Part 4

“I do prefer the ‘I’ narrator greatly. 1st. It does away with the ‘Smart Alec,’ omniscient atmosphere of the third person, which seems to me the bane of most American short-stories--the author gives an impression of groping for his story, just as a person in real life gropes when he narrates an incident. Conrad does this, and does it so beautifully. It seems to me that a ‘thickness’ is achieved that can be got in no other way. This, of course, does not apply to a novel, because in a novel the ‘thickness’ is achieved by mere length.

“Secondly, as you say, it enables one to handle surprise more readily.

“Thirdly, the story can be told in colloquial language, and not in literary language, which makes it, so it seems to me, more poignant. What experience I have had convinces me that the poignancy of life is invariably expressed by silences and by broken words. The French know so well how to use dashes, for instance.

“Fourthly, and this is not paradoxical, despite the colloquial language, one has a slight feeling of aloofness from the characters or sees them through the medium of a third person; and this, it seems to me, is the way one sees things in real life....

“The story ordinarily comes to me as an incident or a theme, sometimes as a character in a certain incident. Then usually nothing happens for a long time. If I try to think about it too much, so much the worse. In about a month, I’ll think about it again and then, as a rule, it begins to evolve. A great deal of the incident occurs to me while I am actually writing.”--_Maxwell Struthers Burt._

MA’S PRETTIES

GENERAL. “Realism isn’t popular--is it?” Half assertively this inquiry comes from a certain fiction writer. It is, perhaps, in proportion as the story has obvious significance. This sketch about “Ma’s Pretties” reflects in miniature the whole of an American community, but in a manner which escapes him who seeks and appreciates only surface values. It is the kind of writing which acquires relative importance when placed alongside examples which reflect other communities, other nationalities.

The narrative is not a short-story, in the technical sense. Mr. Buzzell feels this to be no adverse criticism, since he says himself, “I am not particularly concerned about the short-story as such. I am using a short narrative form as a means of expression simply because this form seems the most natural to me. There are many things which I wish to record from my own particular slant. It is to accomplish this, rather than to produce short-stories, that I am writing. Naturally, then, I am not particularly concerned with the technique of the short-story, but on the other hand I am very much concerned with the technique of effective writing and have spent several years of hard work trying to perfect my craftsmanship.”

CLASSIFICATION. A realistic sketch, with emphasis on the situation: Mrs. Brooks dies; her “pretties” are divided.

THE CHARACTERS. What is the chief method of the author for revealing character? How is the character of the dead woman indicated? What can you say of the dialogue by way of indicating feeling over (1) “Ma’s” illness, (2) her death? Describe the daughters.

THE MAIN SCENE. Is the story aptly entitled with respect to the main incident? What universal theme is struck in this well-developed scene between the girls in “Ma’s” room?

“The things enumerated in ‘Ma’s Pretties’ as found in her clothespress were part of the things my mother found in my grandmother’s clothespress after the latter’s death. I had to reject many items of course, and rearrange those which I selected as typical. You may be sure I spent a couple of weeks of hard work before I was satisfied with this piece of writing.”--_Francis Buzzell._

SUBORDINATE SCENES. Which scene do you regard as second in importance?

“The building up of the scene in which Ben Brooks carries the earrings in to ‘Ma’ was also a bit of conscious technique. I worked on that paragraph many hours before I was satisfied with the names of the flowers and had my tonal values right.”--_Francis Buzzell._

* * * * *

Compare this story with Donn Byrne’s “The Wake.” Apart from the narrative element, do you receive a decided impression of national contrast?

Study the list of “pretties,” as you studied the list of objects, etc., in Miss Babcock’s “The Excursion.” Try to discover, here as there, their value in the reflection of reality. Certain small objects connote what larger objects? “Ma’s” switch, for example? Apply this question to your consideration of each detail. Have these apparently insignificant details a value similar to that of synecdoche and metonymy?

