Part 6
_Main Steps toward the Dramatic Climax_: Jo “takes care of the girls” for a number of years. At length, he falls in love with Emily. They wait three years. The “girls” are still unmarried. Emily and Jo part. Emily marries. (So passes the first minor climax.) Eva marries. Babe (Estelle) marries. Carrie takes a settlement job. Jo, free, finds that he does not even think of matrimony. The sisters fail to “marry him off.” He is gradually left lonelier and lonelier. (The greatest depression of Jo’s fortunes, financially, combines with his loneliness to intensify his deserted bachelor state.)
_Dramatic Climax_: The turning point in Jo’s financial or external condition comes about through the War and the fact that leather goes up. Jo’s fortune is made.
_Steps toward the Climax of Action_: The “gay dog” business begins: Jo buys a car, he takes expensive apartments, he tries to solace himself with the friendship of a _demi-mondaine_. Eva sees him buying a hat for the woman; Estelle crosses them in a restaurant; Ethel, Eva’s daughter, meets him in her company at the theatre. Eva and Estelle determine to visit Jo and call a halt. They drive to his apartment. Meantime Jo has been watching the boys marching, has come across Emily, has helped her to see her boy (Jo) march, and has told her good-by.
_Climax of Action, and Dénouement_: The climax is dramatically worked out in the scene between the sisters and Jo. They flee terrified at Jo’s counter-charges. “The game was over--the game he had been playing against loneliness and disappointment.”
Draw a diagram to indicate the minor climaxes and other points of interest.
CHARACTERIZATION. What is the first picture the reader receives of Jo? Why is it given first? As related to the order of plot events, is it the dénouement picture?
How does Miss Ferber enlist the reader’s sympathy for Jo at twenty-seven? How is his unselfishness displayed? Why is it more credible presented in the little scene-suggestions (pages 211, 212) than if affirmed by the author? How does his falling in love with Emily reveal his character? What trait is emphasized in his letting Emily go? What traits are responsible for his development as a loop-hound? Is he consistently developed? Does the story, through Jo, present a universal situation?
What traits of the girls, as a group, are contrasted with the dominant one of Jo? What ironic moral is visible, between the lines, in the dénouement on the respective advantages of selfishness and unselfishness?
How is each sister respectively individualized without requiring too much of the reader’s interest?
What are Emily’s most dominant characteristics? Is her portrait on pages 229 and 230 the fit successor to the earlier one?
Is there any objection to the names--Eva, Estelle, Emily, Ethel--used in the same story? Why?
DETAILS. To use Miss Ferber’s own adoption of the photoplay term, “throw-backs,” how many times has she reverted to preceding action? How many times, to note the counterpart of the throw-back, has she introduced an act or picture which has its chronological place later on? What is the dramatic value of having the sisters wait for Jo, to see him enter with red eyes, after which the author pauses to narrate the cause of his emotion (page 228)?
What double purpose has the author in describing Jo’s bedroom (page 227)?
Point out striking examples of economy. An excellent one, for naturalness, suggestive power, and mere word-saving is to be found in the telephone message (page 225). Economy, in general, is also bound up with the operation of the excellent proportion.
What quality of style is most marked in Miss Ferber’s stories? How is it achieved?
BLIND VISION
PLOT.
_Initial Incident_: Esmé attempts to fly to Brander, dying. Motivation for the incident lies in Esmé’s friendship for Brander.
_Steps toward Dramatic Climax_: Esmé is attacked by a German plane; in the struggle the two planes fall inside the German lines. Esmé is tortured. At length, he consents to take up a photographer.
_Dramatic Climax_: Esmé throws out the photographer.
_Steps toward Climax of Action_: He arrives inside the lines of the allies. He tells his story to Marston, his friend, who shocked at Esmé’s defection, declares him a murderer. Esmé, in turn, is appalled; he is unable to understand Marston’s different code. Marston walks out of the tent.
_Climax of Action_: Esmé returns to the German lines, to “render a life for a life.”
