Dave's Anatomy: My History as a Writer #60: "The Glutton and the Angel Girl."

The Seven Deadly Sins are perpetually fascinating.  I've written two stories about sins on the list (this one and one called "Climax," which appeared in Cliterature). And as a writer I join a long and respected line of commentators:  Langland write about the shriving of the Seven Deadly Sins; Spenser had their procession in The Faerie Queen; Christopher Marlowe had them parade before Dr. Faustus.  Lists vary a bit, but the sins are generally listed as Pride, Lechery, Avarice, Sloth, Envy, Anger, Gluttony.  These are the sins that are particularly bad and will endanger a person's soul.

I picked out gluttony for this story. It isn't thought of as a sin today, even by a lot of Christian people, but it should be. Overeating has led to an epidemic of obesity and all the attendant disorders that go along with it—diabetes, heart disease, problems with knees and joints. In the middle ages, this sort of excessive desire for food and drink was thought of as damning and a soul-endangering.

My story "The Glutton and the Angel Girl" centers on the life of a young man named Daryl Collins. He's overweight, which is not a particular problem when he is a small kid. When he enters the crazy world of high school, however, it becomes much more of an issue. There social order is determined by physical attractiveness.  The aggressive jockeying for social position involves cruelty and rejection. Daryl knows he will be targeted because of his weight. But he is proactive and intelligent and wonders how he might break the system.

Luciano Pavarotti

He does this by drawing on his strengths. He is big, heavy, and he is strong, so he becomes a formidable tackle on the football team. He also knows about food and is appeal. He is a gourmet of sorts and a patron of fine restaurants. He is sharp and intelligent. Another thing Daryl explores is the cool fat guys moving around in the world of celebrity. There are a few:  opera sing Luciano Pavarotti; actors Sebastian Cabot and Orson Wells (in his older days); comedian Jackie Gleason. He studies them and their style. And, to his own astonishment, he begins to win the battle.

Daryl fends off his critics. He makes friends on the football team and cements his friendship by introducing them to gourmet eating. Despite successes, he still despairs about finding the girl of whom he is enamored. This will be the hardest thing to pull off—but, to his astonishment, it begins to happen. Cheerleader and all-around popular girl Margo Miller sits with him and his football friends and talks with Daryl, who tries to get his game on as best he can. They later meet at a bookstore and discuss literature. Several literature friends stop to talk with Daryl. Margo is impressed. They begin dating. Daryl has successful broken the system.

But his success does not go unchallenged. He and Margo become physically intimate. Their relationship brings criticism from Prudence Constantine (Peggy), who is a friend of Margo, to whom Margo has confided. She tells Daryl he needs to back off, he is going to get Margo in trouble, and it's not good to be in the kind of relationship she is in with him. He tells her the relationship is by consent and anytime Margo wants to break out the physical part of it he will gladly oblige her. Peggy accuses him of lust. He scoffs at this, says he is surprised that she did not accuse him of gluttony and suggests she is displaying the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins, the sin of Pride.

Later, as he walks out on a bitterly cold winter night to pick up Margo for a date, he slips and falls on the ice. He can't get up and can't get to his cell phone. Despairing, he seems Peggy. She is dressed oddly:  a sequined blue miniskirt, white tights, a pink jacket and boots. She has one some kind of cape or cloak that looks like a pair of wings. And she will not help him.

She tells him he has broken his femur and it has cut an artery in his leg. He will be gone soon. He pleads with her.

        "You aren’t going to help me?”

        "I’ve come here to make certain you get no help.”

        "That’s murder. It’s not fair. It’s a sin. Peggy, help me!”

Peggy says she will not. As Daryl's vision begins to blur and fade, he sees her feet and what looks like the feathers of huge wings that air trailing on the ground and the snow.

Did Margo have a guardian angel? Maybe. 

Is the sin of Gluttony that serious? Or does one sin lead to another? Are they all working together?

 The story appeared in 7^th Sin Anthology, still available. Get a copy here.

For more titles see my Writer's Page.

I would love to hear your comments.