LONELY PLACES

GENERAL. A technically well-wrought piece of realism, both in its adherence to the point of view, and in the rationalization of events. When it was first published, it bore the (editorial) sub-title, “A Story of Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman.” “I assure you,” says Mr. Buzzell, “that woman’s inhumanity to woman never entered my mind in writing this story. If readers find a moral in any of my stories they can have it without question; I didn’t put it there and I’ll lay no claim to it.” What does this statement indicate with regard to Mr. Buzzell’s ideas of art?

STARTING POINT, AND DEVELOPMENT. “The beginning of a poem, I assume from my own experience, is a mood, a state of feeling, in the poet. He is stirred by something and sets to work to express it. Well, then, this is the way a story begins in me. As a result, the first tangible thing I have is the atmosphere.... I remembered that there were in Almont (Romeo) a number of ‘grand’ houses, standing far back from the road, and occupied by lonely women. I saw these houses buried in trees in summer, smelled the wild honeysuckle, watched the wrens flying in and out of the old teapots hung in the vines of the dining-room porch. In the winter I saw these houses buried in snow.”

Mr. Buzzell then wondered why these women had never married and concluded that all the young men of their generation had gone to the city to work.

“The next step was to select a definite setting. For this I took an old house which I knew thoroughly--my Grandfather’s house--the Orin Crisman house in ‘Addie Erb and her Girl Lottie.’ In this house I placed a woman not quite forty years old and I named her Abbie Snover. Then I gave her Old Chris as a companion. I had reason for placing Old Chris in the house with Abbie aside from an actual plot requirement. I placed him there because I wanted to impress my reader in the beginning with the loneliness of Abbie Snover’s environment rather than with her utter lack of companionship. The actual beginning of plot, I think, was when I decided to take Old Chris away from her at the end, so as to accentuate her loneliness. In searching for a cause that would remove the old man I decided to resort to gossip. The next question was how to start the gossip. It seemed most natural to have the children begin it. But how start the children? Abbie Snover and Old Chris had lived alone in that big house for fifteen years without any gossip; something would have to happen to start it. So I decided that Abbie would have to antagonize the children in some way. To be able to antagonize the children would necessarily require some kind of personal contact with them, so I had the children form a habit of going to her door after cookies. Then I invented the orange tree to give Abbie a reason for driving them out of the house.

“The rest was simple until I sent Abbie out of the big house on her journey to Mile Corners. It wasn’t until I reached this point that I decided to let the reader know that Old Chris was dead; that Abbie’s journey through the snow was to be a fruitless one; that fate had robbed her of her victory. If I had been concerned with writing just a short story I would have given my readers the desired surprise by withholding Old Chris’s death from them until Abbie found it out. What I wanted to do was to make them feel Abbie’s tragedy every step of the way along that country road.”

The difference between the realist’s and the romanticist’s methods may be seen by a consideration of what a romanticist would have done at any stage of the action. For example, Abbie’s kindness to the children would have been the cause, not of her undoing, but rather (under other circumstances) of her rehabilitation. The business of the orange tree, again, might have been used to turn the youngsters against her, as Mr. Buzzell has used it, but in this event then the sender of the orange tree would have arrived on the scene and by his masterfulness properly subdued the gossip.... Again, the romanticist would have saved the surprise, undoubtedly, for the reader as well as for Abbie. He would have desired to create the shock, and leave reflection to each reader.

Try telling the story from Mrs. Perry’s angle.

What is the struggle? Is it active or passive, or does it pass from one to the other condition? Are the stages of the plot well-marked, from initial impulse to climax of action?

What is the atmosphere? What details of setting, character, and action harmonize in the totality of effect? What notes of contrast but serve to intensify the prevailing mood?

Has the author attempted to enlist the reader’s sympathy for Abbie? Is his work finer and truer, as a result?