_Dénouement_: Marston finds Esmé’s note. In a revulsion of feeling, he recognizes that he has failed his friend.
PRESENTATION. The story is told by Marston to a nurse, some time after the event. From Marston’s point of view, therefore, the tale gains pathos, since his regret is still as unceasing as unavailing. Further, the method allows the reader a large share in constructing the story; and, best of all, by changing the chronological order of the events to the logical (they are also chronological as far as Marston is concerned), the author gains suspense. Reticence characterizes the handling of the uglier details, which every reader will fill in for himself. The enveloping action closes with the breaking of the wine-glass. (Compare query, page 34.)
CHARACTERIZATION. The tragic failure of friendship, in the struggle with conflicting ideals of honor, gives the story its poignancy. It belongs in the group, therefore, with “The Knight’s Move,” by Katherine Fullerton Gerould, and “Greater Love--,” by Justus Miles Forman. If the ideal of the mental man is typified by his appearance and behavior, how well has Miss Freedley succeeded in the creation of Esmé and Marston? To what extent has she indicated the reaction in each after crucial moments? How far has she subdued the outer “I” narrator? If anticipated sympathy on her part motivates Marston’s telling her the story, has the author justified the hypothesis?
IMAGINATION
COMMENT. In “Imagination” the author has directed his skill toward revelation of character--a free revelation produced by subtle provocation. A man has reacted under a certain stimulus in a given way; under recollection of the incident, twenty years later, he reacts in a manner that intensifies and gives significance to his earlier behavior.
PLOT, then, is minified; situation is magnified. At his club, Orrington, literary adviser, is dining with the narrator and Reynolds, a popular writer. Orrington relates an incident of the day, about a story and its author: what might have been imagination proved to be fact--the author of the story was hungry. Orrington has found a job for him. The conflict, by virtue of which the story interest develops, lies in the opposing views of Orrington and Reynolds. The latter holds “It’s a very great pity that young men without resources and settled employment try to make their way by writing.” Orrington then cites the case of twenty years ago. On the very day that he, a young editor of a magazine on its uppers, was offered a “peach” of a job, he read a manuscript which seemed to indicate that the author might be starving. He surrendered his chance of the new position, recommending the author of the story. He has never received a line of thanks; he has often wondered how the man “got on.” Incidentally, as an apparent by-product of his quixotism, his own stock began to rise from that time. Reynolds states, at the close of Orrington’s story, that he was the author who had been given the “boost,” and that he had been too busy writing the articles to send a note of thanks. He had supposed that he was the recipient of a usual “tip.” He declares, further, that he had not been in extremes, and that his story was solely the product of imagination. After he leaves the club, Orrington then reveals to the narrator: “Of course I knew. Later, of course, much later. The man who had hired him to do those articles bragged about it to me,” etc.
The author has skilfully used the incident of the day to force out the larger incident wherein Reynolds figures. They are similar, and yet bear to one another a peculiar contrasting relation. The young man of Orrington’s immediate experience had written from facts; there is a rather strong suggestion that he may amount to something. Reynolds had written from imagination; the whole characterization of his success, great as it seems, indicates that it is an “output,” so much the worse for literature.
CHARACTERIZATION. “You add to my pleasure by bringing our friend”--what trait in Reynolds’ character is announced in these first reported words? Follow the trait throughout the story as it is expressed in his speeches or acts; as it is suggested by the narrator, and by Orrington.
“In motion he resembles a hippopotamus” ... “his rather dull eyes” ... “his fat hand” ... “shrugged his heavy shoulders” ... “as if he had been some fat god of the Orient” ... “Orrington goggled”.... Study the portrait of Orrington pictured in these and similar strokes by the narrator, and notice the evidences of “contrast between his Falstaffian body and his nicely discriminating mind.” What first ingratiates him with the reader?
Why is the first person the best one from whose angle to present the story? What is his function in the dramatic situation?
THE KNIGHT’S MOVE
CLASSIFICATION. A “problem” story: the setting forth in the guise of fiction of this question, “Shall a man useful to society lay down his life for a social member far inferior to himself?” The problem is argued through the concrete instance, and by two characters.
