The World According To Garp

Garp and Jenny arrive in Vienna and begin scouting potential places to live. They stay in more than a dozen pensions (small motels). Garp throws himself into exploring the city, while Jenny prefers to stay home and write. She is not a very good writer. Garp thinks he is a better writer, but he has writer’s block. He spends most of his time “managing the domestic life of his mother, who had added the isolation of writing to her chosen life of solitude” (103). Garp is inspired by witnessing a traveling circus and imagining them in his story.

While visiting the Museum of the History of the City of Vienna, Garp learns about Franz Grillparzer, an Austrian poet and dramatist. He thinks Grillparzer is a subpar writer, and this boosts his own writerly confidence. Garp and Jenny bond over their dislike of Grillparzer. Garp tells his mom about his lustful wishes and his tryst with Cushie; she is disappointed that her son is just as driven by lust as most of the people around her. They encounter three women, whom Garp recognizes as sex workers. Jenny does not know they are sex workers and asks friendly questions about their clothing.