THE WAKE

GENERAL. “The Wake” suggests and pictures the customs of the Irish following a death; at the same time it tells a story. For this latter reason it is superior, as a narrative, to “Supers,” which emphasizes the picture, the condition. Emphasis is placed on the situation, with a gradual heightening of interest as to a suggested outcome. The young wife of an elderly husband lies dead; she has loved and been loved by a younger man; the younger man (Kennedy) has declared, “If anything ever happens to that girl at your side, Michael James, I’ll murder you!” And now as Michael sits in dumb misery, he awaits the fulfillment of the threat. The passive situation is merged into the dramatic moment by the advent of Kennedy, who seeing the dead woman, foregoes his intention.

SETTING. The locale, according to Mr. Byrne, is Ulster, North Ireland. What is the length of the action?

GERMINAL IDEA. “I wished to write a story of an Irish wake which was neither utterly sordid, nor indelicately funny.” Is the resultant mood, atmosphere, in harmony with this intention?

THE ACTION. Where is your interest first aroused? At what point does the principle of suspense operate to intensify interest? Is the dénouement satisfactory? Is the action that of a “triangle” story? Compare it, in this regard, with the action of “The Water-Hole.” How is the love interest submerged in “The Wake”? How is the hostility Kennedy bears James overcome? What bearing on the action and on the theme has the blind misery of James?

THE CHARACTERS. From whose point of view is the story presented? Who is the main character and why? Is there in any way a suggestion that Death, as a character, controls? Or is the influence of the dead woman dominant?

THE THEME. In stating the theme, refer to the germinal idea and comment on the author’s success.

* * * * *

Compare with this narrative, Chapter IX of Patrick MacGill’s “The Rat-Pit.” Mr. MacGill’s setting is also in Ulster: Donegal.

It should be added for the benefit of the student who resents, or finds hampering, an insistence on short-story type, that Mr. Donn Byrne believes there isn’t any such thing as the short-story. “A story is a story whether it’s a novel of 100,000 words or a short magazine affair. There is no difference in technic between a 4,000 word writing, like ‘The Wake’ and any of my big 15,000 worders--‘Sargasso Sea,’ for example, or ‘A Treasure upon Earth.’ Get a worth while idea and make your narrative interesting. That’s the only formula for any piece of fiction. The short-story is to the novel what the chip mashie shot is to the full St. Andrew Swing, the same identical stroke used effectively for shorter distance.”

Bring arguments to bear for or against Mr. Donn Byrne’s statement. Be sure you have read widely before drawing conclusions, and have studied the technique of the stories and novels read.

THE GREAT AUK

SETTING. The locale is New York City; the most important scene, in the Scudder Theater. The time is the present.

One of Irvin Cobb’s most remarkable powers is that of picturing so vividly a setting that the reader cannot but read and cannot but remember. What is the explanation of this astonishing success? First of all, Mr. Cobb is a keen observer. When he is out with his wife, according to her he sees ten times more than she does, yet she thinks she is seeing all there is to see. “When he was writing ‘The County Trot’ Mrs. Cobb marveled at his life-like pictures of the Kentucky characters, all of whom he had really known. She asked him how it was possible for him to remember their faces and mannerisms after the lapse of so many years. He said: ‘Why, I can close my eyes and see the knotholes that were in the fence around that fairground.’” This quotation indicates a second requisite--accurate memory. The third requisite is hard work, a condition through which Mr. Cobb believes all success must come. “When writing a story his object is to draw sharp pictures that will never leave the reader. To do this, he thinks out the minutest details of that picture, not that he will use those details, but that he himself may really see the picture as he writes.” The fact that he will not “use all those details” which observation and memory have supplied means that he has the ability to select. And, finally, he knows how to handle an ample vocabulary.

PLOT.

_Initial Impulse_: The need for a “grandfather” motivates the search of Verba and Offutt. (A search, a type of “chase,” serves for a strong story-backbone.)

