Part 13

_Steps toward the Dramatic Climax_: Corey returns to his home, simple and unaffected. Afterward, though always off to one of the far corners of the earth, he comes back with the same indifference to his decorations. Once or twice only he displays them, in a spirit of comic masquerade or to please his friends. In 1912 he takes part in the Balkan campaign, and happens to meet in Paris, where he goes for anaesthetics, the _narrator_ of the present story. (Not the _author_, it will be noticed.) On his return to Dubuque in the spring of 1913 he marries. Essentially a home man and now settled down, he seemingly feels no inclination at the outbreak of the World War to get to France. In August, 1915, however, he goes to Philadelphia, where he supposedly remains for two months, conducting experiments. In reality, he sails for France, goes to the front, and in six weeks wins the Croix de Guerre. He returns home, as if from Philadelphia.

_Dramatic Climax_: After some weeks his wife finding the Croix de Guerre and learning the truth, accuses him of being unable to resist a new decoration. Corey’s faith in himself and the honesty of his past is destroyed.

_Steps toward Climax of Action_: Corey, in distress, makes a confessor of his relative, Mr. Ewing. He seems convinced that he is “rotten” and has been, without knowing it. Shortly, he leaves again, and it is given out that he has gone to France to help in the war. At the front he exposes himself to every danger; meantime, on duty and off he wears his array of decorations. It is noteworthy that nobody sees anything “funny” in them, however. Volunteering to rescue a wounded officer, he is mortally injured, and the two are brought to the relief station together.

_Climax of Action Scene_: The officer, while Corey is unconscious, tells how Corey shielded him at the expense of his own life. He manages to despatch a note to General Headquarters. Corey regains consciousness and calls for his friend Burke, to whom he dictates Mr. Ewing’s name and address. Burke, hearing that the Medaille Militaire is to be conferred upon Corey, tells him. Corey hearing that three hours will be required remarks, “That’s time enough.” He desires Mr. Ewing to know that “It breaks a man’s luck to know what he wants,” and that he did not take the hypodermic which would have kept him alive until the conferring of the Medaille Militaire. He wishes his wife to hear nothing about the honor he might have had at the last.

_Dénouement_: The Division General arrives too late to confer the medal. Corey had saved his wife this added disgrace.

PRESENTATION. The facts of the plot, extending over a long time, are unified through the device of the narrator who, first becoming curious about Corey and enlisting the reader’s curiosity, learns them from Mr. Ewing. Ewing, then, becomes an inner narrator, and his story, in turn, encloses that of Burke. The skill of the author is manifest in the process by which she has so interwoven the various pieces of information about Corey as to make a smooth and perfectly joined story. The element of Chance plays a strong part, but so natural a rôle that it meets with no lack of credulity. That is, Chance caused the first meeting, but since in that _contretemps_ lies the base of the story, it is accepted. Chance also causes the meeting between the narrator and the only man, perhaps, who could have given the facts about Corey’s career. But it is naturally brought about, through the setting and the preliminaries antecedent to the recognition that here was some one who knew Corey.

Do you anywhere feel that the narrator is a woman? Is the narrator’s delicacy in the smoking car, for example, greater than a man would have felt? Would a man apologize for hearing the story.

CHARACTER. The story exemplifies to an unusual degree the unity which results from emphasizing one character. Every other is ancillary to Corey. Even his wife is but a human means for bringing home to his own consciousness the question as to his motives. The others exist mainly as links between the reader and Corey. The interest in the physician, for the reader, lies in speculating over his acts, his whereabouts, and the opposing forces of his nature. In the end, it is seen that he has been all along a single-hearted American, one who followed his nature, but who, when his attention was drawn to the sort of nature it appeared to be, determined upon a course of punishment. The title of the story strengthens this interpretation. The summary episode of the Western miner strengthens it: if the miner cheated at solitaire he shot himself. Corey felt that he had cheated unaware and set himself to the task of flagellation.

