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The Smiths’ clock represents reality’s chaotic unpredictability and the ridiculous attempts to logically assess and measure it. Clocks, typically, are a means of ordering reality, regimenting time into stable, linear units. Yet the Smiths’ clock does nothing of the sort, clanging unpredictably and at wildly different volumes throughout the play, seemingly responsive at times to the characters’ dialogue. Mr. Smith tells the Fire Chief that they “don’t have the time, here,” as their clock “runs badly. It is contradictory and always indicates the opposite of what the hour really is.” Yet even his assessment puts too much faith in a logical order: supposing that hours had “opposites” (whatever that might mean), if the clock reliably indicated them, then it could still be used as a clock by just mentally substituting the “opposite” hour. In fact, however, the clock’s activity is purely illogical. Rather than a means of organizing time and reality, the clock’s clanging merely serves as a reminder of reality’s unmeasurable, chaotic flux.
The Clock Quotes in The Bald Soprano
The The Bald Soprano quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Clock. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Bald Soprano
Quotes
MRS. SMITH: There, it’s nine o’clock. We’ve drunk the soup, and eaten the fish and chips, and the English salad. The children have drunk English water. We’ve eaten well this evening. That’s because we live in the suburbs of London and because our name is Smith.
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MR. SMITH [still reading his paper]: Tsk, it says here that Bobby Watson died.
MRS. SMITH: My God, the poor man! When did he die?
MR. SMITH: Why do you pretend to be astonished? You know very well that he's been dead these past two years. Surely you remember that we attended his funeral a year and a half ago.
MRS. SMITH: Oh yes, of course I do remember. I remembered it right away, but I don't understand why you yourself were so surprised to see it in the paper.
MR. SMITH: It wasn't in the paper. It's been three years since his death was announced. I remembered it through an association of ideas.
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MRS. SMITH: We don't have the time, here.
FIRE CHIEF: But the clock?
MR. SMITH: It runs badly. It is contradictory, and always indicates the opposite of what the hour really is.
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The Clock Symbol Timeline in The Bald Soprano
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Clock appears in The Bald Soprano. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Bald Soprano
...Smith sits smoking and reading a newspaper while his wife, Mrs. Smith, knits. When the clock chimes 17 times, Mrs. Smith begins reviewing the dinner that their maid Mary served to...
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...of the time, but the Smiths say they “don’t have the time here” since their clock always “indicates the opposite of what the hour really is.”
(full context)
