My Dad and I debate: Is the glass half full or half empty??

John Updike "The Full Glass"
The New Yorker
May 26 2008

I stumbled across "The Full Glass" by John Updike and immediately knew I would be interested. Last week, I had a philosophical debate with my dad about whether a class being half full or half empty indicates one's outlook on life in terms of being pessimistic or optimistic. He says it is an indicator. I say it is not. If I drink a glass of milk, then half is left. The glass would be, in my mind, half empty. However, I would not say I am pessimistic; my dad would call me a pessimist because I say the glass is half empty. This debate between my dad and me could go on forever, so I decided to read John Updike's short story to try to find some answers.

John Updike immediately starts "The Full Glass" by describing an older man who has reached an age of retirement and is now wanting to reflect on his life. His job for 30 years has "conditioned him against digging to deep" (1) into his life because he was so busy dealing with clients, "electric sanders," and refurnishing floors. The narrator, an unnamed man, then details his nighttime routine of brushing teeth, taking pills, and "leaving a water glass already full" (2). Immediately, after my debates with my dad, I sighed and assumed, as my dad almost convinced me, that he was an optimist with his full glass: this story would be predictable and boring. I could not have been more wrong.

The full glass that the narrator refers to symbolizes memories from his childhood and earlier years. He recalls "that full-glass feeling" (3) when he was in a relationship with a woman who had a husband. She was a "glass full" memory because he made her happy; yet, she proved to be poisonous when they got pulled over after a reckless night out on the town and when she cheated on her husband multiple times. THe narrator was not an optimist during these times because he lived in the moment with this woman and did not assume things would happen in their future. The times he shared with her, both happy and sad, illustrate a time in the narrator's life when he was content, no matter the circumstance nor consequence. In addition, the narrator remembers another "full moment" (5) he recalls his crush that he had from Kindergarten to high school. He knew he would probably never date her though: she was a cheerleader, a "star hockey player" a singer, and had a plethora of boyfriends (5). However, she made him happy, and he eventually got one dance with her (6). An optimist would believe that he could date the girl, just give it time and she will come around. A pessimist would doubt any chance at all. But the narrator just enjoys the dance and this moment with his long-time crush. The examples of full moments continue with references to his wife, first love, and holidays.

John Updike ends his short story by having the narrator "life his glass" and make a toast to the world he is in: the "visible world" (7. The narrator is toasting with his full glass to show that he is not a pessimist nor optimist; rather, he is an elderly man who is reflecting on the happy and sad times and memories of his life. While I assumed he was an optimist at first, I now understand that the glass being empty or full has nothing to do with one's stance on life: it has to do with one's memories, setbacks, and understandings. The full glass at his night stand was a channel, rather than an indicator, into his earlier years.

(740 Words)