62
PARTISAN REVIEW
reaches such depths of introspection that he finds it difficult to puli him–
,elf up to the rim that overlooks the exterior world, so does the reader of
Second SigHt.
Stanton's dilemma is not presented in terms of society;
almost exclusively, it is treated in terms of Stanton's mind. As su.;:h, the
novel impresses one as some act of self-indulgence.
The major faults of
The Last Pione'ers,
on the other hand, lie chiefly
in the author's conception of his maferials, rather than in their
SCOPl".
The
novel is rich with color, background and personalities. Weare witness
to the birth and expansion of a large city, developed largely through the
persevering exploitation of two men. Herman Merro was a Polish-Jew
who after an adventurous youth in Europe fled to America and settled
down in Puget (the author's fictitious name, probably, for Seattle). Dexter
was an ex-Harvard man who had come West to become a cap italist. The
two worked well together; their sale concern was making money and they
did not care whether it came out of bawdy houses or out of the taxpayer's
money. They married whores because there was little else around at the
time. When the city was growing they thought of themselves as its
founders and plundered it until depression came and destroyed them.
Here, then, is a set-up which, with proper handling, would have
been a powerful and authentic novel.
It
fails to be either chiefly because
Levy pays little or no attention to the class struggle. This is a serious
omission, not only because the class struggle plays a tremendous ro.1e in
the growth of most American cities, but also because by neglecting it, Levy
overlooked an excellent opportunity to give his novel the dement of
conflict it needs so much. Dexter's unfriendly relations with his employees,
an occasional strike or
I.
W. W. demonstration are cited here and there
in the book, but "honorable mention" is all that sllch incidents receive.
There is no attempt made at dramatizing any of the conflicts between
Dexter and his workers, no attempt at explaining the attitude of the pro–
letariat of Puget. Levy simply confines himself to a rec:tation of Merro's
and Dexter's money-making escapades, and the antics of their chief tool,
·"Mick" Delea, self-styled "Defender of the Prostitute."
The total effect is similar to that achieved by the average New Yorker
"Profile", which places the emphasis on points about the subject that are
curious or eccentric, rather than analytic or explanatory.
It
i~
amusing
for a few pages to read Levy's well-narrated anecdotes about Merra,
Dexter and Delea, but after a while they become annoying. They fail
to get us anywhere near the characters. The reader who ;s not class–
conscious will reat! about the progress of :Mcrro and Dexter, and think
of them as heroes, men who were so clever that they were entitled to any–
thing they could wring out of Puget. To the class-conscious reader, their
story will seem too one-sided and detached, the author's series
~f
incidents
and anecdotes pointless.
JERRE MANf;IONE.