SETTING. The contrast between the Middle West and France emphasizes the apparent contradictory qualities in Corey’s nature. The shift in settings is in itself conducive to unity and short-story effect only through contrast; but the rehearsed method of telling the story, with the accent on Corey, properly subordinates the divergence in locality and swings it into harmony.

Fleta Campbell Springer thinks a short-story is whatever the author makes it. “That is why I believe in it, in its possibilities. The very fact that you can’t put your finger on it, can’t ticket it, or define it, is its fascination. Its limits are the limits of the author’s ability, and there are several kinds of authors in the world. The word ‘short-story’ is sufficient definition in itself, length being the only quality to come under restriction.”

THE YELLOW CAT

Mr. Steele’s twelve or fifteen years of studying the technique of story writing have resulted in his mastering the power of suggestion, found at its height in Kipling, and the clear vigorous expression for which Stevenson is famous. Without a statement to the contrary from the author himself it would be safe to assume that they were his models.

“The Yellow Cat” is told in the first person by Ridgeway, aided by McCord, and it is in part created by the reader. One who likes to create with ease will find a strain upon his powers of construction; the more he takes his reading as a narcotic, the less he will enjoy it. The constructive reader will delight in it.

As a change from the analysis of plot in the presentation, it will be profitable to construct the events in chronological order.

A. The master of the _Abbie Rose_ fears his Chinaman cook; he enters his fear in his log, intimating that he may do away with the Chinaman.

B. The second seaman, Bach, also becomes a victim of fear. The two men find that their revolvers are stolen.

C. (Invented by every reader to suit himself. Perhaps the two seamen deserted the ship?)

D. The Chinaman is left on board. (Is he innocent?) He climbs into the shrouds, when he sees the smoke of an approaching vessel.

E. The vessel is descried, soon after C, or D, by the _Mercury_. (... “the stove in the galley still slightly warm.”) It is seemingly empty but for a yellow cat.

F. McCord and Björnsen are detailed to steer the _Abbie Rose_ to port, over a hundred miles distant. McCord is the engineer.

G. Björnsen, going to shake out the foretopsail encounters the Chinaman.

H. (Invented by the reader. Björnsen was probably knocked into the sea, and may have made his escape to the land. Was he killed?)

I. McCord missing Björnsen, and becoming obsessed by the yellow cat, begins to consider the theory of transmigration of souls.

J. (Suggested to the reader: McCord thinking the Chinaman is dead--for he has read the log entries--suspects that his soul has come back in the body of the cat.)

K. He undergoes a period of mental agony, during which time he brings the vessel into port. He sees the shadow of the Chinaman; he shoots at the shadow; he misses the water, etc. He cannot sleep and the cat has disappeared.

(Note that all the incidents above are of the time preceding the “acting time” of the story, or the immediate situation and action.)

L. The narrator, Ridgeway, here comes on board the vessel lying in the upper river.

M. As the men talk, McCord relating his experiences, the cat re-appears.

N. She hears a sound, rushes amidships, and the men follow.

O. They look aloft. (See page 255, top.)

P. (Suggested: McCord sees something in the shroud.)

Q. (Suggested: He shakes down the Chinaman.)

R. The Chinaman escapes, leaving his slipper.

S. McCord from the mast brings down the two revolvers and other things.

T. McCord now understands the whole business; he goes to sleep at once.

Such an order would have spoiled the story. Notice in the presentation:

1. The gathering up of the greater part of the incidents at the shortest possible distance from the climax of action.

2. The economical and dramatic method by which the preceding circumstances are set forth. The reader knows only what McCord knows.

3. The large employment of suggestion.

4. The keeping of the place--the boat is the scene of action for three different groups, only the last group being the immediate actors.

5. The excellent clues to the shrouds as the hiding place. (See pages 237, ... “top-sails being pursed up ... but not stowed”; 238, ... “handing down like huge, over-ripe pears,” etc.)

