Part 7

STORY PRESENTATION. The narrative is given to the reader according to the detective story method. Martha Hale’s point of view is used at the start, after which the dramatic method is employed, the spot-light shifting from one woman to another, occasionally lighting on the men, but lingering most often on Martha Hale. Why is she the best one through whom the reader may understand the entire situation?

Where do you first feel yourself responding to a sense of mystery? How does the author convey this? What is the effect in the first paragraph of these words?--“It was no ordinary thing that called her away,” etc.

Observe the little apology (bottom of page 258) by which the author has kept the search delayed until the second day, after Minnie has been taken away. Why is the latter accomplishment a plot necessity?

What contributory worth has the emphasis (page 259) on Mrs. Hale’s Harry?... How is it used to effect contrast?

Pages 260 and 261 in effect convey a rehearsal; but they have dramatic worth also. Why? (Note that Minnie’s speeches are quoted, not summarized.) See following pages for similar dramatic accomplishment.

Study the natural way in which Hale and Peters are pushed off the stage (page 263), leaving the women together with the attorney. Purpose of his remaining a moment?

Observe the care with which every important detail of the plot is _motivated_.

Study the scene wherein the women, with an eye for little things, arrive at the truth. Is their solution stated, or is it suggested?

What do you deduce from the stove with the broken lining? From the crazy stitches in the sewing? From the bird-cage of the broken hinge?

What double meaning lies in the concluding sentence, “We call it--knot it, Mr. Henderson”?

SETTING. Has the actual setting an influence on the characters with respect to the story action? How is the setting given in the finished narrative? How is it connected with the theme?

CHARACTERS. Make a list of the characters and state the reason for the existence of each with regard to the action, to the verisimilitude, and to the need for contrast. It is a difficult thing to focus clearly before the reader a character who never “comes on the stage.” Has Miss Glaspell succeeded in evoking for you the person and the individuality of Minnie Wright?

Does one desire in a story of this nature _types_ or _individuals_? Which character should be most individual, here, as regards the author’s purpose?

THE SILENT INFARE

STARTING POINT. “Most of my dialect stories have some basis of fact in their incidents,” says Mr. Gordon, “and in them I have sought to depict phases of the life and characteristics of the negroes whom I grew up among as a boy, and have known more or less intimately since.

“‘The Silent Infare’ was a real occurrence, as was the pillow episode in ‘Mr. Bolster’; and the story of ‘Sinjinn Surviving,’ in _Harper’s Magazine_, is in its main features true. Nearly all, if not all, of the stories in the ‘Ommirandy’ book had some foundation of fact, and the characters are amplified portraitures of ‘darkeys I have known.’”

CLASSIFICATION. Not a short-story, in the limited sense of the term, but an interesting reflection of life in the story that is short. The action is not all directed toward one end; the main episode is almost incidental in the casualness of its occurrence--as incidents occur in life;--character is the connecting link between the earlier and the later stages of the narrative phases. Incidental action contributes, rather to character than to action; _e.g._, the business of the guinea nest is a high light on Ommirandy, on the boy, Tibe, and on the mistress of the house, whereas it has only slight suggestive value for the plot. Emphasis on the nest at the close emphasizes the realistic qualities of the story.

The method of the author shows that he is “a born story-teller.” He has an appreciation of the life about him, he has the gift of literary expression, and he writes perfect dialect. Interested in larger literary worth, he can afford to disregard the technicalities of the short-story--which may be, or may not be, a very well executed piece of work and still fall short of permanent excellence.

CHARACTERIZATION. Who is the main figure? What pictures of herself do her own speeches contribute? How does her attitude toward Mis’ Nancy emphasize the portrait? Mis’ Nancy’s relations with her emphasize what qualities? Does the author’s own comment help the reader to an appreciation of Ommirandy? Where?

Give several examples of contrast and comparison noticed in your studying the portrayal of the various figures.

PLOT. Studying the leisurely progress of the story, should you pronounce it a growth or a construction? Is there a struggle? Is the main incident presented in its chronological order? How is it enhanced by being given through the words of Ommirandy, rather than from her point of view, as she looked through “de winder over de kitchen do’,” but in the words of the author?

