The Ordinary Measures of Happiness

This flow traces Jenny’s changing relationship to domestic comfort, private desire, and the belief that political commitment requires self-denial.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A House Without Privacy

A House Without Privacy Politics and Intimacy Jenny’s early shared life with William places personal attachment inside the routines of political work. Their closeness feels exhilarating, but the relationship also makes it difficult for her to imagine a self apart from their common purpose. Desire Under Discipline Private life and political identity begin to reinforce one another.

Wildmoor’s Small Pleasures

Wildmoor’s Small Pleasures Work and Landscape Jenny takes pleasure in restoration, the changing light, and the quiet landscape around Wildmoor. She often distrusts that pleasure because the house belongs to Dolly and her own life there is precarious. A Partial Home The setting offers beauty without resolving the loneliness of exile.

Comfort at the Farmhouse

Comfort at the Farmhouse Food and Routine The fugitives gradually eat, exercise, and spend time outside, finding small comforts in a shared routine. Jenny’s care helps them recover, but she also sees how easily their temporary peace depends on the group’s fragile balance. The Limits of Celebration Even an abundant meal becomes politically charged when Yvonne objects to eating well while others are poor.

The Garden in Berkeley

The Garden in Berkeley Growing Food Together Jenny, Pauline, and their companions plant vegetables behind their building and share the harvest. The work makes nourishment and cooperation tangible without requiring a dramatic political gesture. Happiness Reconsidered The group begins to ask whether beauty, meals, and pleasure must be dismissed as bourgeois.

Choosing the Bay Window

Choosing the Bay Window A Personal Preference Jenny chooses a bright communal dining space over a dark conventional bedroom in a Berkeley house. The decision is small, but it marks her readiness to want comfort without treating the desire as a moral failure. A Tentative Future She imagines herself becoming a companion to a child, while remaining uncertain about romance and family.

During Jenny’s early relationship with William

During Jenny’s first year at Wildmoor

After the group begins training

Spring after the cross country flight

Two years after Jenny’s release