The Sculptor's Funeral
The Artist's Home Town Isolation and Worldwide Acceptance in The Sclulptor's Funeral."Black, uneasy, stoop-shouldered group."36The story starts with an image of the untimely arrival of the sculptor's corpse "already twenty minutes overdue." This is interesting in that it immediately puts the sculptor out of sync with his hometown. The image seems to operate on two basic premises, that is, the artist died before his time while at the same time he never quite belonged to the rhythm of the town in which he was born.The next discernible image (that is, from the rhetoric of the small town norm) is that of Jim. He too seems isolated, that is, even in the midst of the crowd he is alone. His posture, movements, and even "astonishing...red beard" set him apart from the rest of the group gathered in waiting. He is a character that is drawn very close to the sculptor later in the story when he makes his passionate defense. The character of Jim is introduced early to keep the idea of isolation close to reader's mind while also str
Unity between the sculptor and his town is found only in the desire to escape, and in this instance, in death. One instance that cannot go unmentioned is when the GRA man approaches Jim; this is the first time that the two worlds collide. The problem that Cather seems to be pointing out is the way that this fictional town shuns any groupings that do not belong immediately to their closed society. A good illustration can be found when the townspeople ignore the palm leaf displayed on the sculptor's casket. Jim turns his back on the group, agitated and waiting. " It is ironic that the boys spring to life at the call of the very whistle that now signals the coming of the dead sculptor. One notices that Jim seems to put the death into a proper reverential scope, while the GAR man simply wishes that the sculptor had belonged to his group. In essence, he is eternally alienated by the very place that produced him. ongly associating a special spark of individuality with the character of the sculptor. The sculptor, being the only one in the group that is dead, stands out unarguably all alone in the scene. Thus, even though he has found acceptance in the big outside world, he is alienated in his own town not only in his death, but also in the minds of the townspeople, that is, in the way that they misconstrue the life he lived. Jim is the first to approach the train, not at all concerned if the rest of the group (which takes a moment to make sure that they are ready to follow) approves of his action. " Thus, the only thing that all people in town share, if only in secret, is a great desire for contact with the outside world, whether it be for total abandonment of the small town, or simply, as the majority finds appropriate, to taste the wealth of opportunity available through secondary contact with all those that the rail brings to town. All people associate themselves with one thing or another.
Common topics in this essay:
Funeral Black,
Jim Sculptor,
outside world,
home town,
call whistle,
life call whistle,
life call,
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Acceptance Essays