SUMMARY OF THE INSTANCE. When the _Argentina_ went down, Ferguson saved himself, rather than old Bronson or the Neapolitan peasant women and children. The world was the gainer by Ferguson’s survival. Later, Ferguson loved and became engaged to a girl. One day as they were out walking, they saw a bandy-legged, sore-eyed youngster dash upon the railroad track in front of a train. Ferguson could just have saved the youngster at the cost of sacrificing himself, and although he alone knew this, he allowed the girl to understand that he had made a choice. She “rounded on him,” and “spurned him in the grand manner.” Ferguson, loving the girl, died. He probably committed suicide, not because he had changed his own views, but because of assuming the girl’s view to be correct. “He couldn’t have admitted in words that she was right, when he felt her so absolutely wrong; but he could make that magnificent silent act of faith.”
PRESENTATION. Ferguson’s story is given by Havelock to Chantry. Skill is evinced in so breaking the rehearsed narrative as to allow discussion at proper stages. The answers to the problem, supposed above, are in opposition. Herein lies the basis of the discussion, as of the struggle which Ferguson underwent.
Does the author in the presentation subtly convey her own attitude on the question? What is it? How does it emerge in her characterization of the men? In the final sentence of the narrative?
SETTING. Why in the story of Ferguson does the author subdue setting? Why is the setting of the rehearsal emphasized?
* * * * *
Read in connection with “The Knight’s Move,” and for purposes of comparison, “Greater Love--” by Justus Miles Forman (_Harper’s_, April, 1908).
IN MAULMAIN FEVER-WARD
STARTING POINT AND FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES. “The starting point for ‘In Maulmain, Fever-Ward’ is in the first four words of the tale: ‘Flood time on Salwin River.’ Flood time! Then the flowers are rioting, the traders are coming in and of course all things else follow.
“Of course, I’ve read Poe’s ‘Descent into the Maelstrom.’ Who has not? I do not believe that had anything to do with my use of the whirlpool in the story. The situation had been created; it was inevitable that the agent of the priesthood of Siva, most subtle of all in the whole world, would bring the two, or the girl, into the folds of the python. But where? Surely, the only place for this to happen was in the profundities of the whirlpool, traditional abode of the mother of all pythons of that whole region. Hence the necessity for the flood itself to climax the action, to form the whirlpool at its most tremendous phase, to take them down. I wasn’t thinking of Poe when I sent them down into the abyss. I went with them--and brought them out.
Did I know a person who had made a whirlpool descent? Yes; myself. A fearless swimmer in youth, I often dived under the swirls of falls and at the tails of rapids, looking up to admire the way the whirls refract light and to listen to the curious overtones the reverberations of the water take on, and the singing of the gravel as it churns ceaselessly.
... The superstitions--I call them the religious phases of the tale--are taken from the real life of those people. I could give you a map of the region, drawn to scale. And there’s a temple in a certain Karen town, and in that temple a god with a necklace of human heads, or was, once in a way. (There never would be, however, a snake, I think, in a chest in a temple of Siva. Neither do they worship the snake, _per se_. They look upon it as one of the agencies by which the Destroyer works and will not even kill a snake that gets into a house or bed.) When I say Karen town, there are many, for the Karens are a race and have many towns. Of course, I didn’t specify which one I meant in the story. And I guess there isn’t such a whale-swallowing whirlpool in that gorge, but I needed one right there and what a fellow needs in fiction, he takes.”--_George Gilbert._
PLOT. An excellent construction, the framework reveals only one or two crudities to the eye of the critic. The author has motivated every act, which is followed by a logical effect; and in the presentation of the story, he has chosen the order best calculated to win the reader’s interest, curiosity, feeling of suspense, and finally of satisfaction.
_Initial Impulse_: Pra Oom Bwhat invites the man who calls himself Paul Brandon to visit the temples of Karen. (Motivation: He hopes Brandon will free Nagy N’Yang. Where, in the story, does the reader learn this motivation?)
