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,
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— — — . “ Chun Ah Chun . ” 1912/1914 . The House
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and I. Milo Shepard . Palo Alto, CA : Stanford
— — — . A History of American Magazines, 1885 –
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— — — . “ Koolau, the Leper . ” 1909/1912 . The Por-
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–
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–
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214
Andrew J. Furer
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— — — . “ The Two Altars; or, Two Pictures in
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Š
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Part III
The Twentieth Century
14
The Twentieth Century: A Period
of Innovation and Continuity
James Nagel
The history of the short story in the twentieth century takes place against a backdrop
of enormous social change and international confl ict. It begins in a horse - drawn era
before the fi rst fl ight of the airplane, prior to popular radio broadcasts, previous to
women having the right to vote. It ends in a computer age of astonishing technologi-
cal advancements, of people walking on the moon, of prosperity and longevity
undreamed of only a century ago. There were more dramatic alterations to the nature
of human existence in this period than the world had ever experienced before, and it
had enormous impact on the psychic quality of American life, a transformation
recorded in short fi ction.
In literary terms, the period begins in aesthetic continuity and ends in transforma-
tion of subject and theme, albeit not dramatically in methodology. Throughout the
decades there were numerous attempts at experimentation, at polyphonic prose, at
Dadaistic incomprehension, at fragmentary notations, at genre bending, but the
dominant form of short fi ction remained essentially Realistic, driven by character,
plot, theme, and narrative method. Indeed, the fi ction of 2000 in most important
ways greatly resembled that of 1900.
In the early years of the century, the prevailing modes of the 1890s continued to
dominate. O. Henry ’ s formulaic tales were enormously popular, despite the scandal
of his personal life, and “ The Gift of the Magi ” and “ The Ransom of Red Chief ” were
anthologized for decades. But entertaining stories of that mode were quickly sup-
planted by darker fare. Naturalistic impulses predominated, driven by a spirit of social
reform and characterized by omniscient narration, lower - class or even grotesque char-
acters, plots that moved unrelentingly toward the expression of Deterministic forces,
and dehumanizing imagery derivative of an animalistic or mechanized conception of
the universe. Characters in such stories do not so much act as are acted upon, making
them the impotent victims of forces beyond their control. Jack London ’ s nineteen
volumes of stories emphasize these ideas. His most famous story, “ To Build a Fire, ”
stresses the inferiority of human reason to a dog ’ s instinct when facing survival in the
218
James Nagel
frozen north, and other stories, such as “ The White Silence, ” involve the acceptance
of inevitable death, an idea that drives “ The Law of Life ” and “ Love of Life ” as well.
London ’ s stories are powerfully negative and pessimistic, but they had an impact on
literature that lasted throughout the century.
Frank Norris is perhaps better known for his novels than for his short fi ction,
but “ A Deal in Wheat, ” concerning the socioeconomic effects of commodities spec-
ulation on the lives of poor people, has become a classic and is widely regarded as
the quintessential example of economic Determinism. His other stories, including
“ His Sister ” and “ The Guest of Honor, ” have not been so widely regarded but still
exemplify his approach to fi ction. Theodore Dreiser wrote a good number of memo-
rable stories in this tradition: “ The Lost Phoebe, ” “ Curious Shifts of the Poor, ” and
“ The Second Choice, ” for example, are built on the theme of the diminished lives
of the poor. Paul Lawrence Dunbar ’ s “ The Lynching of Jube Benson ” portrayed the
injustice of racial discrimination in depicting an innocent African American hanged
by a lynch mob. Anzia Yezierska captured the lives of urban Jewish immigrants in
the tenements of New York in “ The Fat of the Land ” and “ My Own People. ” Sher-
wood Anderson wrote some of the best Naturalistic fi ction of the era not only in
his landmark Winesburg, Ohio stories but in companion works such as “ Death in the
Woods
”
and
“
The Door of the Trap.
”
James T. Farrell
’
s
“
Helen, I Love You
”
follows the adolescent theme of Anderson ’ s story, but Farrell was capable of writing
much richer fi ction in the Naturalistic mode, as in the treatment of racism in “ For
White Men Only ” and “ The Fastest Runner on Sixty - First Street. ” He eventually
published fi fteen volumes of short stories. Erskine Caldwell
’
s work is related to
Farrell ’ s in its exploration of racism and poverty. “ Candy - Man Beechum ” is remark-
able for its representation of the African American vernacular, and “ Kneel to the
Rising Sun,
”
which depicts a Southern lynching, explores race relations from a
white perspective.
