"...the curved length of the traiiler".

[chowhound]

I was reading the opening of the short story earlier today and paused at this sentence:

"The wind booms down the curved length of the trailer and under its roaring passage he [Ennis] can hear the scratching of fine gravel and sand."

What does "curved" in this sentence actually mean or suggest? I assume it's not suggesting that trailer was "curved", is it? Is it suggesting that the walls were straight but the roof is "curved". Or is it something painfully straightforward and obvious which I am clearly overlooking when I have difficulty trying to picture "the curved length of the trailer"?

[Shakesthecoffecan]

I have envisioned something like this:

[Jeff Wrangler]

I was reading the opening of the short story earlier today and paused at this sentence:

"The wind booms down the curved length of the trailer and under its roaring passage he [Ennis] can hear the scratching of fine gravel and sand."

What does "curved" in this sentence actually mean or suggest? I assume it's not suggesting that trailer was "curved", is it? Is it suggesting that the walls were straight but the roof is "curved". Or is it something painfully straightforward and obvious which I am clearly overlooking when I have difficulty trying to picture "the curved length of the trailer"?

I've taken and understood that as indicating that the sides of the trailer are curved like the sides of an old Airstream travel trailer. In fact, I've understood this whole description as meaning that in the story, Ennis is living in an old, unused travel trailer, not what is used in the film (where I grew up in Central Pennsylvania people call what we see in the movie a "house trailer"). A lot of small travel trailers didn't have bathrooms (maybe they still don't), and this is why I've understood that Ennis pees in the sink--because the trailer doesn't have a bathroom, and otherwise he'd have to put on his clothes and boots and go out to use an outhouse.

Edit to add:

Check out this link:

http://www.airstream.com/products/travel-trailers/index.html

If you look at the image of the Sport model in particular, you can see that the sides are curved. That's the image that I take from Annie's prose.

[Penthesilea]

I'm with Jeff. I also took the "curved length" literally. Old trailers often were egg-shaped, their length was indeed curved.

[chowhound]

Thanks, Shakes..., Jeff and Penthesilea for your help. The illustrations you provided certainly made it easier for me to picture what the "curved length" of Ennis's trailer probably looked like.

I agree, too, that it is likely that Ennis's trailer is an older model both from its shape and its lack of bathroom facilities. We don't know the exact date of when Ennis had to leave but from "the grey wedge of belly and pubic hair" I assume it could be up to twenty years after Jack's death and therefore could have been as late as the end of the nineties or even just into the present century. By then, this type of trailer might well look out of date and old fashioned.

I assume, too, that the trailer belonged to the ranch and may well have been included in the upcoming sale. This would explain why Ennis had to be "packed and away from the place that morning." I imagine Ennis would have lived there either rent free or for a very small rent.

Obviously he didn't own it otherwise he would have taken it with him when he left. I wonder if Ennis ever owned any property or accommodation. Probably not though there seems some form of pride of ownership when he puts the number 17 on his new mail box towards the very end of the movie.  

[Jeff Wrangler]

Thanks, Shakes..., Jeff and Penthesilea for your help. The illustrations you provided certainly made it easier for me to picture what the "curved length" of Ennis's trailer probably looked like.

I agree, too, that it is likely that Ennis's trailer is an older model both from its shape and its lack of bathroom facilities. We don't know the exact date of when Ennis had to leave but from "the grey wedge of belly and pubic hair" I assume it could be up to twenty years after Jack's death and therefore could have been as late as the end of the nineties or even just into the present century. By then, this type of trailer might well look out of date and old fashioned.

I assume, too, that the trailer belonged to the ranch and may well have been included in the upcoming sale. This would explain why Ennis had to be "packed and away from the place that morning." I imagine Ennis would have lived there either rent free or for a very small rent.

For myself, you're welcome!

I pretty much agree with the above. In my own imagination I peg the prologue as taking place in the early to mid Nineties, just about the time Annie would have been writing the story--or, rather, when I assume she was writing it. I remember reading a comment from her somewhere that it took a while for her to write the story, but I don't recall seeing any statement as to when exactly she was writing it (she may have said when, somewhere, and I just haven't seen it--or I've forgotten it  ).

[chowhound]

     I've just noticed that, in the brief description of the trailer in the opening sentence, it doesn't just have a door but an "aluminum door". Does anyone happen to know if aluminum was only used in trailer construction for a certain period before being replaced by more modern materials or is it still used to day? (What strange areas of inquiry BbM can get us into!). In other words could the fact that the trailer Ennis is living in has an "aluminum door" be  a way of very roughly dating it?

[Front-Ranger]

Aluminum is still widely used in trailer and RV construction, friend. In fact, such vehicles are more aluminum than practically anything else. Aluminum is a "light metal" so it is strong and durable, but lightweight. More and more aluminum and plastic are also used in automobile construction, too.

That said, I believe the earliest travel trailers had more steel and wood, and the Airstream line popularized the use of aluminum.

For more about metallic objects in the story, please see the thread "The Mettle of a Man".

[brokeplex]

Is Proulx referring to a travel trailer, a mobile home (like in the film), or a hitch trailer on the back of a truck? I recall that Ennis was given the "keys" of the ranch to give to a real estate "shark", could it be that Ennis is waking up inside a house trailer already hitched up to a truck to be pulled to another site and the house trailer is parked at an askew angle to the truck and the direction of the wind? a disjointed trailer could be considered as symbolic to the history of his life.