_Initial Incident_: César Dupont persuades Louis Bac to meet Berthe.
(Note, even in the single incident, the struggle--one of wills--and
the argument which wins the younger man.)
_Steps to the Dramatic Climax_: 1. Louis meets Berthe and “feels
nothing.” 2. “--a daring idea sprang ... darted into Louis’s relaxed
brain.” 3. Louis goes to the Dupont mansion, steals to the girl’s
room, sees her asleep. “He gazed resentfully at that diminished
beauty.... Why not give her a fright?” He seizes a pillow and presses
it against her face. “She made a sudden downward movement, gurgling.
With a quick, cat-like leap he was on her chest.”
_Dramatic Climax_: His soul and passions are liberated. “The body lay
limp and flabby at last.”
_Steps to the Climax of Action_: 1. Louis takes pains to divert
suspicion from himself. 2. In the next three months he writes his
book. (Note that this is the climax of action in the _artist’s_
struggle, that the murder is the turning point after which he
succeeds artistically. But the climax of action for the _man_ is yet
to come.) 3. At the end of the three months, he hears that another
has been hanged as the murderer. 4. He confesses to M. Dupont. 5.
Dupont refuses to believe the story. 6. Louis writes his confession.
_The Climax of Action_: He walks to the Catholic cemetery and shuts
himself into the family vault.
_Dénouement_: Left to the reader. By a clue on page 16 one would
gather that Bac drank poison or cut his wrists.
Study the development of this plot, as to scenes, summaries,
condensations, accelerations, gaps, and omissions with reference to
the artistic effect. For example, the initial incident is presented
dramatically, the characters act it before the reader. The steps to
the dramatic climax are presented partly in retrospect, from Louis’s
point of view; those nearest the climax are given dramatically.
Study the plot, also, with respect to the struggle. What details
are “for” Louis’s artistic success? How are they related to those
“against” his physical being?
Is the plot, in connection with the development of Louis’s character,
probable? What logic has the author employed to make it seem so?
Mrs. Atherton’s own testimony is valuable by way of reflecting the
artist’s temperament. As she herself says, although she has never
been impelled to murder and has had always a consuming interest in
life, yet until the war, she never permitted anything to interfere
with her work.
CHARACTERIZATION. What value is there in Louis Bac’s being French?
Mrs. Atherton plays up Louis by making him the spot-light figure and
by presenting the story from his angle. The invasion of his mind
results, incidentally, in the reader’s seeing the setting, situation,
and characters as he sees them.
Study the author’s description and exposition of Louis Bac, then his
speeches and his acts. What do the other characters think of him?
Observe how the various methods of portraiture strengthen one another
in the finished portrait.
Berthe is lightly touched. The reader must “believe” in her as a
beautiful young girl, but must not give her too great sympathy.
Overmuch attention to her would have detracted from the character unity
of the narrative.
César Dupont is the contemporary representative of the confidant,
offering opportunity for dramatic form (in the scene work) and
consequent interest. Unity of action and effect is conserved by making
him Berthe’s uncle; moreover, probability and verisimilitude are
gained by the relationship. Madame Dupont, M. Jules Constant, Louis’s
servants, and others, are the background characters, carefully subdued
so as not to interfere with the chief action and consequent story unity.
Note every reference to San Francisco, then ask yourself how strongly
the setting works toward the securing of the reader’s credulity. Try
telling the story, mentally, without allusion to locale. What is
lost? “On a pedestal was a vase that had belonged to Napoleon, wired
and fastened down,” etc. What is the value of this sentence in the
direction of capturing belief? Study the management of the _time_
element.
ATMOSPHERE. Study the _feeling_ of the story in connection with the
place. The first sentence of the narrative strikes the tone “gray,”
and gives the setting. “Lone Mountain” conveys what impression? The
cemetery, used so powerfully in the climax of action, deepens the
gray note to its most somber hue. This increased depth of tone works
integratively with the action to the powerful climax. Point out all the
words and phrases that intensify the atmosphere.
PRESENTATION OF THE ACTION. The narrator is the author who knows all,
sees all, and exercises omniscience over Louis’s mind.
Tell the plot without adhering to Louis’s point of view, placing every
event in the order of its occurrence. Note the loss in suspense and
cumulative effect.