"No One's A Mystery" by Elizabeth Tallent (for English 1302 - Literature:Short Story)

"No One's A Mystery," by Elizabeth Tallent, is about Jack and the eighteen year-old girl he has been having an affair with for the past two years. They are drinking tequila and talking about their future, while Jack drives them in his pickup truck through the countryside of Wyoming. <Tab/>Jack is a cynical man who drinks heavily, doesn't clean his truck, and has no obvious respect for women. He is …

…to how everyone is knowable and nothing ever changes, thus reiterating Jack's outlook and the theme of the story. <Tab/>The central idea of this story is that people live their lives, experience is gained from living, and people are basically predictable. The only difference is that some people will take advantage of innocence while others don't, which is also not surprising, but will influence lives differently depending on the circumstances.