Critical Analysis of “A City of Churches” by Donald Barthelme

Donald Barthelme creates a sense of irony in “A City of Churches” by making

the town of Prester a city in which all of town’s the buildings are comprised solely of

churches. While churches are intended to be a space for one to encounter God, they are

also intended to provide a sense of welcoming, a sense of belonging, and of community

- crucial features of church life. The town of Prester has gone out of its way to portray

itself, to outsiders, as a holy city filled with people whose morals and are perfect in the

name of Godliness. However, in the story, there are zero mentions of faith, the only

mention of religion is when Cecelia states that she’s not religious, and there are exactly

three mentions of God; two of them in the names of the churches (Church of God and

The Assembly of God) and once when the main character, Cecelia, exclaims in surprise

“God almighty,” at the fact that there are ginormous church bells in the room that Mr.

Phillips is suggesting she rent.

In order to make the town more appealing to Cecelia, Mr. Phillips, who is the

city’s representative in the story, attempts to convince her of Prester’s strong sense of

community and cohesiveness. But, in contrast, the strongest theme of the story is one of

isolation rather than the sense of community that churches offer. “His [Barthleme’s]

work is filled with freakish figures whose natural habitat is alienation” (Hirsch, 1997).

In “A City of Churches,” the town of Prester has alienated itself from the rest of the

world in an attempt to create a totalitarian society, where individualism and opposition

to Prester’s norm are unthinkable and potentially even punishable. In fact, Mr. Phillips
appears to be proud of this view, “We’ve been written up a lot. We had four minutes on

the ‘CBS Evening News’ one time” (Barthelme, 1993). While Mr. Phillips celebrates the

publicity, he is oblivious to the fact that the piece on the news could have been meant to

ostracize the conformity of Prester’s residents rather than to celebrate it. In “English --

the Teachings of Don B,” Robert Davis stated, “in Barthelme’s parable of aggressive

conformity, country music has been replaced by the sound of church bells that demand

assent” (Davis, 1993). The entire town appears to have conformed to the idea of

developing a perfect place to live – a place that nobody will want to leave. “It is clear

that the town has lost its ‘balance’ in its Apollonian search for ‘perfection’ and control

over the vagaries of life” (Davis, 1993).

At the beginning of “A City of Churches” it seems as though Cecelia has come to

Prester in search of a place to start her car-rental business, but it’s not long before the

reader realizes that the town of Prester has actually been looking for Cecelia. The

residents of the town have defined themselves and Prester in the name of perfection. To

them, that includes which businesses should exist within their perfect town. Therefore,

they have created a car-rental counter that requires someone to work it. It is as if Prester

is a puzzle rather than a town of individuals and there is one puzzle piece missing,

someone to work at the existing, unmanned car-rental counter. Cecelia is that missing

puzzle piece. However, Barthelme expresses even more irony when Mr. Phillips

confirms to Cecelia that there will be little to no need for anyone in Prester to rent a car,

“Renting a car implies that you want to go somewhere. Most people are pretty content

right here. We have a lot of activities. I don’t think I’d pick the car-rental business if I
was just starting out in Prester” (Barthelme, 1993). And then comes the turning point in

the story where Cecelia realizes that the decision to start her business in Prester might

not be entirely up to he, “’We want you,’ said Mr. Phillips. ‘We want you behind the

counter of the car-rental agency, during regular business hours. It will make the town

complete’” (Barthelme, 1993).

During her tour of places available for rent, Cecelia tells Mr. Phillips that she is

not religious. But Mr. Phillips is convinced that she will come around. He states, in

response to her confession, “Not now. Not yet. But we have many fine young people

here. You’ll get integrated into the community soon enough” (Barthelme, 1993). As the

story progresses, Mr. Phillips attempts to pry further by asking her which

denomination she is. At this point, Cecelia tells him that she can will her dreams

implying that she can will them into reality. Recognizing that her individuality will be

stifled in Prester, she presses further in trying to make Mr. Phillips lose interest in her

by making him uncomfortable with the topics of her dreams, sex. Believing that she will

eventually conform to Preter’s norms, he is “discontented” but not deterred.

Edward Hirsch wrote, “Barthelme’s characters are loyal to their dreams and

desires. They will not relinquish them for anything. They are afraid of themselves, but

they will not be intimidated by others. They are heroes of longing,” (Hirsch, 45). The

character of Cecelia is no exception. Realizing that Mr. Phillips doesn’t want her to leave

Prester, she makes one last attempt to shock him into letting her go. She wants him to

know that if she is forced to conform to the ways of Prester, she will dream “the Secret.”

“I’ll dream the life you’re most afraid of,” she threatens (Barthelme, 1993). This
statement leads the reader to believe that ‘the Secret’ is that her ability to will her

dreams into reality will turn the lives of the citizens of Prester upside down. It’s likely

that she imagines the thing Mr. Phillips fears most is her dream that everyone in Prester

recognizes their free will and makes decisions that go against the conventions of the

town. Or, it could be something even more ominous, but he’ll have to wait and see.

Works Cited

Barthelem, Donald. “A City of Churches.” Sixty Stories. NewYork: Penguin Classics,

1993. Print.

Davis, Robert M. "English -- the Teachings of Don B.: Satires, Parodies, Fables,

Illustrated Stories, and Plays of Donald Barthelme by Donald Barthelme and Edited
 by Kim Herzinger with an Introduction by Thomas Pynchon." World Literature

Today, vol. 67, no. 2, 1993, pp. 393. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-

com.ezproxy.lassencollege.edu/docview/209386732?accountid=39844.

Hirsch, Edward. "On Donald Barthelme." Triquarterly, no. 98, 96, 1997, pp. 41-57.

ProQuest, https://search-proquest-

com.ezproxy.lassencollege.edu/docview/274259599?accountid=39844.