Ring Lardner American Literature Analysis
Above all, Lardner will always be known for his facility with words; specifically, he is renowned for his ear for regional dialects and the colorful conversations between his characters, most of which are carried on in regional vernacular. In addition, Lardner is noted for writing from a third-person point of view in which he uses a character within the story to narrate the tale for his readers.
Thematically, Lardner’s stories usually fall into one of two categories. First, there are the humorous stories that characterized much of the early part of his career. Often, these stories feature characters who suffer amusing difficulties because they cannot control their language. Indeed, Lardner seems obsessed with communication problems. Sometimes his characters fall into trouble because they are inarticulate, while other times the comedy results from the speech of a character who is too literal. Other stories feature flare-ups ignited by characters who will not listen to anyone, or who unconsciously use language to deceive others. Interestingly, Jack Keefe, the bumbling protagonist of You Know Me Al, is a perfect example of all four of these characteristics.
Often, Lardner’s humorous stories poke fun at fundamental human foibles, but they usually do so in a way that reaffirms the author’s faith in the basic goodness of his fellow human beings. Such is the case with “The Golden Honeymoon,” in which green-eyed jealousy comically and gently fades against the power of time-tested love.
Still, there is also the satiric Lardner, whose stories expose the ever-growing skepticism that the author felt regarding people as he entered the middle and later stages of his career. “Haircut” chillingly exposes the hypocrisy of small-town life in the United States. “The Love Nest” is a sad tale which criticizes the self-absorption and, ironically, the desperation of wealthy Americans in the 1920’s. “My Roomy” is a warning about the primal, volcanic violence that lies at the core of all human beings, who, it seems, are never far from erupting. “Champion” deals with the corruption in sports that Lardner had witnessed firsthand, as well as the inherent selfishness that he saw as defining most relationships in a capitalist system which pitted people against one another in constant competition. There is no question that his writing got darker and even became bitter as time wore on and as Lardner experienced America’s excessive materialism in the Roaring Twenties and the desperation of the ensuing Depression.
“Some Like Them Cold”
First published: 1921 (collected in How to Write Short Stories, 1924)
Type of work: Short story
An aspiring New York songwriter and a young woman from Chicago exchange letters which prove that both of them are opportunists who will likely wind up with what they deserve.
“Some Like Them Cold” is a good example of Lardner’s cynicism. Charles Lewis, an ego-driven but simple songwriter on his way to New York, meets the vivacious Mabelle Gillespie at the train station in Chicago. Charles promises to write his “girlie” as soon as he gets to New York. He does so, making sure to represent himself as a genius destined for stardom who wants to find a good, loyal wife. He takes care to let Mabelle know that he does not care for girls “on the make” and is therefore concentrating on his music despite the advances of several fast New York girls.
Interpreting his letter as indicative of true romantic interest, Mabelle writes him several letters in which she passes herself off as a “nice girl” who would not normally talk to strange men in train stations, who is practical, and who is a demure homebody...
(This entire section contains 1435 words.)
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who likes to practice thriftiness and keep house. What becomes abundantly clear is that both Mabelle and Charles are opportunists. He is looking for a wife who is useful. To him, Mabelle just might fit that bill, a pretty girl who will not run him into the poorhouse and who will boost his massive ego.
To Mabelle, Charles is a meal ticket, a rising star to whom she might attach herself. Both are exposed as phonies. Charles forgets about Mabelle once he can arrange a marriage with the nasty sister of another New York musician, Paul Sears, whom he thinks can boost his career. His new fiancé is clearly a shallow materialist who hates him, but Charles does not care. All he values are fame and riches. Mabelle shows her true colors as well, once she finds out that her “Mr. Man” is going to marry another. She writes him a biting letter that shows that she is well acquainted with the ways of the world. The reader is left thinking that Mabelle will wind up a lonely and bitter schemer and Charles will wash out as a musician and be left with a shrewish wife who delights in tormenting him.
“The Golden Honeymoon”
First published: 1922 (collected in How to Write Short Stories, 1924)
Type of work: Short story
Charley and Lucy Frost celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary in Florida, only to have their relationship tested. In the end, however, the Frosts reaffirm their love for each other.
Unlike “Some Like Them Cold,” “The Golden Honeymoon” is an example of Lardner the light humorist who has a hopeful view of human nature. Lucy and Charley Frost travel from New Jersey to Florida to enjoy their golden wedding anniversary in the warm sunshine of Tampa. However, early in their trip they run into the Hartsells. Fifty years before, Charley had won Lucy away from Frank Hartsell, to whom Lucy had been engaged. In true Lardner fashion, pettiness and jealousy prevail, and Charley and Frank spend several days trying to prove that the other is the lesser man. Naturally, they only embarrass themselves, and when Charley finally confronts Frank directly, telling him that if he was really the better man he would never have lost Lucy to him, the explosion the reader has been anticipating is at hand.
Finding out that she was Frank’s second choice, Mrs. Hartsell is mortified. Charley accuses Lucy of liking Frank better than him; Lucy accuses Charley of being stupid. However, Charley and Lucy reconcile, laugh at themselves, and enjoy the rest of their honeymoon. Their love proves to be stronger than their fears.
“Haircut”
First published: 1925 (collected in The Love Nest, and Other Stories, 1926)
Type of work: Short story
Jim Kendall is a drunken lout who thrives on playing mean-spirited practical jokes on the people in the small town in which he lives. Eventually, one of his jokes backfires, resulting in his death.
“Haircut” is one of Lardner’s darkest satires. Told by the town barber, who insists to the end that Jim Kendall was basically a good man who was just a little wild, it is a story about moral blindness. The reader listens to the barber as he describes Jim’s pranks, all of which are distasteful jokes meant to make Jim feel powerful at the expense of others. For instance, Jim likes to play jokes on ten-year-old Paul Dickson, who is mentally handicapped as the result of being dropped on his head as a baby. In addition, Jim takes joy in planting doubts in the minds of husbands regarding their wives’ fidelity and delights in making fun of people’s physical deformities.
Jim allows his family to suffer in poverty, while he drinks his wages and spends his time trying to impress the other town ruffians with his cruelty. After young Julie Gregg refuses his advances, he plays a joke on her which humiliates her in front of the entire town. What Jim had not considered, however, was that Julie was one of Paul Dickson’s only friends. A few days later, Jim consents to take Paul on a hunting trip. Afterward, the townspeople think Jim’s being shot to death was an accident, but the reader is left with the impression that the “cuckoo” has had his revenge on Jim Kendall. It is a story that indicts everyone. Jim Kendall is cruel. The barber is so morally blind that he mistakes Jim’s evil for innocent fun. The townspeople never question Jim’s motives or those of his cronies at Wright’s poolroom and, because no one sees Paul as human, they cannot conceive of him plotting to kill Kendall. Even the reader is lulled to sleep by the easy delivery of the barber. It is only on the second read that many readers understand how terrible the people in this town are, and how awful Lardner thinks people are in general. This story is the basis of some critics’ claim that Lardner is a nihilist.