6. The logic of McCord’s not finding the hiding place of the cook. (First sentence, page 255.) This illustrates Poe’s theory as set forth in “The Purloined Letter.”

7. The use of suspense. The reader wonders whether the explanation will lie in the supernatural or the natural. Suspense is satisfied only in the dénouement, after which the end comes quickly.

8. The motivation for the whole story. It lies in _fear_: “the one universal and uncontrollable passion.” And it is heightened by placing in opposition representatives of two races, neither of which understands the other. Here, then, is the real _struggle_.

DOWN ON THEIR KNEES

CLASSIFICATION. This is, primarily, a love story, having a strongly marked struggle between the first and second characters, and a complicating thread of interest drawn from the relations between the first and third characters. It is of the familiar “triangle” type, but of a unique individuality.

The struggle appears to be motivated by something like hate; but the dénouement reveals that the acts resulting from apparent hatred or contempt were only negative or distorted expressions of the real or positive passion.

PRESENTATION. The narrator is the author (third person), who focuses the spot-light on Angel.

PLOT. Analyze the plot, marking out the main steps. What is the turning point in the struggle, or the dramatic climax?

Compare the manipulation of the plot elements with the management of those in “The Yellow Cat” plot. Which is simpler?

SETTING. Among the Portuguese on Urkey Island. The time is the present.

CHARACTERIZATION. The racial type chosen is one, through which passionate and contradictory expression might well flow. A colder-tempered, more logical people, would here be impossible. Or if individuals of the milder tempered race were chosen, the task of making them convincing (as a group) would be an added difficulty.

What impression of Peter Um Perna do you receive at first? By what method or methods of portrayal is this impression conveyed?

Where is the second Peter, his second self, first revealed? Where in full? What is the significance of the relationship of the one who explains him?

What is the chief trait of Angel? How is your opinion of her maintained or changed? At what point, and why, does she leave off caring for Man’el?

What marked characteristics of Peter and Man’el are contrasted? (See e.g., page 329: “Yeh!” He had planned to lie about that.”)

What is the value of the older characters--the Avo and Mena?

Why are the life-savers numbered 1, 2, 5 and so on?

DETAILS. Is there anywhere a clue to Angel’s love for Peter? To his for her?

Wherein lies the element of suspense? Where is your curiosity first satisfied? What becomes a new cause for reading on? How is suspense increased near the final outcome?

Why at first reading are you not sure of the place at which Angel no longer loves Man’el? What purpose of the author leads him to leave the reader doubtful?

What vividness is given to the description of the setting, in the first paragraph?

What plot convenience exists in the Avo being Peter’s laundress?

How is the name Philomena used? In what other story of these collections do you find it similarly _non_-descriptive?

Why is the title “Down on _Their_ Knees”?

What indications in this story, in the way of color and form, do you find of Mr. Steele’s being also an artist of the brush?

What plot purpose does Man’el perform in his dare to Peter, to “go fishin’”? Does he serve to get the situation over the _impasse_? Is it a too obvious trick?

The struggle in the last lap of the action is one against the elements. What are the two subdivisions of this struggle? Is the outcome satisfactory? What symbolic value has the final sentence?

CHING, CHING, CHINAMAN

PRESENTATION. The story is told in reminiscent vein by one who uses his own angle as a boy. It recalls the manner of “Treasure Island,” as “The Yellow Cat” recalls Kipling. The boy’s angle is faithfully kept, with excellent results. The first value of the boy’s angle is that much of the action was unclear to him, as it progressed chronologically, and this obscurity is carried over to the reader. The reader, then, is kept in suspense, as the boy was, until the outcome. It is a well-known and capital means of creating and heightening suspense. The second value is that the boy’s point of view is the best for unity of effect. Observe that this is true in studying the

PLOT.

_Initial Incident_: Malden marries Sympathy Gibbs, whom Mate Snow has been considering for himself. This incident motivates the chain of events that follow.

