Flitting

Flitting by William Dean Howells

The work is a reflective account of the bittersweet process of leaving a familiar home and moving on, interweaving humorous and philosophical observations on modern life, memory, and change. The narrator meditates on how personal attachments form not through long-standing ancestral ties but by cultivating an emotional bond with transient surroundings—a hotel, a room, a well-loved street—rather than with an ancient village heritage. In doing so, the text examines the paradox of modern domestic sentimentality: while the attractions of a long-cherished home linger and give meaning to everyday life, they are inevitably subjected to decay, loss, and even ridicule as time moves forward. Throughout the narrative, the act of moving is portrayed as an extended and gradual dismantling of life’s accumulated comfort and familiar decor. The narrator recounts the painstaking process of removing cherished objects—books, carpets, pictures—one room at a time, an ordeal that transforms a home into a series of historical relics rather than a living space. This disassembly is depicted not only as a practical necessity but also as a symbolic ritual that evokes mourning for what is irretrievably lost. The familiar environment is no longer just a house; it becomes a repository of memories, a "sacred" space that haunts even after it is left behind. Amid the practical challenges of moving, the text offers meditations on the slippery border between attachment and detachment. It contrasts the dismal, sentimental experiences of adults with the joyful, uninhibited exuberance of children during transitions—highlighting how innocence embraces change without the burden of memory. The narrative also delves into the inherent absurdities and public embarrassments that accompany moving. It notes the social performance expected of people during transition—the ritualistic dressing down for heavy work, the pretense of nonchalance—and reveals how these customs are rooted more in cultural convention than in any inherent necessity. There is also an ironic examination of modern conveniences that seemingly alleviate the hardships of moving. The author contrasts past and present attitudes, noting that while earlier methods of shifting one’s household were fraught with physical and emotional pain, modern science and technology have made the process ostensibly more bearable. Nevertheless, even with improved methods, the emotional truth remains: moving is a disruptive force that strips away the accumulated dignity and warmth of a long-lived home. The work touches on the role of the professional mover as a silent witness to these personal transitions, suggesting that such figures, though often overlooked, are privy to the intimate content of people’s lives. Their task is imbued with a quiet, almost artistic dignity, as they transport not just furniture but the very memories and domestic legacies of a family. In sum, the narrative is a meditation on the transient nature of domestic life and the inherent contradictions of modern sentimentality. It questions the value of material objects and the spaces they inhabit, while invoking a broader reflection on how change, no matter how methodically managed or technologically assisted, always carries with it a trace of loss and the passage of time. The text thus balances a personal musing on inevitability with a critical look at how society ritualizes the process of transition, ultimately suggesting that while homes may be rebuilt and memories preserved, the very act of leaving forever transforms them into relics of the past.

By William Dean Howells · First published 1884 · Genre: Realism, Social Satire, Domestic Fiction · 4,478 words

First lines

I would not willingly repose upon the friendship of a man whose local attachments are weak. I should not demand of my intimate that he have a yearning for the homes of his ancestors, or even the scenes of his own boyhood; that is not in American nature; on the contrary, he is but a poor creature who does not hate the village where he was born; yet a sentiment for the place where one has lived two or three years, the hotel where one has spent a week, the sleeping car in which one has ridden from Albany to Buffalo, -- so much I should think it well to exact from my friend in proof of that sensibility and constancy without which true friendship does not exist. So much I am ready to yield on my own part to a friend's demand, and I profess to have all the possible regrets for Benicia Street, now I have left it. Over its deficiencies I cast a veil of decent oblivion, and shall always try to look upon its worthy and consoling aspects, which were far the more numerous. It was never otherwise, I imagine, than an ideal region in very great measure; and if the reader whom I have sometimes seemed to direct thither, should seek it out, he would hardly find my Benicia Street by the city sign-board. Yet this is not wholly because it was an ideal locality, but because much of its reality has now become merely historical, a portion of the tragical poetry of the past. Many of the vacant lots abutting upon Benicia and the intersecting streets flourished up, during the four years we knew it, into fresh-painted wooden houses, and the time came to be when one might have looked in vain for the abandoned hoop-skirts which used to decorate the desirable building-sites. The lessening pasturage also reduced the herds which formerly fed in the vicinity, and at last we caught the tinkle of the cow-bells only as the cattle were driven past to remoter meadows.

What this Textopian page supports

Flitting is listed on Textopian as a short story by William Dean Howells, dated 1884 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Good citation fit

Similar titles

Genres

Tags

Realism · American literature · Romantic · Social commentary · 19th-century · Relationships · Love · Satire · Cultural critique · Modernity · Identity · Feminist themes

More by William Dean Howells