Plot. The compactly wrought plot is one of the best in recent fiction. It is formed, in the main, from the interweaving of two lines of interest. One has to do with the struggle between the yellow cat and the woman, Sally; the other spins out the sordid love affair between Sally and the young engineer. The climax of action shows a double defeat for the woman. The husband is the connecting link, as he is the third figure in the triangle story, and is the partisan of the cat in the other line of interest.
Initial Impulse: Sally throws the stick of wood at the cat. Outward indication of latent animosity.
Steps in the Action: Sally promises her lover to meet him at midnight. She prepares the liquor-trap. She hears of the big snake. She insists that the cat be killed. Jim refuses. He orders her to lay the mattress in the “dog-trot.” She sets the liquor-trap. Jim, caught, drinks a toast to the cat. Sally lies waiting for midnight.
Dramatic Climax: The cat finds the snake-head. It passes the bed. Sally mutters and strikes out in her sleep. The cat drops the snake-head.
Steps toward the Climax of Action: Few, but significant. Sally wakes, raises herself on her right palm; her wrist meets the fangs of the rattler; in agony she tries to wake Jim for help, but he lies in a drunken stupor. Meantime, the young engineer who has waited long, now sets out to reconnoitre. He makes his way toward the cabin.
Dénouement: In it is bound up the climax of action which has, in part, already occurred in Sally’s death. The engineer sees the dead woman, the drunken man, and the purring cat. He flees.
Apart from the clever workmanship of the plot construction, what examples of poetic justice do you find?
Was it fate, chance, or tactics of hate which caused the cat to drop the snake-head?
Characterization. In a story of plot prominence, the characters need less individualization. Are these, in your opinion, types or individuals? Which is the best drawn? Which the least convincing? How does Sally, early in the action, forfeit your sympathy?
Details. How is Jim’s love for liquor (a hinge on which the plot is made to turn) prepared for early in the action?