BP1: The Depth of Sweaters

Like most flash fiction, Nicholas DiChario’s “Sweaters” is short and deceivingly simple. There are multiple interpretations to be seen. But first, some background information. It takes place at a newstand where two main characters interact: the man whose point of view we are seeing and the girl who wore the sweaters. Their whole interaction lasted less than an hour. Now we can look into the diction DiChario used. To start off “Sweaters”, DiChario describes sweaters. Which you would think is obvious since the title is sweaters, but, the way the main character list them, “solid ones, striped ones, loose ones, tight ones… v-necks, and daring cowls” (DiChario), seems obsessive. The main character constantly comes back to sweaters, for example, the only reason he talked to the girl in the first place was because of her sweater. If you still don’t buy the whole obsessed with sweaters idea, just listen to what he says later on. In the second paragraph the character thinks, “she was a dash of poly/cotton color in a blue/gray blur of corporate uniforms” (DiChario), which is how he describes the girl. Not by her physical features, personality, or anything besides her sweater. He even starts and ends his conversation with her by saying, “‘love your sweaters’,” and, “[Aunt Rita’s] favorite was a Scottish cashmere. We buried her in it” (DiChario). Now that it’s established that there is an emphasis on sweaters, the next question is why are the sweaters important.

The easy answer to this question would be because it illustrates the main characters half-hearted attempt at asking this girl out. He cared so little about her as a person that all he saw her for was her sweaters. Which is why he didn’t even think twice about saying, “we buried her in it” (DiChario), referring to his dead aunt and comparing the girl he is currently hitting on to her. She reacted like any normal person would have, by turning him down with as much force as possible. Later on, the main character states, “I often spoke without thinking” (DiChario), and the reason for that, in this case at least, could be because he doesn’t realize he is talking to people with feelings and emotions. All he sees is a sweater, and a sweater wont notice if you compare it to a dead aunt. So in this case, using a very surface level of analysis it can be determined that the sweaters are a method to show the characters obsession of the item to the point where he objectifies people for their sweaters. You could go further and say he was obsessed with his aunt and just wanted a replacement for her. Maybe they were close and he wanted a new friend and didn’t mean to come off as a romantically interested person. Maybe he has psychological issues because of something pertaining to sweaters. These are all hypothetical scenarios one could come up with, but for now, sticking to the first one is a good compromise between all the different options.

Another, more analytical and in depth answer would be that the sweaters are important because they are used as a metaphor to describe the main character’s hope or joy. Note that the last time he spoke of sweaters was when someone died and then all of the sweaters were, “donated… to the Salvation Army” (DiChario), which could mean that he lost all hope or joy when his aunt died. Continuing on this line of thinking, the contrast between color and blurs of uniforms in the phrase, “she was a dash of poly/cotton color in a blue/gray blur of corporate uniforms” (DiChario), translates to the girl at the newstand representing the new hope or joy he found in his life. Summarizing the translation from the metaphor for the rest of the story, he tries to engage this new happiness of his only to lose it by thinking of the past one he had. Only to realize that nothing else will ever be able to replace the happiness he once had. 

These are just two ways you could replace the sweaters with an idea. In reality the sweaters could be whatever you want as long as the man had it previously, lost it, tried to regain it, and failed by remembering the past, realizing there could never be a replacement.

DiChario, Nicholas. Sudden Stories: the Mammoth Book of Miniscule Fiction. Edited by Dinty W. Moore, Mammoth Books, 2003.