Theodore L. Thomas

Robert Proctor was a good driver for soyoung a man. The Turnpike curved gently

ahead of him, lightly travelled on this coolmorning in May. He felt relaxed and alert. Twohours of driving had not yetproduced the twinges offatigue that appeared first inthe muscles in the base of the neck. The sun wasbright, but not glaring, and the air smelled freshand clean. He breathed it deeply, and blew it outnoisily. It was a good day for driving.

He glanced quickly at the slim, grey-hairedwoman sitting in the front seat with him. Hermouth was curved in a quiet smile. She watchedthe trees and the fields slip by on her side of thepike. Robert Proctor immediately looked backat the road. He said, "Enjoying it, Mom?"

"Yes,Robert." Her voice was as cool as themorning. "It is very pleasant to sit here. I wasthinking of the driving I did for you when youwere little. I wonder if you enjoyed it as much asI enjoy this."

He smiled, embarrassed. "Sure I did."She reached over and patted him gently on

the arm, and then turned back to the scenery.

wordsforeverydayuse

glar • ing (gler'il) ad]., shining with a strong light. AI had a headache at the basketball game because of the glaringlights in the gym.o • ver • take (ovar tak') vr., catch up with and go beyond. Louisa had a slow start, but she will surely overtake theless experienced runners by the end of the race.

He listened to the smooth purr of the engine.Up ahead he saw a great truck, spouting ageyser of smoke as it sped-along the Turnpike.Behind it, not passing it, was a-long blue con-vertible, content to drive inthe wake of the truck.Robert Proctor noted thearrangement and filed it in the back of his mind.He was slowly overtaking them, but he wouldnot reach them for another minute or two. !

He listened to the purr of the engine, and hewas pleased with the sound. He had tuned thatengine! himself over the objections of themechanic. The engine idled rough now, but itran smoothly at high speed. Youneeded a specialfeel to do good work on engines, and RobertProctor knew he had it. Noone in the world had a feellike his for the tune ofan engine.

It was a good morning for driving, and hismind was filled with good thoughts. He pullednearly abreast of the blue convertible and began

1. tuned that engine. Set the timing and replaced the sparkplugs, for example, to improve the engine's running condition

892 UNIT TWELVE / VISIONS OF THE FUTURE

Steering Wheel, 1982. David Hockney.

to pass it. His speed was a few miles per hourabove the Turnpike limit, but his car was underperfect control. The blue convertible suddenlyswung out from behind the truck. It swung outwithout warning and struck his car near theright front fender, knock-ing his car to the shoulderon the left side of theTurnpike lane.

Robert Proctor was a good driver, too wise toslam on the brakes. He fought the steering wheelto hold the car on a straight path. The left

-~ wheels sank into the soft left shoulder, and thecar tugged to pull to the left and cross the islandand enter the lanes carrying the cars heading inthe opposite direction. He held it, then the

artn o t eDavid Hockney (1937- ) is bestknown as a painter. He had been dissatisfiedwith photographs because the single imagedid not hold his interest very long. Hockneyclaims that his collage of several photographscomes er to the actual ex

"THE TEST" 893

liE IIIARD NO CRASII;I -V~U!l)&f>\.1l§~ \ft\\£ ,r C(¢)LL

ililr4!iwWAlll\:l£\l& reached LLIJfl)IEfl) IHlIE4\\fl) ~into Robert Proctor; it .•• ~/NJwas the trusting helplessness in the face of thesleeping girl. The two cars sped closer to eachother, and Robert Proctor could not change thedirection of his car. Thedriver of the other carremained frozen at thewheel. At the last momentRobert Proctor sat motionless staring into theface of the onrushing, sleeping girl, his mother'scry still sounding in his ears. He heard no crashwhen the two cars collided head-on at a highrate of speed. He felt something push into hisstomach, and the world began to go grey. Justbefore he lost consciousness lie heard thescream stop, and he knew then that he had been-hearing a single, short-lived scream that hadonly seemed to drag on andon. There came a painlesswrench;' and then darkness.

