334/334/Part VI

The final part of the 334 novella is subtitled 2026.

Summary

Final scenes of each of the Hansons in 2026. Lottie and Mrs. Hanson, the last two members of the family still living in the original apartment, are evicted. All three Hanson women decide on different ways of escaping their troubles with the help of an institution: Shrimp joins a religious order, Lottie becomes a psychiatric inpatient (after trying unsuccessfully to die on their burning furniture), and Nora applies for euthanasia.

36. Boz

(2026 - Shrimp - another POV)

37. Mickey

(2026 - Lottie - another POV)

38. Father Charmain

(2026 - Mrs. Hanson - another POV)

the Sodality of St. Clare

A sodality is a religious mission organization for laymen; Shrimp and January are not joining a convent, but are devoting themselves to some kind of charitable work. St. Clare is associated with the Franciscan tradition, but was also designated in 1958 as the patron saint of television.

St. Mark, third chapter, verses thirty-three to thirty-five

In other words, the central line in this passage ("And he looked round about on them ... and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!")—cited by January as an argument for choosing faith over blood family—is another 3:34.

39. The Five-Fifteen Puppets

(2026 - Mrs. Hanson - fantasy)

hundreds of people ... who didn't meet occupancy standards

Mrs. Hanson is being evicted because, both of her daughters having departed (even though she expects Lottie to return), the apartment now only has one resident but is reserved for families of at least two—the same reason that Richard Williken had to pretend to have a son. She is clearly violating regulations; the only question is who informed on her.

40. Hunt's Tomato Catsup

(2026 - Mrs. Hanson - reality)

41. At the Falls

(2026 - Lottie - reality)

The entire Hanson apartment was on fire

A climactic scene in a burning house has featured in several of Disch's horror novels: The Businessman, The M.D., The Sub. Lottie's delirious internal narration is very similar in style to The Businessman in particular.

42. Lottie, at Bellevue, continued

(2026 - Lottie - monolog)

anyway the world doesn't end

The desire for the world (or at least one's own society) to stop struggling and just collapse was a major theme of "Everyday Life in the Later Roman Empire", where Alexa Miller yearned for "barbarians" to destroy New York. Here, Lottie provides a counterpoint that Alexa probably wouldn't understand because Alexa has a more leisurely life: it can't end because people are just too busy.

here you are enjoying a goddamned sunset

See "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry": "ever so many hundred years hence, others will ... enjoy the sunset ..."

As the sun typically sets in the west, a literal-minded reader familiar with the geography of New York might be puzzled by the idea of looking from Bellevue—on the east side of Manhattan—across the East River to Brooklyn, while simultaneously watching the sunset. Either Lottie was on a balcony facing north or south and could see to both sides, or she's talking about the dramatic indirect effects that you can sometimes see as the last light hits buildings and windows on the Brooklyn shore.

43. Mrs. Hanson, in Room 7

(2026 - Mrs. Hanson - monolog)

I can remember visiting my father

We saw her doing this in scene 17.