<P> The story opens in an upscale seaside hotel room in Florida . A young woman, Muriel Glass, is preening herself while waiting for the hotel switchboard operator to put a long - distance phone call through to her mother . Self - absorbed and complacent, she is "a girl who for the ringing of a phone dropped exactly nothing . She looked as if her phone had been ringing continually since she reached puberty ." </P> <P> Speaking with her mother, the central topic is Muriel's young husband, Seymour, a World War II combat veteran recently discharged from an Army hospital, where he was presumably evaluated for psychiatric disorders . He has gone down to the beach for the afternoon . The mother - daughter exchange includes a good deal of banter about clothing and fashion, as well as disparaging remarks about the quality of the hotel guests . The mother is disgusted and incensed, as well as possibly frightened for her daughter's safety, by reports about her son - in - law's increasingly bizarre and anti-social behavior--acting "funny"--and she persistently warns Muriel that Seymour "may completely lose control of himself". Muriel dismisses her remarks as hyperbole, regarding her husband's idiosyncrasies as benign and manageable . Neither of the women express concern that Seymour's irrational behavior may indicate that he is suffering emotionally . </P> <P> The scene switches to the beachfront area reserved for hotel clientele . We meet the four - or five - year - old Sybil Carpenter ("She was wearing...a two piece bathing suit, one piece of which she would not be needing for another nine or ten years .") The little girl's mother, after applying suntan lotion to the child, departs for the hotel lounge to drink martinis . Unsupervised, Sybil seeks out an adult acquaintance, Seymour, who has retreated from the hotel--and his wife--a quarter of a mile away, to lie in solitude on a public beach . </P> <P> There, the two engage in an intriguing conversation, while Seymour prepares to go for a swim . Sybil selfishly reproaches Seymour for permitting another little girl, the "three and a half" year old Sharon Lipschutz to sit with him while he entertained guests performing on the lounge piano previous nights . Seymour, with mock - seriousness, attempts to placate the spoiled child, but to no avail . </P>

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