Introduction 

The Wild Palms, otherwise known as If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem, is a novel by American author William Faulkner, first published in 1939 by Random House. The book comprises two separate stories—"The Wild Palms" and "Old Man"—told in alternating chapters. To explain why he chose to publish them together, Faulkner claimed that the latter story balances out the former, serving as its "antithesis." 

While "The Wild Palms" is a tale of doomed lovers hopping from place to place across the country, "Old Man" centers on a convict's struggle for survival amidst the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. The eponymous "Old Man" refers to the Mississippi River itself. Even though the events of these two stories do not intersect, they share themes of the wilderness versus domesticity and civilization.

Plot Summary

"The Wild Palms"

In 1930s New Orleans, Harry Wilbourne starts dating a married woman named Charlotte. He cuts short his internship at the hospital to elope with her. Charlotte's husband, Francis, bids her to write every month, or else he'll report her missing. 

The couple moves to Chicago, where Harry finds work in a clinic while Charlotte makes sculptures. When Harry is fired, the couple is forced to move out of their apartment. Their friend, McCord, sets them up in a seaside cabin in Wisconsin. They return to Chicago when McCord finds Charlotte working as a window dresser.  

In December, Harry and Charlotte move to Utah. Harry finds work as a mining doctor. They share a cabin with the foreman, Buck, and his pregnant wife, Billie. At their insistence, Harry performs an abortion on Billie. Buck and Billie leave the mines soon after, as their superior has not paid them wages for months. 

After a few weeks, Harry sends the unpaid miners away with the meager supplies left in the company store. Upon receiving a letter from Buck assuring them that Billie has recovered, Charlotte informs Harry that she is pregnant. They move to Texas, where Charlotte forces Harry to perform an abortion on her. 

After a month, Charlotte visits Francis and her two young daughters. She tells Francis about the complications surrounding her abortion, making him promise not to go after Harry if anything should happen to her. 

The couple moves to the Mississippi coast, renting a beachside cottage. One night, Charlotte bleeds out, and Harry is forced to seek help from their landlord, who is a doctor. An ambulance takes Charlotte to the hospital, but she does not survive. 

After Charlotte's death, Harry is escorted to jail. When Francis bails him out and urges him to flee, he refuses. He is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five decades in prison. Francis slips him a cyanide pill in case he wants to commit suicide. However, Harry decides to live with his grief to keep his memories of Charlotte alive.

"Old Man"

In the 1920s, two convicts are serving time on a penal farm in Mississippi. One is a tall, twenty-five-year-old man imprisoned for attempted train robbery. The other convict is short and plump, sentenced to a hundred and ninety-nine years for automobile theft and murder. 

One night, the prisoners are evacuated due to severe flooding in the Mississippi River. They are transported to a National Guard encampment atop a levee. The two convicts are instructed to rescue two flood victims nearby—a man and a woman. After midnight, the short convict returns with the man, declaring that the other convict fell off his boat and drowned. 

Unbeknownst to the warden, who pronounces him dead, the tall convict had clung to his boat and...