SETTING. What is the locale? Measuring the “local color story” by the dictum that it could have its action nowhere except in the time and place indicated, would you agree that this is a story of local color? What other Virginian has used similar scenes? What stories akin to this, in regard to the value of setting, do you find in Mr. O’Brien’s collections?

Mr. Gordon once said in a letter to Rudyard Kipling, so he states, that he regarded as the four best stories in the English language, “Wandering Willie’s Tale” (In “Redgauntlet”), Bret Harte’s “The Luck of Roaring Camp,” George W. Cable’s “Posson Jone,” and Kipling’s “The Man Who Was.” In which of the four is the element of setting foremost?

GENERAL METHOD. “If I should venture to say anything about the writing of a short story it would be this: the first consideration is that the writer must have a short story to tell; and the second consideration that, after having learned by long and constant practice to write clear and vigorous English, he must tell the story naturally, after his own fashion. No one else’s fashion will do.”

This explicit statement of Mr. Gordon should be considered by every would-be writer of stories. Notice that he does not say nothing can be learned from reading other stories, or from studying their mechanism. Would his own stories be what they are if a long line of American writers had not preceded him? Would Shakespeare have written his dramas if his immediate predecessors and contemporaries had not lived? In another age, when another literary _genre_ was foremost, Shakespeare would have foresworn drama for the prevailing style.

THE CAT OF THE CANE-BRAKE

STARTING POINT. Frederick Stuart Greene wrote this story out of his experiences and observations as an engineer in certain Southern districts. The pine woods, the wretched cabin, the cane-brake, the rattlesnake, the brogan shoes--these are concrete instances of his familiarity with the setting. The immediate germinal idea lies in an incident he recalled of seeing a severed rattlesnake head fastened to the leg of a man in camp.

PLOT. The compactly wrought plot is one of the best in recent fiction. It is formed, in the main, from the interweaving of two lines of interest. One has to do with the struggle between the yellow cat and the woman, Sally; the other spins out the sordid love affair between Sally and the young engineer. The climax of action shows a double defeat for the woman. The husband is the connecting link, as he is the third figure in the triangle story, and is the partisan of the cat in the other line of interest.

_Initial Impulse_: Sally throws the stick of wood at the cat. Outward indication of latent animosity.

_Steps in the Action_: Sally promises her lover to meet him at midnight. She prepares the liquor-trap. She hears of the big snake. She insists that the cat be killed. Jim refuses. He orders her to lay the mattress in the “dog-trot.” She sets the liquor-trap. Jim, caught, drinks a toast to the cat. Sally lies waiting for midnight.

_Dramatic Climax_: The cat finds the snake-head. It passes the bed. Sally mutters and strikes out in her sleep. The cat drops the snake-head.

_Steps toward the Climax of Action_: Few, but significant. Sally wakes, raises herself on her right palm; her wrist meets the fangs of the rattler; in agony she tries to wake Jim for help, but he lies in a drunken stupor. Meantime, the young engineer who has waited long, now sets out to reconnoitre. He makes his way toward the cabin.

_Dénouement_: In it is bound up the climax of action which has, in part, already occurred in Sally’s death. The engineer sees the dead woman, the drunken man, and the purring cat. He flees.

Apart from the clever workmanship of the plot construction, what examples of poetic justice do you find?

Was it fate, chance, or tactics of hate which caused the cat to drop the snake-head?

CHARACTERIZATION. In a story of plot prominence, the characters need less individualization. Are these, in your opinion, types or individuals? Which is the best drawn? Which the least convincing? How does Sally, early in the action, forfeit your sympathy?

DETAILS. How is Jim’s love for liquor (a hinge on which the plot is made to turn) prepared for early in the action?

How does the manner of the cat’s disposition of the fish-head make logical its subsequent interest in the snake-head?

What intensifying value has the “sad, gray moss”?

What effect has Sally’s second encounter with the cat?

Study the naturalness, the dramatic development, and the enriching quality of the scene wherein the rattlesnake is discussed. How does it make plausible, also, the fact that the cat found the snake-head?

