Short Story Review-"The Yellow" by Samantha Hunt

Samantha Hunt is the author of two novels and various pieces of short fiction. Her short story “The Yellow," published in a recent edition of the New Yorker, follows the character Roy, a 42-year man who has recently moved back in with his parents.

Following a restless evening at home, Roy paints his room yellow in a moment of inspiration that leads to a series of events, involving hitting a dog with his car and a chance meeting with a stranger who is as lost as he is.

Hunt has a way of delving into the subtlety of her complex characters with humour and insight. The way she explains the characters is blunt and funny and yet at the same time heartbreakingly truthful.

She jumps right into the action of the story, showing Roy’s character through his reactions to sounds in the house and the way he thinks about his life. The way she describes the yellow of the painted room having such profound effect on him is written in a simple poetic style. She is able to portray a drastic change in Roy’s outlook on life in a very funny and interesting way.

The story continues to have this same engaging pace and quirky outlook as she introduces Samantha, an unhappily married woman, who is on the edge of a mental breakdown. Hunt illustrates this character’s sad and complex life with as much humor and insight, as she does her main character.

When by a twist of fate, involving a dog that Roy hits with his car, these two characters meet, the story takes a very interesting and unexpected turn.

I loved the way her characters thought and the funny dialogue between them. Hunt uses her dialogue very economically saying a lot with a few words. All of her characters are really funny, a little weird, and very interesting.

I literally laughed out loud many times while reading and was left feeling kind of sad and moved by the story.

The story ends rather abruptly and I didn’t quite know what to think. But it seemed to suit the weirdness of the characters to leave them hanging in the ambiguity of their lives.