Summer's Story, by David Updike, takes place at that idyllic time of life when responsibility is the last word on everyone's mind. And yet, as with all human affairs, responsibility is an ever-present and ever-necessary aspect of life. What happens when the protagonist, Homer, loses awareness of a certain personal responsibility to maintain self-control? Homer's actions cause him to act more and more stupidly, internally and externally. Furthermore, how does Homer regain his sense of reason and responsibility? To some extent, I would say that is the case. At first, Homer's control over himself seems strong; he is only slightly aware of tempting situations. The reader begins to notice, however, that Homer's mind is still easily influenced by that most primitive of impulses: sexual desire. The passage “Homer looked up. Through the screen he watched Fred's sister, Sandra, as she walked down the path, walking lightly between the stones, barefoot” (293) is the first slight manifestation of Homer giving in to loss. of control over his sensual appetite. The next instance of Homer's diminishing ability to control himself takes place on a tennis court. Throughout the game, the reader gets the impression that Homer was trying to attract Sandra's attention with his athletic talents: "On the tennis court, she was strangely indifferent to his exploits." (293) Near the end of the tennis match, Homer's eyes, once again, follow her as she leaves, leading him to double fault. This is the first time his diminished self-control manifests itself in a somewhat harmful way: namely, hurting his score. Homer comes even closer to giving up self-control during the night when he watches Sandra in bed. Homer's diminishing self-control begins the...... middle of paper ......e of reason and self-control. Having had the chance to show Sandra his affectionate desire, Homer withdrew his chance as we can read in the passage: "But touching her, or kissing her, suddenly seemed incongruous, absurd, contrary to something he couldn't put my finger on it." (296) Here Homer becomes fully aware of the madness that motivated his previous actions. Eventually, Homer's inner turmoil is calmed and his reason fully returns as his affection is returned. At the very end of the story, while Homer and Sandra are sitting together on a couch, her foot comes into contact with Homer's back. "But to Homer's great surprise, Sandra's foot remained, and he felt, in the faint sensation of pressure exerted, the passive emanation of her heat, a distant signal of acquiescence." (296) Homer still had a desire for Sandra, but it would not consume him like it once did.