“A CERTAIN RICH MAN—”
Classification. A perfect specimen of the short-story, even of the extreme type-form since all the unities are beautifully maintained. The setting is a dinner table in a home of wealth and refinement; the time is the present; the length of the action is, perhaps, an hour.
Starting Point, and First Stages of Construction. The author was present at a dinner where a young man of wealth, the host, remarked in the course of a discussion of the war that he would willingly give his life if through that sacrifice he could bring an end to the blood glut. The remark impressed every one deeply and was discussed at length. After due thought, Mr. Perry feeling the “story” in the situation, decided that it lay in having the man make good. He mulled the matter over for weeks before finding an answer to his next difficulty “In what way could he make good?” Then there occurred to him the expedient of having present an inventor who had invented an appliance which through its complete death dealing qualities would end the war forthwith. Here, then, was the complete thread of the story. Characters and descriptive background followed in due course. The author has an objection to sad endings and would like to have made it clear that the man came through his test safely. But the whole spirit of the story militated against this. So he left the outcome uncertain, but the inference is that Colcord yielded his life.
Characterization. There are nine persons, each deftly made a living part of the assembly. They are, in approximate order of importance: Nicholas Colcord and his wife Evelyn. (They may be spoken of as untried gold); Professor Simec (the assayer); Jeffery Latham and Sybil his wife (tried gold); Arnold Bates (alloy); Jerry Dane and his wife Bessie (baser metal); Dr. Allison and his wife(?).
In spite of the rather generous number of characters, the part each has is so definite, serving by contrast and comparison to emphasize the main character—Nicholas Colcord—as to seem well-nigh indispensable. Moreover, apart from plot values and unity of effect, the number at the table works for verisimilitude. It is just the right size for a party in a conservative home, and it embraces the variety of types one finds in any similar group.
The dramatic method of characterizing is used to greatest extent: the men and women describe themselves in their remarks and in their behavior, particularly in the matter of measuring up to the test proposed. Go through the story with an eye to the speeches of each. Is any one person given many remarks? Who is the prominent spokesman? Why?
Analysis of Plot as Presented. The first significant step in the action lies in Nick’s remark (page 399) that he would give his life if in so doing he could end the war. (The foil to this remark is in Bates’s, “I’m with Nick.”)
The dramatic climax is sounded on page 403: “Suppose ... that I could make this absurd condition ... exist....” It is emphasized in the clear call on page 404: “I am going to ask you to make your offer good.”
The climax of action lies in Colcord’s words (page 408): “When do you want me?” (This speech is emphasized by contrast in Bates’s, “I withdraw right here.” It is strengthened by Evelyn’s acceptance of her husband’s sacrifice.)
The dénouement is left to the reader.
Details. Carefully study the circumstances preceding the initial impulse of the story action noting the details of preparation. For example, the “national colors merged with those of the allied nations” (page 391); “Rumor credited to him at least one of the deadliest chemical combinations” (page 392); “There’s a sort of grace given, I fancy” (page 396); “Sacrifice, Mrs. Colcord” (page 397) deepening the note of patriotism.
Whose angle of narration is used? Does the author anywhere depart from it, preferring his own angle? Does he anywhere seem to turn from the angle of the chosen one, putting her under the spot-light, instead? If you find these shifts, can you justify them by showing that the author makes a gain greater than the loss he sustains? If he makes no shift, how does he widen the narrow range afforded only one person?
By what preparation does Mr. Perry create the needed impression that the Colcords were fully aware of the sacrifice involved? (Note, especially, the preparation in Evelyn’s response to Latham’s comment, page 393, ... “you make me shiver!”)
Page 405: “He raised a thin forefinger and levelled it along the table.” What image is called up?
By what detailed description and exposition does Mr. Perry make you “believe,” at least momentarily, that Simec had really invented the appliance?
What locale is suggested, outside the immediate setting? Does it matter, in a narrative of this kind?
General. Mr. Perry’s views should be spread abroad to all who would master the art of story writing. “No art is rarer, or more difficult of attainment.... First there is the plot. I think the good short story demands a plot. Stylistic writing designed to atone for the lack of a definite idea, or to stand in lieu of a definitely worked out plot is not to my way of thinking a pure short story. There must be a plot, a plot peculiar to itself and peculiar to the medium in which it is set forth. Very rarely, I believe, may the perfect short story plot be adapted to any other vehicle. Nine times out of ten it would not serve as the motif of the play, the novel, the film or the sketch. The piece of short fiction, thus, is sui generis. Again the scope is limited. There may be no leisurely characterization, no extended dissertation; descriptions are admissible only where they assist in carrying on the action—or at least do not interfere with it—and in the telling of the tale there is no place in the scheme for aught save the ultimate objective.
“Thus carried out and presented in type we have something which we may regard as the polished gem of literature, establishing a mood in the reader out of all proportion to its size—and perhaps its importance. For the short story very largely is designed for entertainment, and rarely bears the moral purpose of the great novel or the didactic intent of the essay.
“I say ‘very largely.’ There are, of course, short stories written with a purpose—some great ones—but that purpose is best realized when the essential characteristics of the story form are observed, when the reader in other words feels whatever emotions, or grasps whatever lesson the writer intended to convey, through the medium of a strong, deeply marked plot carried with precision from situation to clash to dénouement.”—Lawrence Perry.