In 'Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story', we meet Ron, who is described as an attractive and ruggedly handsome young man, and Sarah, who according to Ron, is "homelier" and more or less a woman that if he were to be standing behind on a line at a supermarket, he wouldn't bother to look twice at. They meet at a bar after Sarah is dared to speak to him, assuming that her friends would find it hard to believe that she, being so unattractive, would have the courage to do so. For some reason, Ron doesn't turn her away, like I thought he would, but instead, finds her interesting in an odd way and enjoys conversations with her. They meet frequently and eventually begin to have a more sexual relationship.
Although all along, I as the reader couldn't find anything in common between the two except unsuccessful past relationships, it is only when they are naked that they are alike, and as Banks puts it, a "protracted tension between them had at last been released" (chapter 6). Eventually, as the story progresses, Ron seems to be scared or intimidated by the idea of Sarah wanting something more, and this is demonstrated by her invitation to meet her three children. Eventually, after a harsh conversation, Ron and Sarah meet on the same page and never hear of each other again.
Although my wildest guess would be that Russell Banks did not write this story with the ideology of Marxism in mind, a Marxist could read this story and logically pull pieces away from the story. For example, two obviously distinguishable social classes are discussed: Ron being the 'bourgeoisie' and Sarah the 'proletariat'. Ron is "probably" a lawyer, while Sarah works at Rumford Press where she packs TV Guide magazines into boxes all day. This being said, the greatest revelation of Marxism, for me at least, is when Ron makes a connection between a TV Guide which he holds in his hands one night while at home, alone; "He'll think of the connection some other night, but by then the connection will be merely sentimental. It'll be too late for him to understand what she meant by 'different' " (chapter 3). It is here when Ron realizes that the two are from totally different worlds and Ron simply cannot find it in himself to make Sarah anything more than a temporary sexual encounter in his life.
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I had some kind of a similar understanding of this story, the whole personal appearance of the two main characters. Ron and Sarah, who Ron is described as a more distinguishable character: with good looks, and a beter economical position, while Sarah, was described as: unattractive and more common. This can be related to what Gramsci, describes as Intellectuals, and the two different groups, the "traditional", those who are professional, and the other "Organic", those who work in any job around their class. I agree with the whole TV guide example, on how the connection was there but just didn't comeout, but in the end when he would try to make the connection it would be to late.
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