Student Question
How does the anticlimax resolve the central conflict in "The Far and the Near"?
Quick answer:
In the short story "The Far and the Near" by Thomas Wolfe, the anticlimactic ending resolves the central conflict or problem by pointing out the difference between illusory expectations and stark reality.
The short story "The Far and the Near" by Thomas Wolfe tells of a train engineer whose time has come to retire. For over twenty years he has daily guided the train over the same route, and every day at the same time in the early afternoon, a woman and her daughter have come out on their porch and waved at the train. In the engineer's mind, these two people have become important to him. He sees their acknowledgment as "something beautiful and enduring." As a result, when he finally concludes his employment with the railway, he decides to go and visit the women.
However, when he gets off the train in the town where the women live, the place seems different than the impression he got when viewing it from the train. As he comes to the house, which he instantly recognizes, he regrets that he has...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
come. The women do not greet him cordially but suspiciously. As he leaves, he is disconsolate, and he reflects upon the fact that he has become old. The illusion that he had formed about the two women has been shattered.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an anticlimax is "an event, period, or outcome that is strikingly less important or dramatic than expected." The outcome of the engineer's visit to the women is anticlimactic because in his imagination, because of his daily interaction with the women from the vantage point of the train, they had come to have great importance to him. As Wolfe relates,
He felt for them and for the little house in which they lived such tenderness as a man might feel for his own children.
Since he had built them up in his mind as family, their distrustful and distant reception when he visits is deeply disappointing.
This resolution to Wolfe's story works because his intention is to show the difference between our illusions or daydreams and the reality of situations. From a distance, we create expectations that do not always turn out the way we would like. This is also reflected in the title. "The far" is the unrealistic and idyllic picture he has of the women and their cottage, while "the near" is the disappointing and unpleasant reality of his awkward visit.