What is the main idea of the short story "Republican" by Bret Anthony Johnston?

In Republican, Bret Anthony Johnston examines how hope and sorrow continually intersect and how one is rarely present without the other. 

We'll examine one of the major plot points and its conclusion to see how Johnston has set up hope and sorrow to exist simultaneously. 

The relationship between Julian and Melinda:

These two young lovers spend the whole story flirting on the edge of a major make-out session. Julian is interested in Melinda from...

In Republican, Bret Anthony Johnston examines how hope and sorrow continually intersect and how one is rarely present without the other. 

We'll examine one of the major plot points and its conclusion to see how Johnston has set up hope and sorrow to exist simultaneously. 

The relationship between Julian and Melinda:

These two young lovers spend the whole story flirting on the edge of a major make-out session. Julian is interested in Melinda from the beginning of the text, and she answers his attraction with coy one-liners for very nearly all of the story. 

There are at least three places in the text where their relationship is battered back and forth between hope and sorrow. The first is at the catered event in Portland. Melinda asks Julian to stay later than he needs to by suggesting they might dance together. 

For a teenager like Julian, this is a big deal. He waits outside the event hoping and fretting about what this might mean for their relationship:

"I spent the next hour pacing outside the reception hall, pretending I'd just married Melinda. I stole glances at her serving flan and leaning down to ask if people wanted decaf or regular, and the simple fact of her knowing my name amazed me. The prospect of meeting her after dessert sent my heart kicking. I wondered if she was a virgin, if she knew I was."

However, he finally learns that Melinda has left the party without him. In just this small piece of story, Julian experiences huge hope and crushing sorrow. But even that doesn't tell the whole tale. On Julian's drive home he imagines Melinda riding beside him and kissing him. Hope returns.

In a later part of the story, Melinda finally hints that she might be ready to pursue something with Julian (hope) when the health inspector shuts down the restaurant (sorrow). 

And at the end of the story we see Johnston's masterful story-building come to fruition. Melinda finally kisses Julian (insane hope). They drive happily through the streets in a convertible Cadillac. But this is a false hope. Melinda is unaware of what Julian knows full well--the restaurant is closed. She is speeding towards it and we, the readers, know that she will be crushed when she finds it has been replaced with a wig shop. 

A similar juxtaposition of hope and sorrow takes place in the relationship between Julian and his father. Consider these two plot points:

1. Julian's father gives him the Cadillac (hope), but only after the father has cut the roof apart because his wife has left him (sorrow).


2. Julian's father repairs the roof for Julian (hope), but Julian doesn't notice until he has stolen his father's prized possession, a guitar that Elvis played (sorrow). Furthermore, to add sorrow to the moment, the only reason Julian hadn't discovered the repair is that he had been avoiding his father. 

If I were to turn these points into a theme statement, I would say: "Johnston's story examines how hope and sorrow rarely exist separately--how life is made up of their strange juxtaposition."