Robert Proctor seemed tobe at the bottom of a deepblack well. There was a spotof faint light in the far distance, and he could hearthe rumble of a distant voice. He tried to pull him-self toward the light and the sound, but the effortwas too great. He lay still and gathered himselfand tried again. The light grew brighter and thevoice louder. He tried harder, again, and he drewcloser. Then he opened his eyes full and looked atthe man sitting in front of him.

"You all right, Son?" asked the man. Hewore a blue uniform, and his round, beefy facewas familiar.

urr in e 0 dirt,and the left front tire blew out. The car slewed.iand it was then that his mother began to scream.

The car turned sideways and skidded part ofthe way out into the other lanes. Robert Proctorfo gainsudle steerlpg wheel to straightenthe car, but the drag of the blown tire was toomuch. The scream rang steadily in his ears, andeven as he strained at the wheel one part of hismind wondered coolly how a scream could solong be sustained without a breath. An oncom-ing car struck his radiator from the side andspun him viciously, full into the left-hand lanes.

He was flung into his mother's lap, and shewas thrown against the right door. It held. Withhis left hand he reached for the steering wheeland pulled himself erect against the force of thespin. He turned the wheel to the left, and triedto stop the spin and careen out of the lanes ofoncoming traffic. His mother was unable toright herself; she lay against the door, her cryrising and falling with the eccentric spin ofthe car.

The car lost some of its momentum. Duringone of the spins he twisted the wheel straight,and the car wobblingly stopped spinning andheaded down the lane. Before Robert Proctorcould turn it off the pike to safety a car loomedahead of him, bearing down on him. There wasa man at the wheel of that other car, sittingrigid, unable to move, eyes wide and staring andfilled with fright. Alongside the man was a girl,her head against the back of the seat, soft curlsframing a lovely face, her eyes closed in easysleep. It was not the fear in the man that

/

s to beto Roberthe dying?

ymightebeambiguous?

2. slewed. Turned or pivoted around3. wrench. Jolt; sharp, pulling motion

wordsforeverydayuse

sus • tain (sa stan ) vi., keep up or maintain. The trumpeter's perfect sound was sustained throughout the long concert.ec s cen • tric (ek sen 'trik) adj., off-center; departing from a normal pattern. People often became confused by that eccentricsystem of roads and highways.mo • men. turn (m6 men'tam) n., force of an object in motion. The small child's bowling bell lost its momentum and stoppedbefore it reached the pins.on. rush. ing (anrushirj) odi., dashing forward. The squirrel started to run into the street, but the onrushing traffic scared it away.

894 UNIT TWELVE / VISIONS OF THE FUTURE

-_. -_._---------------------------------------

Robert Proctor tentatively moved his head, anddiscovered he was seated in a reclining chair,unharmed, and able to move his arms and legswith no trouble. He looked around the room,and he remembered.

The man in the uniform saw the growing intel-ligence in his eyes and he said, "No harm done,Son. You just took the last part of yourdriver's test."

Robert Proctor focused his eyes on the man.Though he saw the man clearly, he seemed tosee the faint face of the sleeping girl in frontof him.

The uniformed man continued to speak. "Weput you through an accidentunder hypnosis-do it toeverybody these days beforethey can get their driyers licenses. Makes betterdrivers of them, more careful drivers the rest oftheir lives. Remember it now? Coming in hereand all?"

Robert Proctor nodded, thinking of thesleeping girl. She never would have awakened;she would have passed right from a sweet, tem-porary sleep into the dark heavy sleep of death,nothing in between. His mother would havebeen bad enough; after all, she was pretty old.The sleeping girl wasdownright waste.

The uniformed man wasstill speaking. "So you're all set now. You pay methe ten dollar fee, and sign this application, andwe'll have your license in the mail in a day ortwo." He did not look up.

f

wordsforeverydayuse

ten s ta • tive • Iy (tenta tiv le) adv., with uncertainty. I knocked tentatively on the door because I wasn't sure if I was atthe right house.

ur > gent (er[ant) adj., insistent. Mario's little brother called to him in an urgent voice, so Mario dropped what he wasdoing and rushed to the child.

Robert Proctor placed a ten dollar bill on thetable in front of him, glanced over the applica-tion and signed it. He looked up to find twowhite-uniformed men, standing one on eachside of him, and he frowned in annoyance. Hestarted to speak, but the uniformed man spokefirst. "Sorry, Son. You failed. You're sick; youneed treatment."

