“Mortals” is a short story by Tobias Wolff that appeared in his 1996 collection The Night In Question: Stories. It’s about a discouraged fiction writer who has taken a job at a newspaper writing obituaries. He hates the job and does it poorly. He hangs on with the hope he’ll eventually be able to move to another department. One day, his carelessness catches up with him. Here’s a summary of “Mortals”.
“Mortals” Summary
The narrator is called to the Metro editor’s office, where a shorter, doughy man and a bony-faced woman are also waiting. The man’s name is Ronald Givens, which sounds vaguely familiar to the narrator. The editor tells him Mr. Givens isn’t dead, and then he remembers. He wrote an obituary for Mr. Givens yesterday.
The narrator apologizes and Ronald Givens accepts readily. His wife, Dolly, is more upset. Investigating the error, the editor finds out that the narrator didn’t follow the procedure for confirming a death before writing the obituary. He never does because it seems like a waste of time. Obviously, sometimes people will fabricate a death notice.
The narrator has been mainly writing obituaries for four months and it’s getting him down. He used to work any odd job so he could write during the day, but his literary career hasn’t amounted to much. He hates the job and is bad at it, but hopes to move to the crime beat one day.
The editor keeps questioning and finds out he hasn’t confirmed a death in three months. He smiles out of panic. The editor fires him on the spot. Givens doesn’t want this but his wife is in favor of it.
As the narrator leaves the building with his box of things, Givens approaches him. He’s sorry about what happened and wants to buy lunch. It seems important to Givens, so he agrees. They go to a steakhouse with good prices. Givens doesn’t eat much. They talk about the false death notice.
Givens doesn’t know who called it in. He figured it’s probably a joke. It sounds threatening to the narrator, but he can tell Givens doesn’t believe that. Givens doesn’t think it was done by any friends, his wife or his daughter.
Out the window, the narrator sees a motley group of city people. He mentions they’re sitting at the same table that the writer Richard Brautigan sits at, but Givens doesn’t know the name.
Givens doesn’t think anyone wants him dead. He wants to know if the obituary gave the narrator a sense of what kind of person he is. Nothing stood out to him. He remembers the obituaries of famous people and those with moral distinction. Givens points out the narrator doesn’t measure up by his own standards, and he doesn’t argue it.
The narrator prides himself on being a survivor; for Givens, it’s loyalty. He’s been loyal and it’s not always easy.
The narrator realizes Givens called in the fake death notice himself. He understands and even admires it. He got to hear his eulogy and then came back to life. He thinks Givens is a cautionary example, which offends him. Givens leaves and the narrator follows him out. He wants Givens to admit it before he goes.
He starts walking briskly, but the narrator grabs his arm and pulls him into a doorway. He threatens to break his neck unless he admits it. Unable to break away, Givens quietly admits it. The narrator lets go of his arm and Givens walks off.
The narrator heads back to the steakhouse for his box of things. Ahead of him, a mime gets a laugh as he imitates an arrogant looking young man. When the man looks back, the mime freezes. The narrator gives him a quarter as he passes, hoping the mime won’t imitate him.
I hope this summary of “Mortals” by Tobias Wolff was helpful.