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The Octopus | Introduction

The Octopus: A Story of California, first published in 1901 by Frank Norris, presents modern readers with a view of a specific time and place in American history when California was a new, open land of promise. The country’s ability to produce agricultural abundance seemed endless, threatened only by greed and the interference of laws that serve the rich. The novel takes place in the San Joaquin valley, in the middle of the state. Wheat farmers struggle to grow crops and send them to market for a profit, while being beleaguered by the inflated prices of the giant railroad conglomeration—the “octopus” referred to in the title. This novel was the first one in what Norris planned to be a “Trilogy of Wheat,” examining every aspect of the modern world through the progression of wheat, from seed to consumption. The second novel was The Pit: A Story of Chicago, about the commodities market. The third novel, The Wolf, was intended to follow what happened to the wheat crop once it was exported to Russia, but Norris died of a burst appendix before that book was written.

The novels of Frank Norris are considered to be clear and powerful examples of the literary movement that took place around the turn of the nineteenth century: American naturalism. As a response against the inflated prose and romantic ideals that marked most American novels that came before them, there rose a generation of writers who tried to focus their work on the harsh realities of modern life. By today’s standards, Norris’ characters may seem idealistic, and his plot lines might seem contrived, but, as a reaction to novels that steered clear of sexuality and the degrading effects of capitalism, Norris’ works were groundbreaking.

The Octopus Summary

Book One
The first chapter of The Octopus starts with Presley riding his bicycle across the countryside, from the Los Muertos ranch to the seed farm past the mission, encountering various key characters along the way: Hooven, Harran, Dyke, Annixter, and Vanamee. It ends with an ominous event: the sheep that Vanamee was supposed to be watching are run over by a train. It is here, at the end of the first chapter, that the book’s title is alluded to for the first and only time. Presley imagines that the sheep scattered around the tracks were run over by “the leviathan, with tentacles of steel clutching into the soil, the soulless Force, the iron-hearted Power, the monster, the Colossus, the Octopus.”

The next day, Magnus Derrick arrives back at his ranch from San Francisco. An argument ensues with S. Behrman, the railroad’s agent, when Magnus sees some ploughs he has bought on a flatbed at the train station. Because of regulations, the ploughs must ship all of the way through to San Francisco and back out to Guadalajara before he can take possession of them. Magnus arranges to have some of the local wheat growers come over to his house that night to discuss the railroad’s rate increase. At the same time, Annixter, on the Quien Sabe ranch, notices that Hilma Tree, the daughter of a couple that works for him, is attractive. Annixter finds himself thinking about her, even though he is a confirmed woman-hater. He sees her flirting with Delaney, one of the ranch hands, and in an inexplicable fit of anger he fires Delaney.

At Derrick’s ranch that evening, the discussion among the wheat growers is about the railroad “grading” the land. Years ago, when the railroad first came through, growers were given rights to all of the odd-numbered parcels within a twenty-mile radius of the track. The government owned the even-numbered parcels. The farmers had bought the government’s parcels. They had farmed the even parcels and made improvements to them with the understanding that after they were graded, the railroad would sell the land to them for about two and a half dollars an acre. Some of the ranchers believe that since the railroad has bribed the Railroad Overseeing Commission, the farmers should bribe commission members. Magnus Derrick insists that he will not be involved in dirty politics.

In chapter four, Vanamee, whose true love was killed by an unidentified assailant eighteen years ago, has returned to the valley. He works as a shepherd among the... » Complete The Octopus Summary