What contribution is made to the final effect in Jim’s toast to the cat?

What do you think of the final sentence by way of conclusion?

What is the length of the action?

This story, the first Mr. Greene wrote, after taking up the study of story technique, is particularly excellent for showing early recognition of plot demands. If its structure is, on investigation, a trifle obvious, it will be all the better for the student’s purpose. On comparing it with later stories by the same author, he will find that growth which means ability to conceal mechanism--or to forget it altogether.

The student needing exercise in plot construction should read Captain Greene’s “Molly McGuire, Fourteen” (_Century_, September, 1917; also reprinted in “A Book of Short Stories,” edited by Blanche Colton Williams), and should study his diagram of the lines of interest and their complications (See “A Handbook on Story Writing,” by Blanche Colton Williams, page 94).

THE BUNKER MOUSE

CONDITIONS WHICH PRECEDED COMPOSITION. First, Mr. Greene’s profession--that of engineer; second, an acquaintanceship with two Irishmen having characteristics which suggested Larry and Dan; third, several hours in the hold of a freighter, immediately before writing the narrative, on a voyage down the Eastern Coast.

PLOT.

_The Struggle_: This story is one of the best in the collections for exemplifying the struggle element. There are two main conflicts: that between Dan and Larry, and the struggle between man’s wit and power against the fury of the elements.

_Initial Incident_: What is the impulse that sets the story in action?

_Steps toward the Dramatic Climax_: Mark the principal stages toward the turning point in the action. Is the struggle against the storm or the one between Dan and Larry the prevailing interest?

_Dramatic Climax_: Observe the proximity of the two turning points. Page 299, “the first hope came ... there was a ‘feel’ ... that ribs and beams and rivets were not so near the breaking-point.” And page 300, “Larry had fallen!” Show that each event is the dramatic climax, for the individual lines, and that the close succession means an increased dramatic effect for the whole narrative.

_Steps toward the Climax of Action_: Name the important stages, observing that the author has achieved a master-stroke in his moment of ease. After the hardship of the struggle, comes the period of rest. See page 305, “At five o’clock a Port Eads pilot climbed over the side,” etc.

_Dénouement_: The dénouement reveals a relationship which may be, or not be, a surprise to the reader. Does it matter whether the surprise exists? To what conclusion does your answer point in regard to the value of a “surprise ending”?

Is the dénouement satisfactory?

Did you learn from the clues in the first scene, between Larry and Mary, more than the author intended?

Wherein do you find the preparation for the accident which does for Larry? (See pages 289 and 290.)

What is the worth of the minor climax, page 295, where the two struggles reach corresponding points?

CHARACTERIZATION. Make note of all the devices and methods by which the author draws sympathy to Larry. Show that the emotional reaction you experience arises directly from the concept of his character and his acts.

What are the dominant traits of Dan? What is the purpose of the scene wherein Dan knocks out the stoker?

Originally, Mr. Greene called his character, Dan, by the name of Mike. Why did he accept the advised change?

Is the personality of Mary properly subdued? properly elevated? In connection with your answer, notice the value of having her introduced early in the action.

Who are the background characters? Do they usurp too much of your interest?

DETAILS. What is the length of the action?

Is the business on pages 297 and 298 too technical for a layman’s comprehension? If so, can one, nevertheless, apprehend sufficiently to derive pleasure from the recountal? To what effect do the various mechanical appliances and parts contribute?

Study all the details by which Mr. Greene has conveyed the _feeling_ of the big storm. Where is the first preparation for the fact that the incidents of this story will be connected with the time of the Galveston Flood?

How did Larry receive the appellation of The Bunker Mouse? Why is the episode told out of its chronological place? Are any other important incidents presented out of their time order?

From whose angle is the story told?

Intensifying worth of the sentence?--“So’s a trout; but it’s got a damn poor show against a shark” (page 289).

Reason for this statement of the author?--“I wanted to say that Dan purred like a tiger, but it was a jungle figure, and of course I had to give it up.”

Point out instances of the author’s keeping the reader aware of locality.

Show how the mood or feeling is harmonized with the plot, which is itself one of complication wherein the stages of the two main struggles are kept beautifully parallel.

