Wendell Berry's Fidelity: A Report Part Four

"Fidelity"

    Burley Coulter, or "Uncle Burley" to his loved ones, was a good, hard working man who took care of his own. He attained many friends, young and old,  throughout his life and this is a story of them returning that care during his last days of life.

     The story opens with Burley being in the hospital. Weeks before he had begun losing weight drastically and falling asleep as he worked. His family tried to care for him the best they could. However, they finally decided to admit him into the hospital and visit him as much as they could. 

     After a while his family began feeling guilty and saw his admittance as a betrayal by them. They knew he would have wanted to die with dignity, not packed up in a hospital. So in the middle of the night his son went into the hospital, unhooked him from life support and all his tubes, and took him to a hidden spot in the woods. From the law's point of view this was a kidnapping and the family was bombarded with questions concerning the whereabouts of Burley.

    During that time Burley and his son were hidden away in an old barn. Once, when Burley woke up and could think clearly, he spoke to his son and was in good humor. His son knew that Burley's time was coming to an end so he would spend his spare time digging his father's last resting place. After a few days, Burley breathed his last breath and was buried in the unmarked grave. 

     The law ended up dropping the case after spending too much time having no evidence and Burley's family went back to their lives. They would miss Burley as the years went on but felt at peace with taking him from the hospital and off life support. They did their best by him and he was able to die with dignity.

     I didn't particularly like this story as much as the others. I suppose I enjoy reading Berry's poetic writing in short stories. His style of writing just doesn't work with longer stories. As the others, it didn't seem to have a plot or point, except maybe that it's kinder to allow people to die naturally rather than hooking them to life support. Nonetheless, "Fidelity" was very well written.