Summary

In the third section of Ducks, Newburyport, the protagonist ventures outside of her home to deliver pies. One of the tires on her car goes flat during this excursion, leaving the protagonist temporarily stranded on the highway. While standing outside of her car in the cold, she notices a house with its Christmas lights still on in the distance. This beacon leads the protagonist to wonder why so many people abandon their Christmas trees on the roadside. Though the protagonist signals numerous passersby for assistance as she entertains these thoughts, the only person who stops to change her tire is a man named Jesus. As an atheist, the protagonist believes this coincidence is deeply ironic and cannot wait to tell Leo about it when he returns home from work that evening. The protagonist implies that human cruelty prevents her from believing in God because...