Summer's Story, by David Updike, is set in that idyllic time in life when responsibility is the last word on anyone's mind. Yet, as with all human matters, responsibility is an ever-present and always necessary aspect of life. What happens when the protagonist, Homer, loses awareness of some personal responsibility for maintaining self-control? Homer's actions cause him to act increasingly stupid, internally and externally. Furthermore, how does Homer return to a sense of sanity and responsibility? To a certain extent, I would say yes. At first, Homer's control over himself seems strong; he is only vaguely aware of tempting situations. The reader begins to notice, however, that Homer's mind is still easily influenced by the most primitive of impulses: sexual desire. The passage: "Homer looked up. Through the screen he watched Fred's sister, Sandra, come slowly down the path, treading lightly between the stones barefoot," (293) is the first slight manifestation of Homer giving up to a loss. of control over his sensual appetite. The next instance of Homer's diminished ability to control himself takes place on a tennis court. Throughout the game, the reader gets the impression that Homer was trying to get Sandra's attention through talented athletics: "On the tennis court he was strangely indifferent to her heroic acts." (293) Towards the end of the tennis match, Homer's eyes, once again, follow her as she leaves, which leads to his double fault. This is the first time that his decline in self-control has manifested itself in a somewhat harmful way: namely, by having damaged his score. Homer comes even closer to abandoning self-control during the night when he watches Sandra in bed. Homer's diminishing self-control is starting... in the middle of the paper... sanity and self-control. Having the chance to show Sandra his affectionate lust, Homer withdrew the opportunity as the passage reads: "But touching her, or kissing her, suddenly seemed incongruous, absurd, contrary to something he couldn't put his finger on." (296) Here Homer is becoming quite aware of the madness that drove his previous actions. Ultimately, Homer's inner turmoil is silenced and his sanity fully returns as his affection is returned. At the end of the story, while Homer and Sandra are sitting together on a couch, her foot makes contact with Homer's back. "But to Homer's surprise, Sandra's foot remained, and he felt, in the faint sensation of pressure, the passive emanation of her heat, a distant sign of acquiescence." (296) Homer still had a desire for Sandra, but it wouldn't consume him like it had in the past.