Thomas and the Ordinary World

American Woman

This flow traces Jenny’s brief connection with Thomas and how it exposes the human lives obscured by revolutionary abstractions.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Grocery Encounter A Grocery Encounter from "American Woman". A Grocery Encounter An Unexpected Conversation Jenny meets Thomas while buying supplies near Monticello, where he works as a bag boy.

A Grocery Encounter from "American Woman". A Grocery Encounter An Unexpected Conversation Jenny meets Thomas while buying supplies near Monticello, where he works as a bag boy.

A Grocery Encounter An Unexpected Conversation Jenny meets Thomas while buying supplies near Monticello, where he works as a bag boy. His jokes about Vietnam and his brother make her laugh, then draw out memories she did not plan to share. A Rule Broken Jenny leaves knowing she has become more open with a stranger than her security rules permit.

A Second Meeting A Second Meeting from "American Woman". A Second Meeting Recognition on the Street Jenny sees Thomas again while driving with Juan through Monticello.

A Second Meeting from "American Woman". A Second Meeting Recognition on the Street Jenny sees Thomas again while driving with Juan through Monticello.

A Second Meeting Recognition on the Street Jenny sees Thomas again while driving with Juan through Monticello. Thomas greets her as Alice, her cover identity, and his easy trust makes her fear that Juan will exploit it. A New Invitation Juan invites Thomas into the car, bringing a civilian into the fugitives’ orbit without his understanding.

Political Recruitment Political Recruitment from "American Woman". Political Recruitment Juan’s Attention Juan asks Thomas about his work, family, schooling, and neighborhood while presenting himself as an ally.

Political Recruitment from "American Woman". Political Recruitment Juan’s Attention Juan asks Thomas about his work, family, schooling, and neighborhood while presenting himself as an ally.

Political Recruitment Juan’s Attention Juan asks Thomas about his work, family, schooling, and neighborhood while presenting himself as an ally. His questions turn an ordinary ride into an attempt to identify a potential recruit for the revolutionary cause. Jenny’s Alarm Jenny worries that Thomas’s openness will make him vulnerable to the group’s plans.

A Target in Town A Target in Town from "American Woman". A Target in Town The Store and the Bank Juan uses what he learned from Thomas to identify the store’s deposit routine and the town bank.

A Target in Town from "American Woman". A Target in Town The Store and the Bank Juan uses what he learned from Thomas to identify the store’s deposit routine and the town bank.

A Target in Town The Store and the Bank Juan uses what he learned from Thomas to identify the store’s deposit routine and the town bank. Thomas has no idea that his ordinary workplace has become part of a robbery plan. A Human Consequence The plan threatens to turn an incidental acquaintance into a witness to violence.

The Cost of Abstraction The Cost of Abstraction from "American Woman". The Cost of Abstraction A Neighbor’s Reality After Mr. Morton is killed, Jenny can no longer think of the robbery as an abstract act against property or power.

The Cost of Abstraction from "American Woman". The Cost of Abstraction A Neighbor’s Reality After Mr. Morton is killed, Jenny can no longer think of the robbery as an abstract act against property or power.

The Cost of Abstraction A Neighbor’s Reality After Mr. Morton is killed, Jenny can no longer think of the robbery as an abstract act against property or power. She imagines his ordinary habits and recognizes the distance between political language and the person harmed. A New Moral Weight Thomas’s world and Mr. Morton’s life make Jenny’s earlier certainty harder to defend.

During Jenny’s early farmhouse supply runs

Several weeks later

The afternoon before the planned robbery

The day before the robbery

After the fatal robbery