Perhaps the culmination of the Naturalistic tradition in fi ction comes with John
Steinbeck and Richard Wright, not simply for their great novels The Grapes of Wrath
and Native Son but for their stunning stories as well. Steinbeck was a master of the
form, as exhibited in “ The Chrysanthemums, ” a wrenching revelation of longing, of
the submerged life of a farm woman. “ The Harness ” depicts domination by a wife,
and the stories in Pastures of Heaven show the harsh realities of agrarian life in the
Salinas valley. The four related stories that comprise “ The Red Pony ” are some of
Steinbeck ’ s best writing. Poignant, tough, and undeniably “ real, ” they show, in grip-
ping drama, the severe existence of rural folk in the 1930s. Wright ’ s Naturalistic
stories present Deterministic forces, including a racist social environment and a vague
“ Fate, ” as overpowering infl uences that compel the tragedies of his African American
characters. These themes are played out most dramatically in the stories included in
Uncle Tom ’ s Children , especially “ Big Boy Leaves Home, ” “ Down by the Riverside, ”
and “ Long Black Song. ” His later stories contain some of the existential themes that
emerged in the conclusion of his sensational novel Native Son , and these controversial
ideas lead to Wright ’ s break with the Communist Party. Perhaps the fi nest of these
The Twentieth Century
219
late works is “ The Man Who Lived Underground, ” based in part on Dostoevsky ’ s
Notes from Underground .
If Naturalism largely collapsed by 1940 under the weight of its own unsustainable
assumptions, Realism fl ourished throughout the century. A movement that not only
portrayed life in the light of common day, with believable characters and situations,
Realism also placed moral culpability on individual characters making the decisions
that directed their lives, whereas Naturalism diverted responsibility to Deterministic
forces. The inception of Existentialism in the 1920s, especially John Paul Sartre ’ s
argument that people create themselves every day and are thus accountable not only
for what they do but for what they are, did not allow for the diffusion of guilt in
tragic events. But Realism also emphasized less dramatic situations in American life,
ordinary confl icts, family interactions, the appreciation of the beauty in Nature.
Early in the century, Willa Cather quickly established herself as an outstanding
writer of Realistic short fi ction. Each of her three volumes of stories contains memo-
rable work, beginning with “ Paul ’ s Case, ” “ A Wagner Matinee, ” and “ The Sculptor ’ s
Funeral ” from The Troll Garden (1905). These depictions of the importance of Art in
a mercantile American society established her literary reputation. “ Coming, Aphro-
dite, ” from Youth and the Bright Medusa , and “ Neighbor Rosicky, ” from Obscure Des-
tinies , demonstrated her continued mastery of the form. One of her early works, “ The
Bohemian Girl, ” anticipates much of My Antonia! , Cather ’ s novelistic masterpiece.
Many of Cather ’ s themes are carried forward in Edith Wharton ’ s stories, begin-
ning with
“
Mrs. Manstey
’
s View
”
in 1891, which deals with a frustrated artist.
Wharton ’
s best work is also decidedly Realistic in method and theme, although
many of her tales deal with marriage and domestic issues, the best of which are “ The
Other Two, ” about divorce and remarriage, and “ Roman Fever, ” about a illicit affair
and the child born from it. “ Xingu ” is a satiric piece aimed at high culture, and
Wharton ’ s ghost stories, including “ The Lady ’ s Maid ’ s Bell ” and “ Afterward, ” give
yet another dimension to her work. Ring Lardner
’
s short fi ction was immensely
popular in the early twentieth century. Featuring the vernacular, and dealing with
such commonplace situations as a barber shop or minor - league baseball, his work
captured the attention of the American public. “ Haircut ” endured in anthologies
throughout the century, but some of even the best of his stories have been largely
forgotten, including “ The Golden Honeymoon, ” “ A Busher ’ s Letters Home, ” an
epistolary tale, and “ Some Like Them Cold. ”
Post – World War I Modernism changed American fi ction in fundamental ways.
The experimentation in prose that accompanied the Imagist movement brought a
tendency for sparse prose, direct language, and frank depictions of the sensations of
A Companion to the American Short Story Page 48
