Question

Why does the narrator continue to allow the man to hit him on the head with an umbrella in Sorrentino’s “There’s a Man in the Habit of Hitting Me on the Head with an Umbrella”? Answer Choices; a.The narrator is prohibited by court order from doing anything about it. b.The narrator feels he does not have the right to take away the man’s livelihood.
c.The narrator has grown accustomed to it and does not think he could live without it.
d.The narrator knows that if the man were to stop hitting him with an umbrella, the man would probably die.

Answer 1

The correct answer is C.

Even though the man was annoyed by the blows at the begining, eventually he grew accustomed to them. After five years of being hit continuously, even during his sleep, the man is now scared that the man hitting him might disappear one day, taking the familiar blows with him.