(The following is revealed out of chronological order, as the plot is _presented_. But as effect resulting from cause it follows, in the plot _construction_, the initial incident):

_First Steps toward Dramatic Climax_: Mate Snow writes in the name of Gibbs, to Minister Malden, saying he is alive. “Gibbs” demands money as a reward for his silence and non-appearance. Malden, unable to bear the thought of his child being a bastard, meets the demand. He further agrees to stay away from his wife and child. (Do you think the motivation is strong enough, under the given conditions, to make the Minister do this?) Sam Kow, a Chinaman sees the exchange of letter and money.

_Next Steps_: (These are revealed at first reading, but cause wonder and suspense, as the _preceding_ steps are unknown to the boy and to the reader):

Malden leaves Sympathy and his baby and lives with Mate Snow, occupying two rooms over the drug store.

The village wonders but Mate Snow seemingly takes the part of Malden. Nobody, of course, suspects his villainy.

The Minister tries to “convert” Yen Sin, the Chinaman, and motivation for this struggle goes back to the antecedent period (first paragraphs) when the minister had voyaged to heathen shores to work in “the field.” (Notice the reason given for his return, and observe that the earthly and divine loves were even then at odds in his make-up.)

_Step in Chronological Order_ (but held back until the outcome): Yen Sin receives collars from Sam Kow on which Sam informs him of the exchange of letters and money. This correspondence keeps up for seven years.

_Further Steps_: Yen Sin keeps his own reserve and his own religion.

One evening Minister Malden fails to show up at prayer-meeting. Mate Snow presides. The boy creeps off to the pillar-house, where Sympathy lives. He sees

1. That Minister Malden enters. 2. That Yen Sin also sees. The boy makes a visit of a month. He returns to find Mate Snow the big man of the village. Yen Sin has grown older and feebler.

_Dramatic Climax_: Yen Sin is dying: he asks for the Minister. (It is from the Chinaman’s death that the change of Malden’s fortunes arises.)

Steps following immediately, and leading directly to climax of action.--The boy enters the church to see Snow in the pulpit; he stammers out the Chinaman’s need for the Minister. Snow answers the call. The boy hates Snow; he continues to look for Malden. He goes to the pillar-house. He looks beneath a drawn shade and sees Malden receiving five hundred dollars from Sympathy; he hears her say, “It brings us to the end, Will.” He hears the Minister thanking God it’s Mate Snow who holds the mortgage. But Sympathy declares that Mate has “sucked the life” out of Malden. The boy screams out that the Chinaman is dying. Then he rushes off to the scow of Yen Sin. Now follows the struggle of wills, and of races; Chinaman is pitted against American, in the

_Impulse of Final Suspense_: The boy hears Snow enjoining the Chinaman to confess. Yen Sin calls for his collars, and as they lie curling about him, he mildly asks for Snow’s confession. Snow finally confesses, “I have coveted my neighbor’s wife.” Here Malden enters. He reveals that Gibbs is alive, and to save his child, he has paid hush-money. (See above.) He has promised to stay away from wife and child, but has gone to them in secret. This is his confession. Then Yen Sin reveals what Sam Kow has written from Infield--on the collars--Malden has paid money.... Here Snow goes mad, fearing exposure, and blurts out enough to show it is he who has demanded the money. Yen Sin points out that at any time “Mista God” would have accepted confession, “makee allee light.” Minister Malden begins to comprehend.

_Climax of Action_: Snow drinks poison; he dies. The villagers rush him off to the doctor’s. The boy and Malden are alone with Yen Sin. Malden runs to fetch his wife and child. Yen Sin sends the boy for the minister. Yen Sin’s departure, “China way,” and Malden’s prayer for his soul.

Study the interval of time between every two stages of the action. Observe the quickening of tempo near the close, added to a cumulative weightiness of effect.

THEME. The story is thought-provoking in its bigness of theme which every reader will express for himself. Many will see no further than the concrete events. Others may be tempted, perhaps, to read more into the story than the author consciously included. But it seems to be clear that the end of the struggle is in the yellow man’s favor. The closing sentence emphasizes the irony of mission work.