_Steps toward Minor Dramatic Climax_: Paul loves Nagy N’Yang; she will prove to him why it is folly. (Follows the capital temple scene.) It is clear that she belongs to Siva. She leaves the temple. Paul learns that she is married, but has been claimed by the priests on her wedding day. He makes known the conditions on which she will be freed. The priest threatens: “I can call her back or kill her”.... Paul crushes the cobra, thereby drawing upon himself the curse of the priest.
_Minor Dramatic Climax_: He takes Nagy N’Yang away. In the first struggle, Paul has been successful, but has unwittingly incurred the enmity of Pra Oom Bwhat. This enmity motivates a deferred major dramatic climax.
_Steps toward Major Dramatic Climax_: Nagy N’Yang tattoos Paul’s head with the mark of Siva. (What is her reason?) Pra Oom Bwhat arrives. (How does the author apparently motivate his entry upon the scene? At what point in the narrative does his real motive become known?) Nagy N’Yang is afraid. (Does the reader guess why?) The rains come. Pra Oom Bwhat wears an air of mystery. Ali Beg presents Paul with a throwing knife. (Thrilling dramatic forecast.) The stream roars; flood-tide approaches. (A fine harmony, in that the dramatic climax approaches with it.) Pra Oom Bwhat presents Nagy N’Yang with a gift. (What is the effect on the reader, who is at the moment ignorant of the real nature of the gift?) He asks her to walk apart. Paul supposing he is Nagy N’Yang’s “brother” permits them to go together. The succeeding steps, not immediately presented, are these: Pra Oom Bwhat binds Nagy N’Yang to a teak log and leaves her to be swept down the whirlpool. He returns to kill Paul, but in the struggle, or
_Dramatic Climax_ (the real turning point), Paul kills him with Ali Beg’s throwing knife. Before he dies Pra Oom Bwhat lays the curse of Siva upon Paul. This curse motivates, then, further steps in the action.
_Steps toward the Climax of Action_: Paul rushes out to rescue Nagy N’Yang, but finds that the teak log, bearing its dark burden, has swung farther out. He notices the chest and momentarily hoping it may be a boat lays hands on it. As he raises the lid, the giant python glides out and disappears at the river brink. (Here is an obvious manipulation, although the average reader will lose sight of the management. Is it likely that Paul would have tarried to open the chest?) Paul then swims to the log and crawls upon it just before it takes the whirlpool plunge. In the bottom the python coils about the trunk and Paul. As they emerge, Paul contrives to kill the python with Ali Beg’s knife which he has taken from the dead body of Pra Oom Bwhat, but not before the snake has given him the glancing blow on the brow, over the tattoo mark. Ali Beg finds Paul and Nagy N’Yang, unconscious, and takes them to the hospital. Paul tells the story, himself learning from the nurse the detail just stated.
_Dénouement_: He receives the scale from the python and burns it over the night taper, so removing the spell. He learns that Ali Beg and Nagy N’Yang are with him, and says he and Nagy will not go up-country again.
THE NARRATOR. The first person is preferable; for since Paul learns but tardily certain steps of the complication, the reader (who knows only what Paul knows) must remain in suspense. Try telling the story from an objective point of view, placing every step in its chronological order. What does the story lose?
CHARACTERIZATION. Compare the characteristics of these Oriental figures with those in “A Simple Act of Piety.” What have they in common? Why does Mr. Gilbert choose a half-breed as his narrator and hero? Point out every example of Paul’s fearlessness. Why does he not appear conceited or egotistical, as the first person narrator is in danger of seeming? What is Pra Oom Bwhat’s distinguishing trait? Point out all examples of his duplicity; of his religious or superstitious nature.
Show that love, in one guise or another, largely motivates every stage of the action, with certain exceptions, which result from thwarted love. To what extent does religion motivate the acts?
Is the python a “character”? What is Nagy N’Yang’s chief rôle? Is Ali Beg’s part too obvious?
