Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

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20 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. a tremendous influence was “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” a slightly exaggerated portrayal of slavery and the treatment of slaves in the South. The psychological novel is one in which what takes place is explained by the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the story, or in which one person exerts an influence on another. “Silas Marner,” a picture of English country life in the early nineteenth century is an example of the psychological novel, al¬ though it is better termed a problem novel. It is, as you may recall, the story of the change in the Weaver of Raveloe from a recluse and one who hates and is suspicious of his fellow-men to a happy man through the love and influence of little Eppie. Thus we see the working out of the theme of the influence of one individual upon another. Each of these types of novels has popularity with different classes of read¬ ers; each has its fine points. However, there are certain novels which find in¬ stant and lasting popularity with all classes of readers. One of these novels is the “Vicar of Wakefield.” It is a story of the simple country life of a vicar’s family in the eighteenth century. For the “Vicar of Wakefield” Goldsmith took his material from the scenes of everyday life and transformed it with his own imagination. The simple narrative has for its back¬ ground a complete picture of 18th century rural life, and contains an attack on the prison laws and discipline of the time, an example of liberty and patriotism, and a message of hope for the wretched in the example of courage on the part of the Vicar. The whole novel is pervaded with an atmosphere of unbounded hope and faith in the infinite goodness of God. The litttle family is persistently dogged by misfortune: their new house is burned; the young son is thrown into prison because of debts which he is unable to pay and one of the daughters is abducted and disgraced. Yet through all these trials, the Vicar’s hope and faith and trust in the boundless goodness and wisdom of God still persist. It is a novel which is bound to have an uplifting effect on the reader. Yearly in America the Pulitzer Prize is awarded “for the American novel published during the year which shall best present the wholesome atmosphere of American life and the highest standard of American manners and manhood.” A recent winner of this prize was Booth Tarkington’s “Alice Adams,” writ¬ ten in 1922. It is the simple narrative of the trials of the daughter of a moder¬ ately well-to-do American family in a small-sized community. The events which take place might well have happened to any American girl in similar circum¬ stances. Alice longs for the fine clothes and the advantages of the more prosperous members of her set. On going to a dance and not receiving attentions from the young men present, she takes a seat in a secluded nook, and makes an attempt to look as though she were waiting for her escort twho had absented himself for a moment and might return at any minute. Booth Tarkington has received many compliments for his understanding of the attemept to conceal her anxiety on being a wall flower. When she has practically become engaged to the catch of the season, her brother is arrested on the uncovering of a shortage in his accounts. The result is the breaking up of the match. At last Alice is obliged to give up her plans for social celebrity and enrolls in a business college. Once again we see a simple story placed on a background of a study of the manners of tthe day. It is novels such as these which bring this type of literature the great popu¬ larity it now enjoys. David Charles Kavanagh, ’ 26 .

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THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. 19 ‘new’ to the reader, but are founded on lines running parallel with those of actual history.” It is a picture of real life and manners, and of the times in which it is written. It gives a familiar relation of such things as pass every day before our eyes, such as may happen to our friends or to ourselves. The perfection of the novel is to present every scene in so natural and easy a manner and to make them appear so probable as to deceive us into a belief (at least while we are reading) that all is real, until we are affected by the joys and distresses of the persons in the story as if they were our own. The novel is the o nly branch of literature which may be cultivated with fair success without any real distinction or skill, and yet for the moment may exer¬ cise a powerful and far-reaching purpose. However, a great novelist, who is indeed a rare individual, produces a work which is as admirable in its art as the finest poetry. A good novel is like an exquisite piece of poetry, for with each reading, we appreciate more thoroughly the beauty of the creation. The novel has been put to many and varied uses. It has been made the vehicle for satire, for instruction, for political and religious exhortations, and for technical information; but these are side issues. The direct purpose of the novel is .to amuse or entertain by a succession of scenes painted from nature, and by a thread of emotional narrative. Since the first novel, “Pamela,” was written by Samuel Richardson, the printer, in 1740, the novel, as a type of literature, has expanded into five or six distinct groups of forms. These forms are: novels of incident, novels of character, novels of purpose, historical novels, humanitarian novels, and psycho¬ logical novels. Each of these types is marked by some certain and definite char¬ acteristic which serves as a means of differentiating it from the other types of novel. In a novel of character, the chief interest is directed to the portryal of men and women, that is, the story is a study of men and women. A well-known example of this type of novel is the “House of Seven Gables.” The novel of in¬ cident is one in which the portrayal of men and women is secondary, the chief interest being directed to what takes place. The novels of purpose are those which are written to expound some theory or principle. These are made use of by the moralists and philosophers. The historical novel is a story of adventure, a realistic sketch of manners of other days. Sir Walter Scott’s novels are the best known and most widely read examples of this type of novel. Scott hit upon the type of novel “elastic enough to contain in everything in fiction which pleases,” and he therefore appealed to various orders of minds. His novels combine the romantic, the mysterious, the adventurous and a sketch of manners. One of the best of the historical novels is “Ivanhoe.” It is a story of the life and adventures of a young Saxon hero about one hundred years after the con¬ quest of England by William the Conqueror. The characters are fictitious, but there is a background of historical truth. It is also a study of the relations of the Saxons and Normans of the time. The humanitarian novel was the popular section of an extensive humanitarian literature which appeared after the publishing of the “Old Curiosity Shop.” This humanitarian literature was propaganda written for the purpose of causing the betterment of the wretched conditions of the time. Dickens’ stories are the finest examples of this type of novel. His novels exerted a tremendous, far-reaching, and lasting influence. In fact, Dickens be¬ came, as one writer remarked, a sort of a professor of humanitarianism, and the medium through which he taught and expounded his sympathetic and progressive doctrines was the novel. In the United States, one of these novels which exerted