The two men lifted Robert Proctor to his feet,and he said, "Take your hands off me. Whatis this?"

The uniformed man said, "Nobowant to drive a car after go·just went through. It shoyou can even. think ofdrivinready rightuA"'.you. We don1tJsociety any morThey'll take goodup." He nodded to theto march Robert Proctor

At the doorh~-.spoke, aurgent the two men pausesaid, "You can'tre~lly medreaming, aren't I~Thisis still part oFthe t,isn't it?"

The uniformedknow?" And theydthe door, knees stiheels sliding alongthe floor. •

"THE TEST" 895

iRELATED READING

Karl Shapiro

Its quick soft silver bell beating, beating,And down the dark one ruby flarePulsing out red light like an artery,The ambulance at top speed floating down

5 Past beacons and illuminated clocksWings in a heavy curve, dips down,And brakes speed, entering the crowd.The doors leap open, emptying light;Stretchers are laid out, the mangled lifted

10 And stowed into the little hospital.Then the bell, breaking the hush, tolls once,And the ambulance with its terrible cargoRocking, slightly rocking, moves away,As the doors, an afterthought, are closed.

15 We are deranged, walking among the copsWho sweep glass and are large and composed.One is still making notes under the light.One with a bucket douches ponds of bloodInto the street and gutter.One hangs lanterns on the wrecks that cling,Empty husks of locusts, to iron poles.

20

Our throats were tight as tourniquets,Our feet were bound with splints, but now,Like convalescents intimate and gauche,

25 We speak through sickly smiles and warnWith the stubborn saw of common sense,The grim joke and the banal resolution.The traffic moves around with care,But we remain, touching a wound

30 That opens to our richest horror.Already old, the question Who shall die?Becomes unspoken Who is innocent?

35

For death in war is done by hands;Suicide has cause and stillbirth, logic;And cancer, simple as a flower, blooms.But this invites the occult mind,Cancels our physics with a sneer,And spatters all we knew of denouementAcross the expedient and wicked stones. •

896 UNIT TWELVE / VISIONS OF THE FUTURE

Recall: GATHERING FACTS

1a. What is Robert Proctor doing when the storybegins? Who is with him? What does henotice ahead of him on the road?

2a. What happens as he starts to pass theconvertible? What sound does he hearthroughout the following ordeal? Whatholds his attention while he is on thecollision course with the other car?

3a. Who appears after Robert completes hisapplication form? Why do they takehim away?

Interpret: FINDING MEANING

1b. What kind of mood is Robert in at thebeginning of the story? How does he feelabout his ability to care for and handle a car?

2b. What is Robert's reaction to the crash? Howdoes he feel when he learns it was not real?

3b. What do the two grooves on the floorindicate? What does the man mean when hesays, "How do any of us,~now?"

Analyze: TAKING THINGS APART ~

4a. Identify the details that make the crash seemreal to you. Are there details that make itseem unreal?

Synthesize: BRINGING THINGS TOGETHER

4b. Do you think Robert had questioned realitybefore? Do you think he will ever feel that heis in the "real" world again? Support youranswers with details from the story.

Evaluate: MAKING JUDGMENTS ~

Sa. What do you think of the driving test thatRobert was given? Do you think it is anaccurate way to determine if somebody is fitto drive? Do you think the test serves otherpurposes? What do you think it says aboutthe people who created it?

Urld-er~

Extend: CONNECTING IDEAS

Sb. In the Related Reading poem "Auto Wreck,"Karl Shapiro also writes about an automobileaccident. How are the onlookers in his poemdifferent from Robert Proctor in "The Test"?How are they similar to each other?

MOOD. Review the definition for mood in the Handbook of Literary Terms. What mood is created inthe beginning of the story? What details help to create this mood? When does the mood change?What new mood is created?

THEME.Review the definition for theme in the Handbook of Literary Terms. Do you agree with theuniformed man's suggestion that all of life might be a kind of test? In what ways does life test peopleevery day? In what ways do people pass or fail the tests that life presents to them?