WHOSE DOG--?

CLASSIFICATION. This seven or eight hundred word short-story illustrates the extreme type. The setting is the end of a pier; the time, only a few minutes; the action represents a crisis in the life of one character, the village drunkard; the struggle--which culminates in the suicide of the drunkard--is between him and society. The unities are, therefore, well conserved; the singleness of effect is pronounced. It is a _tour de force_ in its manipulation of story elements.

Is the motivation for John’s suicide sufficient?

What social relation does the policeman bear to the drunkard? What contrast does the author employ?

THEMATIC VALUE. Society is not arraigned: a case is posed. Has it propaganda value?

MAKING PORT

COMMENT. A capital example of a short-story built on two lines of interest neatly joined. One line arises from the desire of Old Tom to reach Liverpool; it illustrates a passive struggle between wishing and waiting on the one hand, and fate or chance on the other. The second line arises from the situation of Spike’s being in prison, a situation motivated or brought about by the physical struggle between Spike and the bo’sun, and is marked by Spike’s attempt to escape. The two lines are connected by the fact that Tom has a queer animosity for Spike, and that he is made the guardian of Spike. Old Tom’s relation to his wife offers a parallel to the relation between Spike and the mission girl. Old Tom is unsuccessful, ironically so; Spike escapes.

Is the motivation for Tom’s surrendering the keys of Spike’s prison strong enough? What is it?

PLOT.

_Initial Incident_: Spike kills the bo’sun.

_Steps to Dramatic Climax_: Spike is chained in the locker. Tom is given the key. Tom is tempted to give up the key. He refuses, hearing that the ship will go on to Liverpool, knowing moreover that if he betrays his duty his chance will be lost. After four months the ship comes to anchor. Meantime Spike has filed his chains. The girl comes on board. She beseeches Old Tom to let him go.

_Dramatic Climax_: “Take him.”

_Steps to Climax of Action_: The escape in the mission boat to the tramp steamer. Spike gets aboard.

_Dénouement_: Tom must remain here. Irony in the understanding that the tramp is bound for Liverpool.

PRESENTATION. Who tells the story? Has he any part in the action? How does the narrator bridge over the long passage so as to secure emphasis on the story action?

CHARACTERIZATION. How many times does the narrator refer to Old Tom’s scratching his ribs? Is the repetition of an act, emphasis on a habit, a sound method of character delineation? Is it too “easy”?

What idea do you form of Tom from his speeches?

How does his animosity to Spike serve to portray him?

By what means does the narrator elicit from the reader sympathy for Spike? How does he hold it?

Study the picture and the character of the mission girl.

ATMOSPHERE. Try to define the mood or feeling of the narrative. What influence has Fate in creating the atmosphere? Study the contribution toward the atmosphere in the dramatic forecast on page 165. How is this forecast properly subdued? Has the superstition of sailors a dramatic value? How is the setting made contributory to the atmosphere?

RAINBOW PETE

SETTING. Mushrat Portage. The setting is of unusual importance, since nowhere else, probably, would the action be possible.

CHARACTERS. The woman employed at Scarecrow Charlie’s; Rainbow Pete; Pal Yachy; minor persons. Who is the narrator? Has he an acting part in the story?

PLOT.

_Initial Incident_: Rainbow Pete and the woman are married.

_Steps toward the Dramatic Climax_: Mushrat is disappointed at Pete’s silence. He goes away, after a time, to the North, “dreaming of gold.” The woman, his wife, becomes head of Charlie’s establishment. The town booms. Pal Yachy arrives. He sings. Pete’s wife lured by the voice fears she may be untrue to Pete if he does not hasten to return. Pal Yachy offers a prize for the first child born on Mushrat.

_Dramatic Climax_: Pete returns. (See the scene in the eating place.)

_Steps to Dénouement_: He hears Pal Yachy singing to his wife. Outside of the cabin, he sees the singer near his wife, with the gold prize. The wife of Pete flings the gold clear of the bed. Pete enters; throws out Pal Yachy, and the gold after him.

_Dénouement_: Pete discovers his son. Pal Yachy goes, leaving the family united.

