Critical Analysis of "A City of Churches" by Donald Barthelme
Critical Analysis of "A City of Churches" by Donald Barthelme
Critical Analysis of "A City of Churches" by Donald Barthelme
the town of Prester a city in which all of town’s the buildings are comprised solely of
churches. While churches are intended to be a space for one to encounter God, they are
- crucial features of church life. The town of Prester has gone out of its way to portray
itself, to outsiders, as a holy city filled with people whose morals and are perfect in the
name of Godliness. However, in the story, there are zero mentions of faith, the only
mention of religion is when Cecelia states that she’s not religious, and there are exactly
three mentions of God; two of them in the names of the churches (Church of God and
The Assembly of God) and once when the main character, Cecelia, exclaims in surprise
“God almighty,” at the fact that there are ginormous church bells in the room that Mr.
In order to make the town more appealing to Cecelia, Mr. Phillips, who is the
city’s representative in the story, attempts to convince her of Prester’s strong sense of
community and cohesiveness. But, in contrast, the strongest theme of the story is one of
isolation rather than the sense of community that churches offer. “His [Barthleme’s]
work is filled with freakish figures whose natural habitat is alienation” (Hirsch, 1997).
In “A City of Churches,” the town of Prester has alienated itself from the rest of the
to Prester’s norm are unthinkable and potentially even punishable. In fact, Mr. Phillips
appears to be proud of this view, “We’ve been written up a lot. We had four minutes on
the ‘CBS Evening News’ one time” (Barthelme, 1993). While Mr. Phillips celebrates the
publicity, he is oblivious to the fact that the piece on the news could have been meant to
ostracize the conformity of Prester’s residents rather than to celebrate it. In “English --
the Teachings of Don B,” Robert Davis stated, “in Barthelme’s parable of aggressive
conformity, country music has been replaced by the sound of church bells that demand
assent” (Davis, 1993). The entire town appears to have conformed to the idea of
developing a perfect place to live – a place that nobody will want to leave. “It is clear
that the town has lost its ‘balance’ in its Apollonian search for ‘perfection’ and control
Prester in search of a place to start her car-rental business, but it’s not long before the
reader realizes that the town of Prester has actually been looking for Cecelia. The
residents of the town have defined themselves and Prester in the name of perfection. To
them, that includes which businesses should exist within their perfect town. Therefore,
they have created a car-rental counter that requires someone to work it. It is as if Prester
is a puzzle rather than a town of individuals and there is one puzzle piece missing,
someone to work at the existing, unmanned car-rental counter. Cecelia is that missing
puzzle piece. However, Barthelme expresses even more irony when Mr. Phillips
confirms to Cecelia that there will be little to no need for anyone in Prester to rent a car,
“Renting a car implies that you want to go somewhere. Most people are pretty content
right here. We have a lot of activities. I don’t think I’d pick the car-rental business if I
was just starting out in Prester” (Barthelme, 1993). And then comes the turning point in
the story where Cecelia realizes that the decision to start her business in Prester might
not be entirely up to he, “’We want you,’ said Mr. Phillips. ‘We want you behind the
counter of the car-rental agency, during regular business hours. It will make the town
During her tour of places available for rent, Cecelia tells Mr. Phillips that she is
not religious. But Mr. Phillips is convinced that she will come around. He states, in
response to her confession, “Not now. Not yet. But we have many fine young people
here. You’ll get integrated into the community soon enough” (Barthelme, 1993). As the
story progresses, Mr. Phillips attempts to pry further by asking her which
denomination she is. At this point, Cecelia tells him that she can will her dreams
implying that she can will them into reality. Recognizing that her individuality will be
stifled in Prester, she presses further in trying to make Mr. Phillips lose interest in her
by making him uncomfortable with the topics of her dreams, sex. Believing that she will
Edward Hirsch wrote, “Barthelme’s characters are loyal to their dreams and
desires. They will not relinquish them for anything. They are afraid of themselves, but
they will not be intimidated by others. They are heroes of longing,” (Hirsch, 45). The
character of Cecelia is no exception. Realizing that Mr. Phillips doesn’t want her to leave
Prester, she makes one last attempt to shock him into letting her go. She wants him to
know that if she is forced to conform to the ways of Prester, she will dream “the Secret.”
“I’ll dream the life you’re most afraid of,” she threatens (Barthelme, 1993). This
statement leads the reader to believe that ‘the Secret’ is that her ability to will her
dreams into reality will turn the lives of the citizens of Prester upside down. It’s likely
that she imagines the thing Mr. Phillips fears most is her dream that everyone in Prester
recognizes their free will and makes decisions that go against the conventions of the
town. Or, it could be something even more ominous, but he’ll have to wait and see.
Works Cited
1993. Print.
Davis, Robert M. "English -- the Teachings of Don B.: Satires, Parodies, Fables,
Illustrated Stories, and Plays of Donald Barthelme by Donald Barthelme and Edited
by Kim Herzinger with an Introduction by Thomas Pynchon." World Literature
com.ezproxy.lassencollege.edu/docview/209386732?accountid=39844.
Hirsch, Edward. "On Donald Barthelme." Triquarterly, no. 98, 96, 1997, pp. 41-57.
ProQuest, https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.lassencollege.edu/docview/274259599?accountid=39844.