The essay genre
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Reflections - not conclusions
Another key characteristic of the essay genre is that essays contain strong elements of reflection and no clear conclusions. Siri Hustvedt's "Living With Strangers" is no exception. The point of her essay (as well as any other essay) is to examine a topic simply by reflecting on it and asking questions along the way.
Hustvedt starts out with a childhood anecdote and slowly approaches the topic of how we interact in the big city. She then offers numerous exa…
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Arguing via specific examples
Yet another essay characteristic is that the writer argues via specific examples. The topic of human behavior in cities is complex and abstract, but by offering several personal examples from her own life the writer makes it specific, easy to understand, and interesting. All the way through her essay, we see Hustvedt moving from the specific to the abstract.
One example of this specific-abstract bal…
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Topics of current interest
Essays tend to deal with topics of current interest. One way Hustvedt phrases her topic of social interaction in cities is this: “This simple law, one nearly every New Yorker subscribes to whenever possible, is: PRETEND IT ISN’T HAPPENING” (ll. 19-20). Her essay was written in 2002 when increasing…
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Borrowing literary devices from fiction
Despite being non-fiction, essays frequently make use of literary devices - tools normally associated with fiction texts. We see this to some extent in Hustvedt’s essay, particularly in her language. Her initial description of moving to New York is highly focused on the human senses:
In my two-room apartment on West 109th Street, I heard the ceiling creak as my upstairs neighbor paced his floor. [...] I sometimes watched the two young men who lived across the air shaft. [...] On the sidewalk, I was jostled, bumped, and elbowed as I negotiated the crowds. […] On the subway, I found myself in intimate contact with people I didn’t know, my body pressed so tightly against them, I could smell their hair oils, perfumes, and sweat. (ll. 8-16)
The writer makes her experience come alive to us as she relates how she heard, saw, felt, and smelled the hundre…