DETAILS. Does the explanation of Rainbow Pete’s name tie itself up with a clue to the final action? (See page 310.)

Study the story for the musical effects: Pete’s flute, Pal Yachy’s singing.

Is there a resemblance in any way to the opera, “Pagliacci”? Is the result of the voice similar to the effect of Chautonville’s singing? Are there other instances of the power of music superior to the one of the sirens?

What suggestion is bound up with the idea, “Gold lies at the foot of the rainbow”? Has the author handled it skillfully?

Compare this story with film productions, which you have doubtless seen, of the North Country. Wherein lies the popular success of such photoplays as those in which William S. Hart appears?

With Rainbow Pete’s point of vantage outside his cabin, compare that which the narrator enjoys in “Ching, Ching, Chinaman,” when he looks under the window-shade into the room (Page 455, Yearbook, 1917). Has Ommirandy a similar good post? (See “The Silent Infare.”) Find other instances. What contribution does such a physical point of view make toward the vividness of the picture?

LIFE

COMMENT. A student of the present critic made this comment on “Life.” Do you agree with it?--“The opposing forces are the man’s desire to know the meaning of life, and the darkness of his vision. It is hard to say which force wins. For though he does not discover the meaning of life, he discovers a simile sufficiently revolting to suit his mood.... It is really a single incident, made worthy of expansion by its significance and symbolism.”...

Get the final implication which completes the story. In short, what is the final sentence when rounded out?

Read “The Workman,” by Lord Dunsany (in “Fifty-one Tales”) and compare it with this narrative for atmosphere and philosophy.

THE FATHER’S HAND

GERMINAL IDEA. “What started ‘The Father’s Hand’ was the quotation from the fifth, no, the sixth, book of the Æneid,

_Bis conatus erat casus effingere in auro Bis patriæ cecidere manus._

I happened to have been reading it the day before. Then I could not go to sleep the next night, and it occurred to me that the lines were perhaps the most touching I knew, and that they were an example of the modernity or rather the timelessness of all art. Then I tried to imagine a situation today that they would fit, and the whole story was worked out before morning. My own reaction about it is that I have stolen Vergil’s thunder.”--_George Humphrey._

PLOT.

_Initial Incident_: In the first few months of the war there comes to a small English village a refugee from Alsace-Lorraine, a monument carver.

_Steps toward the Dramatic Climax_: He refuses to go into shelter from the frequent air-raids and learns from watching the planes that they pass a certain point before turning toward London.

_Dramatic Climax_: Acting upon his information the gunners bring down a German plane.

_Steps toward the Climax of Action_: The carver finds himself a hero. It is decided to erect a tombstone over the dead aviator, with the inscription “Here lies a fallen German.” The stone-cutter is deputed to carve the inscription. The relics of the raid are exposed for view in the little museum. The personal effects of the aviator consist largely of a young, fair-haired woman--“Meine Mutter.” The stone-cutter goes out to buy a chisel and to visit the museum. On his return he seems ill but goes to work on the inscription.

_Climax of Action_: He dies before completing the epitaph.

_Dénouement_: The dead aviator was his son, as the picture had revealed to him, and as the unfinished inscription, “Bis patriæ m--,” revealed to the Dean.

PRESENTATION. Mr. Humphrey has seen fit to present this tale as a rehearsed one. In so doing, he has secured mellowness--consistent with utmost economy, sympathy for the stone-cutter, and an excellent apology for the Latin phrases. He evidently had in mind, whether at the beginning or later, the resemblance between a fallen aviator and the luckless Icarus. To emphasize the relation, he needed to requisition classical atmosphere as well as classical fact. This he has accomplished through the stone-cutter’s interest in “Phœnix-Latin,” and the Oxford Dean, who lectures on Latin poetry.

CHARACTERIZATION. The reserve of the refugee stone-cutter is used to advantage in conserving economy and in suggesting facts, rather than stating them, to the reader. The Frenchman tells almost nothing of his past life, of which much is nevertheless revealed through the illuminating high lights of the action.

SETTING. Why is an indefinite English village the best locale?

T. B.