THE GREAT AUK
Setting. The locale is New York City; the most important scene, in the Scudder Theater. The time is the present.
One of Irvin Cobb’s most remarkable powers is that of picturing so vividly a setting that the reader cannot but read and cannot but remember. What is the explanation of this astonishing success? First of all, Mr. Cobb is a keen observer. When he is out with his wife, according to her he sees ten times more than she does, yet she thinks she is seeing all there is to see. “When he was writing ‘The County Trot’ Mrs. Cobb marveled at his life-like pictures of the Kentucky characters, all of whom he had really known. She asked him how it was possible for him to remember their faces and mannerisms after the lapse of so many years. He said: ‘Why, I can close my eyes and see the knotholes that were in the fence around that fairground.’” This quotation indicates a second requisite—accurate memory. The third requisite is hard work, a condition through which Mr. Cobb believes all success must come. “When writing a story his object is to draw sharp pictures that will never leave the reader. To do this, he thinks out the minutest details of that picture, not that he will use those details, but that he himself may really see the picture as he writes.” The fact that he will not “use all those details” which observation and memory have supplied means that he has the ability to select. And, finally, he knows how to handle an ample vocabulary.
Plot.
Initial Impulse: The need for a “grandfather” motivates the search of Verba and Offutt. (A search, a type of “chase,” serves for a strong story-backbone.)
Steps to the Dramatic Climax: 1. The cab-ride to Bateman’s old haunts. 2. Finding the Scudder theatre closed. 3. The visit to the wine-shop; the clerk’s account of Bateman. 4. The ragged boy volunteers information. 5. He leads them to the side entrance of the theatre, into the gloom and decay of which they make their way.
Dramatic Climax: The urchin whistles; the curtain rolls up; old Bateman appears. The search is now at an end. Bateman is found. The new cause of suspense lies in curiosity over ensuing events. To satisfy this curiosity, the author extends the dramatic climax moment. The whole scene at the theatre is a prolonged climax, gradually revealing the old man’s unfitness, even as it soars to a higher emotional climax. The story structure may be roughly indicated by the diagram:
That is, if M represents the dramatic climax moment, then MS represents the dramatic climax scene, which is the period of Bateman’s acting three parts. With S, comes the realization that Bateman is not in his “perfect mind.” Notice the impeccable workmanship by which this recognition is forced home to Verba in the last speech of Bateman, the lines from “King Lear.” SZ is the brief drop to the climax of action. See the story for details.
Climax of Action: The two men leave Bateman taking his curtain call.
Characterization. Why are the insignificant actors and actresses mentioned in the introduction? What is the particular literary value of Grainger? What outstanding characteristics has Bateman which none of the others possess? What value has the title in connection with the characters as a group?
How has Mr. Cobb individualized Verba and Offutt? To which means of characterization is he most partial—author’s description, the character’s own acts and speeches, or what others think and say of him?
Of the urchin who piloted the searchers, what is the first detail you recall? What other characters of Mr. Cobb do you remember from some physical peculiarity which he has emphasized?
Bateman is first presented to the reader through the opinion of Verba. Next, he is shown through the wine-shop clerk (who gives the effective clue as to Bateman’s “dippiness”). Then, the ragged urchin volunteers his contribution. What prepossessing characteristic does the reader receive from him? Finally, the actor speaks for himself. One part would be insufficient; it would be “too easy”; therefore by the cumulative method Mr. Cobb lets the old man show beyond a doubt that he is not a type, but an actor. Dundreary, the Frenchman and King Lear require varied ability.
Notice that what the character does is the climactic portrayal—not what others say about him or what the author might portray.
Details. Point out the clues to Bateman’s insanity. Study Mr. Cobb’s figures of speech. He frequently uses the human body as a basis for comparison (see, for example, page 85: “Its stucco facings, shining dimly like a row of teeth ...” and page 97: “the mouth of the place was muzzled with iron, like an Elizabethan shrew’s”). Why is such a basis conducive to vividness for everybody?
What is the acting time of the story?
What is the significance of the contrast between the modern play, as represented in the selections (pages 88 and 89), and the masterpieces suggested in the latter part of the story.
Irvin Cobb never writes a story until he has worked it over in his own mind for a couple of months. At the same time, a hundred new ideas are developing; and as he himself says he will not live long enough to write all his stories. A year before he wrote “The Belled Buzzard” he was visiting with Mrs. Cobb at her old home in Georgia. They were sitting on a front porch one morning when a huge buzzard flew past. Mr. Cobb recalled a Southern story about a belled buzzard, and remarked that he guessed he would weave a plot round it. Just one year later, he finished the developing and wrote the story.