The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-03-24

in some places he rises to real great
ness, as in the description Of the death
of Ona, the wife Of Jurgis, two of the
Hsu bmerged' immigrants from Lith-
uania. To get the real force of the
picture one needs to know the setting,
but something Of its meaning may be
had from this:
The garnet was lighted by candle
stuck upon a board; it had just burned
itself out, and was sputtering and smok-
ing as Jurgis rushed up the ladder. He
could make out dimly in one corner a
pallet of rags and old blankets, spread
upon the floor; at the foot of it was
crucifix, and near it priest muttering a
prayer. In a far corner crouched
pallet lay Ona.
| She was covered with a blanket, but
he could see her shoulders and one arm
lying bare; she was so shrunken he would
| scarcely have known her-she was all
but a skeleton, and as white as a piece
of chalk. Her eyelids were closed, and
she lay still as death. He staggered to-
| ward her and fell upon his knees with a
cry Of anguish: coma! Ona!" -
She did not stir. He caught her hand
in his, and began to clasp 1t frantically,
calling: 'Look at me! Answer me! 1t
is Jurgis come back-don't you = hear
me?' - -
There was the faintest quivering of the
eyelids, and he called again in frenzy:
| iona! Ona!'
Then suddenly her eyes opened-one
J instant. One instant she looked at him
i there was flash of recognition between
them, he saw her afar off, as thru a dim
vista, standing forlorn. He stretched out
his arms to her, he called to her in wild
despair; a fearful yearning surged up in
him, hunger for her that was agony,
desire that was a new being born within
| him, tearing his heartstrings, tortured
him. But it was all In vain-she faded
from him, she slipped back and was gone
And a wall of anguish burst from him,
great sobs shook all his frame, and hot
tears ran down his cheeks and fell upon
her. He clutched her hands, he shook
her, he caught her in his arms and
pressed her to him; but she lay cold and
still-she was gone-she was gone!
The word rang thru him like the sound
Of a bell, echoing in the far depths OF
him, making forgotten chords to vibrate
old ,shadowy fears to stir-fears of the
dark, fears Of the void, fears Of ami
hilation. She was dead! She was dead
He, would never see her again, never hear
her again! An icy horror of loneliness
|seized him; he saw himself standing
apart and watching all the world fade
away from him-a world Of shadows, OF
/ tickle dreams. He was like little chile
In his fright and grief; he called anc
called and got no answer, and his cries
of despair echoed thru the house. makins
the women downstairs draw nearer t.
each other in fear. He was inconsolable
beside himself-the priest came and lait
his hand upon his shoulder and whispered
to him, but he heard not sound. H,
!: was gone away himself, stumbling thr,
the shadows, and cropping after the sou
that had fed. = 49, .-.-. .,.-. Z: ~ -
A piece Of vivid description, couple,
with powerful imagination, that; We
not overdone as part of the whole pic
ture of the story. 49, ~ -.
1t is too bad that a piece of wor
of such power should be marred by tn
interjection of socialistic preaching
There is not a great deal Of this unit
at the close, where the utopian prom
; Uses Of the "ism' are set forth a
length by one Of the characters in
scene tackled on for the special purpose
This constitutes an anticlimax whic
: spoils the effect of the story and give
> it the color Of a tract. It is also a
, evidence that the author has not bee
quite equal to carrying out the tas
, he set. himself and to molding h
material into a perfect work of ar
1t was his purpose at the outset, q
he himself has said, to draw graph
picture Of the logical results of til
competitive system pushed to the e.
IRENE as it is in Chicago: If he regarde
i the resort of such men as Jurgis, an
r others, to socialism as one of these r.
0 suits, he should have made it appes
g as a necessary part of the story. Th
n he has actually done up, to a certai
s point with very little special pleadin
( and with that he should have been col
f tent. The impression on the no.
socialist mind would have been strongt
and more lasting. But the moment
brings in his arguments for socialism
however sound they may be, he star
in the readers mind scores of question
: and puts the reader in controversi;
n attitude which is likely to prove hosti
t to the purpose the author had in viey
1t is not the merit or demerit of tt
doctrines that mars the story, but I'll
fact that, whether good or bad, the
are out of place, put as they have bee
by Mr.. Sinclair. In spite of this, ii
a gravest of the defects of. the book, IL
: work as a whole falls only little, .
n at all, short of greatness.
Doubleday, Page & Co., New York. ST so.