So Long, See You Tomorrow

-William Maxwell
The novel is about the two teenagers, the persona and Cletus, who became friends but
after several days, got separated due to a certain terrible event. They met again in a city high
school in Chicago but the persona was not able to do anything or even talk to Cletus. What he
did or rather what he was not able to do to help Cletus made him regret all his life. The persona
called this novel a memoir for the purpose of making amends to Cletus.
The novel starts with the murder of Lloyd Wilson to arouse the curiosity of the readers.
The fact that the author did not reveal the identity of the murderer means that the author wanted
the reader to wonder who the killer is and to continue on reading the novel. The author wanted
also to emphasize this event because it is the cause of the separation of the two teenagers and the
start of the agony of Cletus.
The gravel pit symbolizes the complicated problems in life like the murder and the death
of a mother. It was described to be so deep that boys under sixteen were forbidden by their
parents to swim there. It means that the problems it symbolizes are not suitable for the young
ones like Cletus and the persona but they actually got involved.
The real beginning of the story starts with the disasters that happened to the family of
the persona. The most tragic is the death of his mother. His father tried to hold on to his mothers
memory and to search for her on every little things in their house but the more his father
searched for her, the more his father forgot about her. It was reflected when his father tried to
retouch the picture of her mother but the result was something that is very far from his real
mother. The edited picture was far from reality just like the idea that her mother will come back
again and everything will be the same as it was before.

After the death of his mother, the changes in the personas family started to occur one
after another. The marriage of his father was the most he could hardly swallow. The persona
compared himself to a snake trying to swallow a big frog in accepting that there will be a new
woman who will take the place of her mother. They also moved from their old house to a rented
house, which was identical to a house next to it. The persona tried to compare the two identical
houses and to find small differences. This reflects the persona trying to compare his everyday life
and finding meaning to the changes happening to them that he cannot do anything about.
I found out from reading the authors biography that it was Maxwells life as a child that
was being depicted as the life of the persona in the novel. His mother died in 1918 and his father
got married again. Then, they moved to Chicago after four years.
On the other hand, Cletus was also battling his own struggles in life. Even though the
persona does not know the real story behind Cletus, he tried to narrate the events that brought
about their meeting in the scaffolding of their new house and the murder through the information
he gathered and through his own imagination.
The persona did great in narrating the life of Cletus. I noticed that the author used the
point of view of a dog. It was very effective. The thoughts and feelings of the dog reflect that of
Cletus and the persona. The loyalty of the dog can be compared to the loyalty shown by Cletus
and the persona to their family.
The scaffolding of the new house is a very important setting in the novel. It is where the
two teenagers met, the point of convergence between the life of Cletus and the persona. It is
where they formed their friendship. This place was compared to the Palace at 4 A.M. because
of its appearance. But the most important event that had happened there is the hope that was
formed on the two teenagers as they play in that unfinished house. They were both being

troubled by the problems in their family but they experienced relief as they play there even
though they were not talking to each other that much. They found hope in that unfinished house
instead in their own complete houses filled with lonely broken family. There is a part in the novel
that the room of the persona in the new house was described as insufficiently heated. The heat
that was being described is the heat of love from the family. It signifies how his authoritative,
business-minded and selfish father treats him. The title was also stated in that part when they
were parting in that unfinished new house. I think the title, So Long, See You Tomorrow,
means that the persona wanted to meet Cletus again just like what he meant when he said that to
Cletus. But when this time comes, he wanted to make sure that he will talk to him and he will do
what is right for him to do.
After that, they were separated by the pistol shot. Clarence killed Lloyd then he
committed suicide. This act of Clarence not only killed Lloyd but also his own son. He killed the
youth inside Cletus. That event made Cletus to mature fast and to shoulder the burden with
himself of what his father did. Because of this tragic event, Cletus was never again seen by the
persona until they moved again to Chicago. The persona met Cletus in the city high school but,
this time, they were like strangers to one another.
The persona regrets what he did until now that is why he did this novel. He felt that he
was the cause why Cletus was never again seen in the city high school. He felt that he has a
responsibility to what will happen to Cletus. In the novel, he tried to clean the name of Cletus
and to explain himself why he was not able to talk to him at the city high school when they met.
He also expressed his sorrow and his concern about what happened to him. At the end of the
novel, he seemed to convince Cletus to go on with his life and not to destroy it just because of
the incident that, in fact, he was not responsible of.

I thought that the persona will reveal in the end what the ear symbolizes but it turned out
that the author left the privilege of interpreting the symbol of the ear to the readers. For me, the
ear of Lloyd that was cut by Clarence symbolizes all the unheard truths and emotions of
Clarence, which were not considered by Fern and Lloyd and will never be heard again just like
the ear that was never found.
In the novel, the persona and Cletus were compared. They both grew up in different
places, town and country, but, in fact, they have many similarities: one of their parents died, both
of them have problems in their families, their life had converged in the unfinished house and
both of them found their hopes there. The persona, Cletus and the dog have the same destiny in
the novel. They were both the witness and the victims of the sad realities in their lives.
There is also a part in the novel that the farmers were described to be religious. It was
said that they follow the words in the Bible especially the Golden Rule but it was the opposite of
what Lloyd, Fern and Clarence had shown. Lloyd and Fern actually disobeyed one of the Ten
Commandments stating not to covet your neighbours while Clarence killed Lloyd, which is the
in contrast with the Fifth Commandment.
As a whole, I liked how the ideas and the events in the novel were related to one another.
The destruction of the friendship of Lloyd and Clarence had caused the end of the friendship of
Cletus and the persona. The meeting of the two teenagers who were both product of broken
families contributed also to the interrelationships of events in the novel. It was also shown how
each character struggled in their life in fighting all the injustices that they were experiencing but
in the end, they were also faced by the sad realities in life.
I think the theme of the novel is how we adopt on the cruel experiences in our life. It is
true in reality that we will undergo these hard incidents but the result will be based on how we

will react and confront these problems that we will encounter. We should remember that the
choices we made have consequences and it will surely affect the people around us so we should
be very careful in every step that we take. But we should be brave enough to stand with our
choices and to face the consequences associated with it.
For my reaction, the story of the novel is short. What made it long are the thoughts and
ideas of the persona. I find it hard to follow the flow of the story at first because the persona is
not telling the story in chronological order. It required me to take some notes to follow the flow
of the story. I also find it hard to interpret the symbolisms in the novel. I am not a reader and,
honestly, I do not like to read novels or even short stories. That is why it took me a very long
time to finish reading this novel. Actually, this is the first novel in English that I was able to
finish reading and I am very proud about it.