- Tommy, the Unsentimental
Tommy, the Unsentimental is a short story by
Willa Cather . It was first published in "Home Monthly " in August1896 [Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, 1 Nov 1970, page 480] .Plot summary
Jay works in Thomas Shirley, Sr's bank until his relationship with Tommy gets strained and he is sent to Red Willow, another town some twenty miles north. Tommy goes to college in the East, then comes back. One day, Tommy receives a
telegram asking her to come and help him as there is trouble at the bank he is working. She walks there with Miss Jessica but leaves her on the way as the other woman is tired and they don't have time to wait. When she gets there, she solves the problem and tells him he should marry Miss Jessica, as she feels for him. He protests, saying he feels for her, not Jessica, but she laughs away the suggestion.Characters
*Tommy, a.k.a. Thomas Shirley. Her real name is Theodosia; she is a girl. She has 'big land interests in
Wyoming '.
*Jay Ellington Harper, a bank cashier.
*Miss Jessica
*Joe Elsworth
*Joe Sawyer
*Thomas Shirley, SrAllusions to actual history
*Jay compares the bank customers to the
Ghost Dance , linked toWovoka and ultimately to theWounded Knee Massacre [Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, 1 Nov 1970, page 479] .References
External links
* [http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/cather/writings/shortfiction/tommy.html Full text]
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