“A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now.”

The sentence “A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now” is recited by Davis Gimbel during a confrontation with Thelonious Ellison outside a hotel. Gimbel repeats its closing thought moments later, turning the line into a refrain whose force in the scene lies less in explanation than in its conspicuous return.

Recitation at the Hotel

After Linda Mallory storms out into the street, Thelonious Ellison hears his name being shouted and steps outside. On a narrow path through the hotel yard, he finds Gimbel, with Linda and three other academics behind him. Gimbel delivers the sentence; when Ellison asks what the confrontation is about, Gimbel repeats its final clause: “There’s nothing to compare it to now.”

Repetition and Context

The two utterances make repetition the expression’s defining feature in this episode. Gimbel first gives the full sentence and then isolates its concluding claim, without explaining what he is comparing or identifying a specific event as its subject. Ellison says the words have little effect on him, apart from making Gimbel seem agitated and disturbed. The text thus emphasizes the gap between the line’s dramatic delivery and its limited immediate effect on its listener.

Role in the Exchange

The quotation introduces a dispute that quickly becomes explicit: Ellison apologizes that Gimbel disliked his paper and says he believes Gimbel misunderstood it, adding that he does not think about the academics or write about them. Gimbel responds by circling Ellison in the confined space, pounding his chest with a closed fist, and challenging Ellison’s regard for postmodern fiction. The line’s return precedes this direct accusation, giving the encounter a literary allusion as well as a physical edge; the evidence does not specify a single definitive interpretation of the quotation.