Footfalls by Wilbur Daniel Steele, 1920
The magic trick:
Telling the reader what the story will be at the very start; making good on that promise; but also surprising with a twist ending at the same time
Sneaky story today from Mr. Steele.
He tells us about what kind of story this will be at the very start. Literally the first words are “This is not an easy story.” Later in the first paragraph, we’re told that the main character will commit an act of great violence in the end.
So the reader feels confident that we know where this is going. And, when, after 18 or so pages, the story is right on track with what we were promised, the reader is so confident that we’re almost bored. Yes, this is the story I expected. Ho hum.
It’s a shock then when the bottom falls out suddenly on our expectations and we get a twist. Amazingly, the story remains exactly what was promised; it’s just what was promised isn’t what we thought it would be.
And that’s quite a trick on Steele’s part.
The selection:
To Boaz Negro it was still broad day.
Now, because of this, he was what might be called a substantial man. He owned his place, his shop, opening on the sidewalk, and behind it the dwelling-house with trellised galleries upstairs and down.
And there was always something for his son, a “piece for the pocket,” a dollar-, five-, even a ten-dollar bill if he had “got to have it.” Manuel was “a good boy.” Boaz not only said this, he felt that he was assured of it in his understanding, to the infinite peace of his heart.
It was curious that he should be ignorant only of the one nearest to him. Not because he was physically blind. Be certain he knew more of other men and of other men’s sons than they or their neighbours did. More, that is to say, of their hearts, their understandings, their idiosyncrasies, and their ultimate weight in the balance-pan of eternity.
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