The Sculptor's Funeral
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"The Sculptor's Funeral" is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in McClure's in 1905[1]
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[edit] Plot summary
In a small-town Kansas,the body of Harvey Merrick, a famed sculptor, is brought back to his parent's house. Only Jim Laird, Harvey's old friend, and Henry Steavens, his student have any real emotion. While the mother cries out in overdone and insincere grief, Steavens and Laird remark on Harvey's harsh upbringing, and the wonder that he ever made it out of the town. Later, the mother yells at her maid for forgetting to do the salad dressing, displaying the mother's absolute cruelty and the falsity of her grieving. Before the funeral, the townspeople make fun of Harvey for his education and eastern lifestyle. Laird then lashes out at them, exposing the corruption of their ideals, along with practises of usury, gambling, shootings and so forth. Only Harvey escaped the corruption, and he was hated for it. The next day, Laird is too drunk to attend the funeral and Steavens returns East.
[edit] Characters
- A group of townspeople
- Mr Harvey Merrick, a late sculptor with a 'lady-like voice'. He went to college in Boston.
- Annie, Harvey's mother.
- Martin, Harvey's father.
- Roxy, the mulatto maid in the Merricks's household.
- Jim Laird, the red-bearded lawyer.
- Philip Phelps, the banker.
- Elder, another banker.
- Thompson, the undertaker.
- Henry Steavens, a student of Harvey's.
[edit] Allusions to actual history
- The Merricks have a portrait of John Alden and Priscilla Alden in their house.
- Jim Laird mentions George Washington and John Adams.
- The Bible is mentioned.
[edit] Literary significance and criticism
It has been argued that the short story was foreshadowed by Willa Cather's poem The Night Express[2].