LOCAL COLOR. Why and how does the author emphasize the setting in the first paragraph? Where is the snake _motif_ introduced? Trace its progress, not only for its plot value, but for its contribution to the reader’s realization of setting. Where are the rains first mentioned? What inanimate objects contribute to the local color? What customs? What beliefs? Is the story primarily one of setting, plot, or character; or have the elements been harmonized into an evenly balanced narrative?
ATMOSPHERE. Is the mood or “feel” of the story a trifle too near melodrama? What phases of the action, if any, would you subdue?
DETAILS. “Take away the medicine” (third paragraph). Does this indication that a sick person is the narrator surprise you? If so, is the technique sound?
Why are the details of Paul’s courtship left to the reader?
Is the fight between Paul and Pra Oom Bwhat presented economically? convincingly?
Good dramatic moments are found in such passages as those wherein the noise in the chest is indicated _immediately_ after Paul says he would seek the way of love; in the stirring _immediately_ after Paul says, “I can kill the snake”; in Paul’s crushing the cobra and so drawing an immediate curse, etc. Point out several other examples.
Make a list of the struggles in order as they occurred.
What are the three main settings or scenes?
Does the happy dénouement convince you?
AUTHOR’S CONCEPT OF THE TERM SHORT-STORY
“No mere relation of harmonized incidents, no recurrent crises, can make a short story. There must be an inner voice. To explain my meaning: I do not count Chekhov’s ‘The Darling’ a short story. It is a fine character sketch. It has a beginning, a very fine working out, but it gets nowhere. Three-fourths of the Russian short stories, so-called, are not stories at all. They are sketches, narrations of incidents. They are like a song, finely wrought, but with no dominant chord to resolve them into a real end.”--_George Gilbert._
A JURY OF HER PEERS
TITLE. The intimate relation between the one-act play and the short-story may be seen in the fact that the narrative here told has its dramatic counterpart in the stage production entitled “Trifles.” The latter was presented in the season of 1916-1917 in New York City. What is the excellence of each title?
GERMINAL IDEA. “A long time ago, when I was a reporter in Iowa, I went to the house of a woman who was being held for murder, and while the circumstances were not at all those of ‘Trifles,’ it was out of that experience the play grew.”--_Susan Glaspell._
FACTS OF THE PLOT. Minnie Foster marries John Wright. Basis for trouble lies in the fact that Minnie is a lively girl, with a love for color and action, while John is a hard man, and “like a raw wind that gets to the bone.” They have no children, and as the years go by, Minnie is more and more lonely. The neighbor women leave her to herself; her isolation is pronounced. At length, after many years, she comforts herself with a caged bird. In a fit of rage, John wrings the bird’s neck. Minnie, half-crazed, lays aside the body of the bird in her sewing basket. Shortly after, while her husband is asleep, she strangles him to death with a rope. The next morning, she explains to a passing neighbor, who drops in on a business visit, that John has been strangled by “somebody”; that she is a sound sleeper, and sleeps on the “inside” of the bed. The neighbor notifies the sheriff. Minnie is taken to prison. The next day, the sheriff, Peters, with his wife and the district attorney go out to the Wright place to make an examination. Hale, a neighbor, and Mrs. Hale are with them. The men seek a cause, a motive, for the killing of Wright, but find nothing. While they are making large and futile observations, however, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover the dead bird and other evidence. With awakened understandings, the women conceal the evidence--Martha Hale takes the bird away in her pocket.
MANAGEMENT OF THE FACTS--THE DEVELOPED PLOT. The most noteworthy and striking management lies in corralling the whole story into one “cold March morning,” and only part of that. Unity of setting, the Wright home, is a less difficult achievement. Notice that the story _introduction_ calls up a setting outside the Wright home, whereas the play (“Trifles”) used only the kitchen at the Wrights’. Which is better for intensification?
The chronological order of the plot is rearranged for artistic purposes and for interest. The author begins at the point of the visit to the empty house by the sheriff’s party.
To understand thoroughly, the difference between the order of plot presentation and the order of chronological growth, make out a list of the details as you gather them from the story progress. Then compare them with the “Facts of the Plot,” set forth above.