The Washington herald., 1921-09-04

THE HEEL OF ACHILLES, by r. M. De'ahe'u'
(The Macmillan Coz .a..
YDIA of The He'd Of AehAss. IS hrst seen a
child Of IL complacentiy enjoying the sensa-
ton Of being an orphan because as such she
is the center Of attention. She Is too clever
however to claim that attention crudely Hers Is the
astute egotism that gains satisfaction from an ap-
parently sacri6cia attitude. and she quickly sees the
value Of her grandfather's admonition. Always let
other people talk about themselves" She makes that
guiding principle and In so doing has the peasur-
able sensation Of always having the upperhand besides
gaining a reputation for quiet sympathy. Even as
child she knows how to manage her smple-hearted
auns for her own purposes without letting them know
that they are mankged She is determined, but never
crude ambitious, and perfectly invunerabe as far as
real affection goes Only her grandfather Sees through
her and he tags her for what she Is, Situation
snatcher" That scarcely touches her, however What
is he but dying old mani So 1t Is no surprise to
see her work herself gradually and compaceny from
backwater poverty to London and dressmaker's
establishment thence via authorship to the position OF
secretary to an apparently great man, and finally into
a safe and glorious marriage, though she makes 1t
appear that she is conerrng favors to the clergyman
SON OF nobility II is her child, Jennie that IS the
final Heel Of Achilles, for Jennie is the only person
in the world for whom Lydia really cares and Jennie
resents her methods From this point Lydia's story
becomes the pathetic one of mother who loves her
child too much and too se6shly She plays her old,
unconscious game Of sacrifice to gain the importance
II gives her; wants to shield Jennie and keep for
herself all the joy Of rendering service "For herself
the beoa role, for Jennie that Of foil" But Jennie
sreyots. At the outbreak Of the she marries an
aviator entrely against Lydias wishes, breaks away
absolutely, and in this tragedy Lydia, discovering
that everyone's sympathies with Jennie, almost
finds herself But not quite At the end e-her,
just Jennie has driven away. the center
-E -
Of relations and friends coaleseed surrounding her"
4 The weakest point in the whole delicately-woyen
tale i the fact that because we see Lydia so com
pietely NO one else emerges more than foil to
her. Even Jennie who is apparently strong, wholly
modern child is sketched in palely behind Lydia and
we have fle but the outward aspects of her revolu
ton Lydia's husband might almost be omitted, SO
vague is he In fact her whole married life Is scarcely
touched ON. the turning point being long after her
husbands DEATH and all know is that he was dis
ilusioned at some time during his marriage and saw
straight through her. But probably in this method
Of concentration on one figure and one definite crisis,
Miss Deiahed was wise. Certainly she has given as
complete and eunsentimental analysis of single
character As we have read in long time.
a All modern novels deal more and more with
psychological analysis. Sometimes, as IN the case OF
d, H. Lawrence and perhaps Evelyn Scott. to speak
Of lesser light frank is made OF the lessons OF
psychoanalysis and the novel becomes pathological
Miss Deia6eid however does nothing SO evident She
gives the appearahce Of telling you simple story.
But little by little. quietly with no fuss or comment
the builds up SO complete revelation that you find
yourself actually inside another mind, Lydias for in
stance, without knowing how you got there. Hers
might be called the painless method of analysis For
in her calm style there none Of the emotional
excrescences that mark the work OF less controlled
writers. although she has all the feeling they have
"a . -. 80 a e a..
This appears to us a more finished work than
Tension and less morbid than the earlier Consequences
and seems prove that may always look for fresh
achievements from Miss Delaheld,