_Steps to the Dramatic Climax_: 1. The cab-ride to Bateman’s old haunts. 2. Finding the Scudder theatre closed. 3. The visit to the wine-shop; the clerk’s account of Bateman. 4. The ragged boy volunteers information. 5. He leads them to the side entrance of the theatre, into the gloom and decay of which they make their way.

_Dramatic Climax_: The urchin whistles; the curtain rolls up; old Bateman appears. The search is now at an end. Bateman is found. The new cause of suspense lies in curiosity over ensuing events. To satisfy this curiosity, the author extends the dramatic climax moment. The whole scene at the theatre is a prolonged climax, gradually revealing the old man’s unfitness, even as it soars to a higher emotional climax. The story structure may be roughly indicated by the diagram: S Q / \ O / \ / \ M / \ / R \ / \ / P \ J / N \ / \/ \ / K \ G Z E / \ C / \/ H A__ / \ / F B D

That is, if M represents the dramatic climax moment, then MS represents the dramatic climax scene, which is the period of Bateman’s acting three parts. With S, comes the realization that Bateman is not in his “perfect mind.” Notice the impeccable workmanship by which this recognition is forced home to Verba in the last speech of Bateman, the lines from “King Lear.” SZ is the brief drop to the climax of action. See the story for details.

_Climax of Action_: The two men leave Bateman taking his curtain call.

CHARACTERIZATION. Why are the insignificant actors and actresses mentioned in the introduction? What is the particular literary value of Grainger? What outstanding characteristics has Bateman which none of the others possess? What value has the title in connection with the characters as a group?

How has Mr. Cobb individualized Verba and Offutt? To which means of characterization is he most partial--author’s description, the character’s own acts and speeches, or what others think and say of him?

Of the urchin who piloted the searchers, what is the first detail you recall? What other characters of Mr. Cobb do you remember from some physical peculiarity which he has emphasized?

Bateman is first presented to the reader through the opinion of Verba. Next, he is shown through the wine-shop clerk (who gives the effective clue as to Bateman’s “dippiness”). Then, the ragged urchin volunteers his contribution. What prepossessing characteristic does the reader receive from him? Finally, the actor speaks for himself. One part would be insufficient; it would be “too easy”; therefore by the cumulative method Mr. Cobb lets the old man show beyond a doubt that he is not a type, but an actor. Dundreary, the Frenchman and King Lear require varied ability.

Notice that what the character _does_ is the climactic portrayal--not what others say about him or what the author might portray.

DETAILS. Point out the clues to Bateman’s insanity. Study Mr. Cobb’s figures of speech. He frequently uses the human body as a basis for comparison (see, for example, page 85: “Its stucco facings, shining dimly like a row of teeth ...” and page 97: “the mouth of the place was muzzled with iron, like an Elizabethan shrew’s”). Why is such a basis conducive to vividness for everybody?

What is the acting time of the story?

What is the significance of the contrast between the modern play, as represented in the selections (pages 88 and 89), and the masterpieces suggested in the latter part of the story.

* * * * *

Irvin Cobb never writes a story until he has worked it over in his own mind for a couple of months. At the same time, a hundred new ideas are developing; and as he himself says he will not live long enough to write all his stories. A year before he wrote “The Belled Buzzard” he was visiting with Mrs. Cobb at her old home in Georgia. They were sitting on a front porch one morning when a huge buzzard flew past. Mr. Cobb recalled a Southern story about a belled buzzard, and remarked that he guessed he would weave a plot round it. Just one year later, he finished the developing and wrote the story.

BOYS WILL BE BOYS

SETTING. A town in Kentucky, with emphasis on Judge Priest’s office and the court-room. Time: in recent years, not the immediate present.

PLOT.

_Initial Incident_: Judge Priest sends for Peep O’Day and informs him that he has inherited eight thousand pounds sterling.

