This full description of the constructive process renders almost superfluous either questions or further comment. It should be compared closely with Mary Brecht Pulver’s similar résumé of her “Path of Glory.”
“Little Selves” constitutes a happy cross between the “evoked ghost” story, such as one finds in Kipling’s “They,” and the pictures frankly labeled as memories, in a multitude of stories. For as Margaret says, the earlier selves “is realer” than the children of flesh-and-blood who surround her.
Theme. In what does the merit of the narrative lie,—theme, characterization, or plot? In connection with your own answer observe that Miss Lerner says, “As for plot versus theme, I think theme usually dominates. I have some idea I wish to expound—to illustrate by means of interplay of character and action. Idea, I feel, is really The Thing, rather than mere complication or rapidity of action.”
In how many stories of these collections, do you feel the dominance of the underlying idea? In which, if any, is it lacking? In which do you feel the predominance of idea to such an extent as to swamp the story values?
Plot. Show that the sentence on page 224, “Her voice choked with sudden tears,” is a sort of dramatic climax.
Why is it more artistic to leave the climax of action, the old woman’s death, untold?
Characters. In what sense is the narrative a “character story”? Is a whole life really re-constructed? Is the author’s chief object this re-living?
How is Margaret best visualized for you?
What is Anna’s chief characteristic and what her main place in the plot?
Setting. In what respects is the story a national representative? How do the two larger settings, as indicated, aid each other? Which is thrown into subjection? Why?