Dec 15, 2009

In the Garden of the North American Martyrs | Introduction

First published in the journal Antaeus in the spring of 1980, ‘‘In the Garden of the North American Martyrs’’ was later revised and became the title story of Tobias Wolff’s first collection of short stories, published in 1981. This collection of fiction helped Wolff earn a reputation as one of the most promising writers of his generation. In this and the other stories in the book, Wolff probes the details of everyday life and ordinary characters in an effort to discern the aesthetic and moral patterns beneath the surface. In this story, Mary, a college professor who has carved out a safe career for herself by never risking originality, gets an offer to interview for an opening at a prestigious college. When she realizes that her interview has been arranged ‘‘just to satisfy a rule’’ about considering female candidates, she must choose how to react. Her final performance is a speech in which she finally recovers her power to speak in her true voice.

In the Garden of the North American Martyrs Summary

The story begins with a distant, omniscient narrator describing Mary, the main character. She is a history professor who has made a career of avoiding controversy and expressing only safe, approved views. After fifteen years of teaching at Brandon College she is forced to look for a new job when the college suddenly closes in the wake of an administrator’s reckless and disastrous mishandling of its funds. Mary’s belief in the rewards of prudence and caution is shaken by the evidence that anyone ‘‘could gamble a college.’’

Mary’s mid-career job search yields only one offer: at a ‘‘new experimental college in Oregon.’’ The narrator’s description of the place makes it seem more like a high school than a college: ‘‘Bells rang all the time, lockers lined the hallways, and at every corner stood a buzzing water fountain.’’ Mary dislikes Oregon and continues to look for other positions. After three years she receives an unexpected offer from a former colleague in the history department at Brandon, identified only as Louise. Louise, whose career and work on Benedict Arnold have been more high-profile than Mary’s, wants to know if Mary is interested in applying for an opening at ‘‘the famous college in upstate New York’’ where she teaches. The offer surprises Mary, who remembers Louise as self-absorbed and indifferent to other people, but she sends off a resume. Louise calls to tell her she will be interviewed for the job.

Mary researches the area and feels comfortable when she arrives and is picked up at the airport by Louise. On the drive to the college, Louise demands certain responses from Mary—‘‘how do I look?’’ and ‘‘Don’t get serious on me.’’ She abruptly tells Mary that she has a lover and... » Complete In the Garden of the North American Martyrs Summary