_Steps to the Dramatic Climax_: Peep takes a silver dollar in advance from the Judge; he invests it in fruit, cake, and candy. He invites the boys to eat with him. The news of his fortune spreads, and eventually reaches Percy Dwyer in the workhouse at Evansville, Indiana (this is the hint at an opposing force, the first suggestion of a struggle). O’Day begins to “betray the vagaries of a disordered intellect.” He buys a child’s wagon, soda-pop, etc. With the youngsters he spends a day in Bradshaw’s woods, playing games. The day and his behavior are repeated.

_Dramatic Climax_: The apogee “came at the end of two months.” It consists of three definite things:

a. The arrival of the legacy, b. The arrival of the one-ring circus, c. The arrival of Nephew Dwyer.

_Steps to the Climax of Action_: Peep invests two hundred dollars and takes the youngsters to the circus. His nephew greets him at night; O’Day bids him a quick good-bye. The nephew goes to an attorney. Sublette addresses a petition to the Circuit Judge setting forth that O’Day is of unsound mind and that his nephew prays for the appointment of a curator over the estate. Judge Priest comes back from Reelfoot Lake. He talks with O’Day, and says that he may tell on the witness stand why he has spent the money as he has.

_Climax of Action_: Pages 120-124. O’Day’s speech. The climax of action is extended here, as was the dramatic climax in “The Great Auk.”

_Dénouement_: Judge Priest declares that the Court is advised as to O’Day’s sanity; the youngsters applaud; the elders join in the applause; O’Day is, according to the Judge, “the sanest man in this entire jurisdiction.” Court is adjourned. The Judge lingers to make a suggestion to the sheriff.

_Anti-Climax, and Close of the Narrative_: Peep brings to Judge Priest a present of all-day suckers.

CHARACTERIZATION. Judge Priest, who appears in many of Mr. Cobb’s stories, is one of numerous types the author knew when he was a Paducah reporter. The student should study him as an example destined to literary permanence. In the opinion of the present critic he is the most representative figure in all the current literature about the South. No Southerner can fail to recognize the gentleman.

In this particular story how is the Judge described by the author? How does his mail help to characterize him? How does his behavior reveal him? For what qualities do you like him at first? For what throughout? (See especially pages 95, 117, 126.) For what, finally?

Study the description of O’Day. Study page 94 for the way Mr. Cobb makes O’Day appeal to the reader’s sympathy. What in his past history has contributory value to the present picture and present plot? What in his environment? What do the townspeople think of him? What exceptions are there? What is his attitude to others? Study his behavior in connection with the reception of news about his fortune, his subsequent acts, and his speech in the court-room. Why is his story of his early life of particular worth here? Note all the reasons for which you sympathize with him. Wherein, in brief, lies the human appeal of the story?

How are the minor characters hit off as individuals? How are they repressed so as not to usurp too much of the reader’s attention?

DETAILS. Study the easy way in which the locality is kept before the reader. For example, the business about the water-melons is essentially Southern.

From reading “The Great Auk” what would you judge to have been one of Mr. Cobb’s chief interests? What from reading “Boys Will Be Boys”?

Point out examples of this author’s humor.

What value has the fact (page 87) that the Court of Appeals had affirmed a decision of the Judge?

What effects arise from the statement that Peep wore a four dollar suit?

What forecast lies in O’Day’s admission of kinship to Dwyer? (Page 91.)

How has the author handled suspense in the first incident--the scene between the Judge and O’Day? Where does he satisfy curiosity? Is this, then, a minor climax of interest?

What reaction on the reader has O’Day’s statement, “I can’t neither read nor write”?

Note on page 100 the first indication that Peep’s sanity may be suspected (Speech of Mr. Quarles). This question of his sanity joins Dwyer’s interest in securing the money--a double force against Peep’s retaining his fortune. Were you in doubt, on first reading, that O’Day would remain in possession? Is the struggle well developed as the essential foundation of the plot?

Is the dénouement satisfactory?

CHAUTONVILLE

CENTRAL IDEA. The power of music is supreme.