CHARACTERIZATION. Is the boy’s angle uniform in regard to his apprehension and comprehension at the age of thirteen? Does he occasionally seem older? younger?

What attributes of the Minister invite your sympathy? How are his qualities given--through the boy, or through his report of acts and speeches?

At what point do you begin to watch for trickery on Mate Snow’s part? What is his dominant trait?

What trait of the Chinaman is exploited? Is it racial or individual?

SETTING. Point out links that connect the locale of this story with that of “Down on their Knees.” Notice that the chief scene-settings are: the Chinaman’s scow, the church, the home of Sympathy Gibbs. Why is the drug-store residence of Minister Malden not used? Why not the transactions at Infield? Give two reasons, one with regard to unity, the other with regard to handling of plot.

Is there reason that the action might have strayed over too much time and place for the purpose of the short-story? Could a novelette be constructed out of the material included?

DETAILS. By what early preparation does the death of Snow from _poison_ become so logical as scarce to challenge question? (See page 442.)

“Tubbed box trees,” “the big green door,” “lilac panes,” “silhouetted against the open door,” “a steam-blurred silhouette,” “shadows of the uneasy flock moved across the windows,”--these illustrate what ability of the author? Point out other examples.

Page 447--“If--if one had faith!” To what dénouement is this a clue?

Page 448--“He’s gone out in the back-country to pray alone.” Clue to what? Do you think it credible that Mate Snow never suspected where Malden went on these occasions? If he knew, what motive kept him silent? Where did Mate Snow suppose the Minister got the hush-money?

Page 449--“The door was still open, a blank, bright rectangle giving into the deserted vestry, and it was against this mat of light that I spied Minister Malden’s head,” etc. What processes work to make this a memorable bit of description. Point out similar examples in this story and in the other stories of Mr. Steele. Point out examples in stories by other authors.

Study Mr. Steele’s use of shadows, here and in “The Yellow Cat.” Compare them with Mr. Dobie’s shadows in “Laughter.” The value of shadows lies in their suggestion. They call up the real thing in fiction more easily and economically than the thing itself, as described, can do. The reason is obvious. If there is a shadow, the reader knows, unconsciously, there must be something to cast it. Hence, curiosity may be aroused; in any event, “belief” is secured in the reality of the object.

“Approaching ... I put one large, round eye to the aperture.” (Page 455.) Did the boy think of himself as having a “large round eye”? Or does the narrator think of himself (now a man of years) as he looked? Is it sound technique, either way regarded, or would it be better to leave out the “large, round”?

Is it more fascinating to read of something viewed in part and surreptitiously than it is to read of the same scene viewed as a whole and freely under usual conditions? What primitive impulses are appealed to?

Page 457, in the paragraph beginning, “I shall never forget the picture,” occurs preparation for the “China way” departure. What is it? In the same paragraph what excellent bit of description occurs?

What do you think of the idea “--the emotion of humor, which is another name for perception”? (Page 458.)

Page 459, in the paragraph beginning, “Yes,” he murmured, is an excellent example of irony. How does it aid the action?

Do you believe that in the struggle of wills Mate Snow would have given in to the urge of the Chinaman? What circumstances argue for the result? What is against it?

Page 465. Do not fail to take the full meaning of the paragraph to heart: “He lay so still over there on the couch.” In what lines is the thought most poignant?

Page 467. Why is the expression “Urkey’s unwashed collars” used with fine effect?

What satisfaction do you find in the closing tableau?

THE DARK HOUR

“The Dark Hour” has, in the story sense, no plot. The only action lies in a fragmentary discussion between the sick man, Hallett, and his physician who paces the deck of the homeward bound vessel. The only hint of a struggle lies in the conflicting viewpoints of the two men.

Hallett holds that Germany has a vision--“a red, bloody, damned vision”--but a vision. The Allies have, as yet, no vision.

The doctor argues that the Allies _want to win the war_.