The Fear That Walks by Noonday
Encyclopedia
The Fear That Walks By Noonday is a short story by Willa Cather
. It was first published in Sombrero in 1894.
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
. It was first published in Sombrero in 1894.
Plot summary
A team of football players have a talk before a game against the 'Injuns'. One player, Fred, passes out. Later, Reggie yells out McKinkey's political victory.Characters
- Frederick Hurton
- Regiland Harton
- Morrison
- Chum-Chum, a girl.
- The coach
- 'Policemen
Allusions to actual history
- William McKinleyWilliam McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
's re-election as Governor of OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
in 1893 is mentioned.
Literary significance and criticism
- The theme of a football game was suggested to Cather by Dorothy Canfield FisherDorothy Canfield FisherDorothy Canfield Fisher was an educational reformer, social activist, and best-selling American author in the early decades of the twentieth century. She was named by Eleanor Roosevelt as one of the ten most influential women in the United States...
. - It has been described as 'a highly conventional ghost storyGhost storyA ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, or an account of an experience, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them. Colloquially, the term can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has...
'.
External links
- Full Text at the Willa Cather Archive