The Little Wife (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Edward March Campbell
- First Published: 1930
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The early 1920's
- Setting: A train traveling from Montgomery to Mobile, Alabama
- Principal Characters: Joe Hinckley, Mrs. Thompkins
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: Husbands, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Wives, Love or romance, South or Southerners, Twentieth century, Marriage, 1920’s, Death or dying, Truthfulness and falsehood, Alabama, Trains, Childbirth, Bereavement or grief
- Locales: Montgomery, AL, Mobile Bay, AL
The Story
“The Little Wife” is the account of a five-hour train trip, during which the protagonist, Joe Hinckley, attempts to postpone facing an almost unbearable grief by chatting with his fellow passengers. There is little external action in the story and seemingly no real tension. However, writing as an omniscient author, William March reveals the two conflicts on which the story is built: that between the passengers and their talkative companion and that between Joe's rational and emotional selves.
The story begins as Joe is boarding the train in Montgomery,...
[The entire page is 1450 words long]
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