue” (599). The “small flash of blue” represents the glimpse of what Andrea thought was her perfect life. She had both her lover and husband in her life for a “small flash.” Even though this was a minimal time, she still longs to have both men in her life. The blue light being at the rim of the bowl shows that Andrea’s happiness stems from such an unusual time in her life. Yet, her eyes still seem to find their way to the blue light and remind her of the “flash” of a perfect life she