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THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. 21 IN THE HUT. (This story won the fourth prize of $15 in the 1926 Seventh Annual Short Story Contest conducted by the Boston Traveler. 1425 stories were submitted in the contest, which was open to all High School students of New England. A story by Jacob Broudy appeared in the list of twenty-five “Stories of Distinction,” selected by Mr. Rugg, Traveler Editor, for especial commendation, and stories by the following Milford High School Seniors were listed among the 125 “Honorable Mention” stories: Miss Estelle Harlowe, Miss Ruth Despeau, Miss Blanche Marcus, Miss Eva Ramee and Edward L. Mitchell. The stories by Miss Harlowe and Edward Mitchell are printed in this issue.) In the outskirts of a little Russian village stood the hut of the Widow Kom- insky. Within the dingy dwelling sat the Widow with her only son clasped in her embrace. This was in 1860, at the time when a law of Russia required that each city or town give up yearly a certain number of boys between the age of fourteen and twenty to train for military service. Mrs. Kominsky had been warned that at six o’clock that day they were coming for her boy, the most precious thing in her life. “Dimitry, they’ll not take you away from me,” she sobbed. “The good Lord will help me find a way to keep us from being parted.” Dimitry, a delicate youth of fifteen, looked up and answered through his tears, “But mother dear, money is the only thing that would save me from the guards and there is no way to get it.” “They’ll never bring you back to me. The work is only for husky lads,” she moaned. “But, Dimitry dear, they shall not take you from me. The good Lord will show us a way.” Ill luck had seemed to be the Widow Kominsky’s portion ever since her husband’s death. And now her most sacred possession was to be wrested from her. Over and over in her mind ran the words, “They shall not take him; they shall not take him.” Minutes passed but the grief-stricken woman did not move. The boy rose and walked to the window. The thought of leaving his be¬ loved mother, his sole companion because of frequent illness, to go into severe military training with strangers filled him with fear. Terror and anxiety were clearly depicted on his thin face. Finally the woman rose with a joyful cry. “Dimitry, my boy, they will not take you! I have a plan.” She then proceeded to unfold her plan eagerly. At one point the boy suppressed a shudder and said, “Mother, I am afraid.” His mother quickly replied cheerfully, “Fear not, my dear. The Lord has devised this plan for me.” It was near six o’clock. The three guards marched noisily up to the hut. One of them knocked loudly on the door. A woman’s sobs and weeping could be heard from within. On receiving no answer but the continued wails of the woman, they opened the door. As the soldiers entered, they stepped back in sur¬ prise at the unexpected sight that met their eyes. In the dim twilight was the bent figure of a woman, weeping over a mound of white on the floor. On either side of the mound were lighted candles that cast a deathly light over the room. “Madame,” began the spokesman of the guards, “We have come for your son, Dimitry Kominsky.” The grief-stricken woman lifted her eyes and in a