Crossing to Safety

Following the birth of Larry’s child, Chapter 10 details more of Larry’s anxiety about his profession. It is a tense time at the university when promotions are announced and whether faculty members will be allowed to stay on. However, given that it is 1938 during the Depression, there are few positions available. Though he has taught a full load while writing stories and a novel, he does not receive a promotion. Instead, he is allowed to stay only for a temporary appointment. Sid is similarly only given an extension; Sid and Larry are indignant, but their situation is desperate: “Hard times are instructive and humbling. I can’t forget that I have a birth-damaged daughter, just coming around, and a still-recovering wife, and that medical expenses and the girl we have hired to help Sally have eaten up most of our savings” (126). These extensions only grant up to six years. They find out together and are loath to tell their wives. Deciding to have a boat ride to ease their worry, an accident happens and they all must bail out, wives included. This physical danger and emergency mollifies the bad news of the day. A new feeling of closeness borne from simply surviving persists: “We liked those two from the minute of our first acquaintance.