Wally Weiss's Longing

This subplot follows Wallace Wright's secret devotion to Maddie from high school obsession to television fame.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Cross Keys Tennis

Cross Keys Tennis Wallace Wright meets Milton Schwartz at a new tennis barn in Cross Keys. They become regular singles partners, and Milton is delighted to have a television celebrity as his friend. Context Wally is still Wally inside, though his job as the Midday Fog has remade his public identity. He sees Milton as a way to get close to the woman he once loved. Significance The tennis friendship is engineered by chance but exploited by Wally. It leads to the dinner invitation that unsettles Maddie's marriage.

Famous Friend at Dinner

Famous Friend at Dinner Wallace Wright arrives at the Schwartz house and openly flirts with Maddie, reminding her of the prom and his old infatuation. She is irritated rather than charmed. Context The Rosengrens treat Wallace like royalty, while Maddie feels mocked. When she denies that he ever asked her out, the evening becomes a contest of competing memories. Significance The dinner revives Maddie's buried past and helps trigger her decision to leave. For Wally, it is a chance to show his first love what she missed.

Orchid Kept in Book

Orchid Kept in Book Wally drives home drunk and finds the pressed corsage orchid he kept for twenty years between pages 242 and 243 of Arch of Triumph. Context The orchid carries Maddie's scent from prom night and proves, at least to him, that she had once touched his life deeply. It fills him with both vindication and loneliness. Significance The flower is a symbol of Wally's unresolved feelings. He reads it as evidence of Maddie's denial, but the audience understands it as the core of his fantasy.

Denial at Eighteen

Denial at Eighteen Wally calls Maddie three days after prom and asks her to a movie. She politely tells him she is fine and never goes out with him again. Context At the prom, she had seemed to welcome his attention, leaning on his shoulder and kissing him good night. Her refusal leaves him confused and wounded. Significance This early rejection shapes Wally's adult career and his need for public admiration. He turns his private longing into a journalistic persona that lets him pretend he is finally the one in control.

Donadio Clown

Donadio Clown Wally hosts the Saturday cartoon show as Donadio, a silent clown whose success becomes his secret entry into television. His face is hidden behind makeup, but his voice is unmistakable. Context Donadio is a fluke, an extra twenty-five dollars a week. The clown makeup paradoxically gives Wally confidence, clearing his skin and making him camera ready when a real news event breaks. Significance Donadio represents the hidden selves that successful men maintain. Wallace Wright is a mask over Wally Weiss, just as Donadio was a mask over Wally.

Rejected Again

Rejected Again Wallace Wright, recently out of his second marriage, asks Maddie for a date. She turns him down, telling him she is seeing someone. Context The request arrives nearly twenty years after their fateful dinner. Maddie is now a successful columnist and no longer needs Wally's validation. Significance Wally's final rejection completes a lifelong arc of longing. The man who gave her the push to leave her marriage remains on the outside of her intimate life, a witness to her reinvention.

late summer 1965

October 1965

after the dinner, 1965

summer after senior prom, circa 1946

before his on-camera career, early 1960s

October 1985