“Dusk” opens on Norman Gortsby, the character from whose perspective all the story’s events are seen. Gortsby is sitting on a bench in Hyde Park in London as the sun sets around 6:30 on an evening in March. He notices other people who are barely visible in the gathering gloom as they walk in the park or sit on benches.
This situation pleases Gortsby. He always thinks of dusk as a time associated with people who feel defeated. He thinks that such persons tend to come forth at dusk so they can be outside in their humble clothes and sad moods without being especially visible to other, more successful persons. Gortsby thinks the unsuccessful people who tend to appear at dusk do not want to be seen by others. They come to places like Hyde Park after the happier, more successful people have left.
Gortsby glimpses the well-lit windows of nearby houses and apartments. He assumes that those places are the dwellings of the successful—or at least those who have not been forced to admit defeat in life’s struggles. Gortsby feels defeated, yet his sadness is not due to lack of money. Instead, he feels defeated because he “failed in a more subtle ambition,” the precise nature of which the story never makes clear. In any case, Gortsby enjoys sitting on a bench and passing sardonic judgment on the other people in the park at dusk.
Next to him on the bench is an old man who seems nearly defeated and definitely depressed. His clothes are not especially unattractive, but the old man does not by any means look rich. He seems lonely, as if no one cares about him. When the old man leaves, Gortsby assumes he is returning to a dwelling where he is basically ignored.
Almost as soon as the old man leaves, a young man sits down in the same spot on the bench. Although his clothes look fairly decent, he also seems depressed. In fact, when the young man sits down, he lets out a loud and angry curse. When Gortsby comments to the youth that he seems unhappy, the young man explains his predicament. He explains that he came to London earlier in the day, intending to stay at a respected hotel. However, when he arrived he discovered that the hotel had been demolished. A taxi driver suggested a substitute hotel. The young man went there, sent a note to his out-of-town relatives to tell them where he was staying, and then exited the hotel in search of some soap. He had neglected to pack soap but...
(The entire section is 987 words.)