- The Affair at Grover Station
The Affair at Grover Station is a short story by
Willa Cather . It was first published in "Library" in June 1900 [Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, 1 Nov 1970, page 352] in two instalments, and reprinted in the Lincoln "Courier" one month later [Sheryl L. Meyering, "A Reader's Guide to the Short Stories of Willa Cather", G.K. Hall & Co, 1995, p.1] .Plot introduction
A geological student asks an old friend of his about the recent murder of a station agent.
Plot summary
The outer narrator meets with his old friend Rodgers by
Sterling, Colorado , and asks about the murdered agent at Grover station. Rodgers explains that on the 31st of December there was supposed to be a ball atCheyenne, Wyoming . His friend Larry asked him to ask Helen if she would be available to go with him. Helen replied that she had told Mr Freymark she would go with him, but she would cancel as Larry took precedence over him. Freymark then went to the station and overheard the two men make arrangements as to sending her flowers, and left saying he had heard what he wanted to hear. Later, Larry didn't turn up and Rodgers went to pick up Helen and told her Larry was late. At the ball, she danced with Rodgers until Freymark showed up and she danced with him. By the end of the night, Larry'sspaniel Duke came hurtling at Freymark, who soon disappeared from the place. The next day, Rodgers went about the station and then up toGrover, Colorado . There, he found a blood stain on Larry's bed but thought it must have beennosebleed . During the night however, he got woken up by what looked like Larry's ghost, writing on thechalk board. The next morning, he realised the ghost had written the number of a train, where Larry's body was to be found inOmaha . Upon seeing the body, Rodgers realised the hands were stained by chalk. By then, Freymark had gone, never to be found again. The Division Superintendent did not believe him, after Freymark admitted to drinkingbrandy that night.Characters
*The outer narrator, unnamed. He went to
Princeton University with Rodgers and is doinggeological research offSterling, Colorado , where he meets with Rodgers after years apart.
*Terrapin Rodgers. He went toPrinceton University and now works at the railroad office atCheyenne, Wyoming .
*Lawrence O'Toole, the murdered agent of Grover Station. Rodgers calls him Larry.
*Miss Helen Masterson. She went toWellesley and lived inWashington many years.
*Mr Freymark He lived inParis many years and therefore speaks several European languages. He likes to gamble at card games. Although he pretends to be aJew , he is the son of a Chinese slavegirl his father bought when he was living there.
*John J. Masterson, Helen's father. He was aUnited States Senator fromWyoming .
*Harry Burns, a journalist for the "The Times " and a cousin of Larry's. He is the one who found out about Freymark's scandalous birth.
*The dispatcher fromHolyoke, Colorado
*Connelly, the station conductor.
*Helena, a friend of Helen's.
*Laramie, a friend of Helen's.Allusions to other works
*"
The Bible ", withJacob , Laban, andPadan-aram .Allusions to actual history
*
Charles Stewart Parnell is said to have been Larry's hero.Literary significance and criticism
The plotline was partly taken from an 1893 short story by
Dorothy Canfield Fisher James Leslie Woodress, "Willa Cather - A Literary Life", University of Nebraska Press, 1989, page 146] . Moreover, it has been noted for its trope of thegrotesque , which will reappear in Cather's later novels.The story may have been inspired by Willa Cather's 1898 visit to
Cheyenne, Wyoming , where her brother Douglass at the railroad stationWilla Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, 1 Nov 1970, 'Introduction' by Mildred R. Bennett, page xxxv] . Moreover, Cather's sister has said the story was written with his helpMildred Bennett, "Early Stories of Willa Cather", New York: Dodd, Mead, 1957, pp. 239-240] .The trope of the ghost has been deemed Jamesian.
Freymark seems to be a throwback to Yung in "
A Son of the Celestial ", Larry to Reggie in ""The Fear That Walks By Noonday" ". The story has also been compared to "My Antonia " insofar as both pieces use an outer narrator and they open with a scene on a train [Marilyn Arnold, "Willa Cather's Short Fiction", Athens: Ohio University Press, 1984, pp. 35-36] .References
External links
* [http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/cather/writings/shortfiction/groverstation.html Full text]
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