COMMENT AND QUERY. “For me,” says Mr. Muilenburg, “the best story is
the one that gives the reader the greatest after-mood, and this can be
done with very little action. To give the feeling of an environment, to
show character absolutely in a life-like manner, and to give nature and
man an equal place: these I consider necessary to almost every story.”
Using his own criterion, how well has Mr. Muilenburg succeeded in every
respect mentioned above? What mood does the story give you? Where is
the environment? Does the feeling that arises from it emphasize the
general atmosphere?
Pages 172 and 173 introduce the boy, Frank, in his setting. Which is
more important--character or place? Again measure your answer by the
author’s ideals.
“Both stories have kept close to realism,” says Mr. Muilenburg, “as
the greater part of both have been taken from my own experience, and
circumstances are reproduced rather than fancied.” Is there anything in
the characterization of the boy that tells you he is, in some measure,
a reflection of the author himself?
“Isn’t it possible,” asks the author, “that only the stories that have
some situation where the characters must be shown in primitive fashion
are enduring?” How would you answer this question in general? What is
the situation in this story? May it be termed “primitive”?
DETAILS OF COMPOSITION. Pages 173, 174 recount an incident which shows
the elements of conflict in the boy’s soul. How does it prepare for
the greater struggle? (See pages 179, 180, 181.) What purpose has the
scene between Frank and Bill with respect to later developments and
particularly the struggle?
What contribution to the boy’s character is made in his ceasing work
only when the shadow of the cottonwood tree pointed north? in his
taking the milk-pails from the hooks? (Page 182.)
In the “heart of youth” conflict (page 180) what emotions are arrayed
against each other?
What value has the episode of the bird and the snake? What conditions
make it an integral part of the action, not a forced parallel?
What details of setting and circumstance, and what traits in the boy
combine to solicit your sympathy?
The little story is unified in character, place and time. It reveals
by concrete symbol the significant phases of the struggle. It performs
a _tour de force_ in avoiding an extended analysis of the boy’s
psychology. Even though the narrative is told from Frank’s “angle,”
the reader knows what he thinks by what he does and says, rather than
by the author’s analysis of his mental state. Further, the work makes
a small contribution to literary history, since it is representative
of a period of life in the Middle West, through which the author has
passed; and it is reflected there now, to some extent. The fact that
there is a strong vein of poetry throughout is because “poetry is
found naturally in the life of a people who must struggle with a hard
physical environment.”