The Story of a Country Town: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Story of a Country Town: Analysis of Major Characters" presents an intricate portrayal of life in a small Midwestern town through its diverse characters. The narrative is centered around Abram Nedrow (Ned) Westlock, who evolves from a farm helper to a successful newspaper editor, offering insights into the moral and social dynamics of his community. Key figures include his father, Reverend John Westlock, a strong yet flawed Methodist minister who abandons his family, and his timid mother, Mrs. Westlock, whose character embodies traditional gender roles. Jo Erring, Ned’s childhood friend, faces tragedy in his tumultuous marriage to Mateel Shepherd, whose eventual madness underscores the darker aspects of love and rivalry in the story. Other notable characters include the boastful Clinton Bragg, who becomes a tragic rival, and Agnes Deming, a kind schoolteacher who ultimately becomes Ned's supportive partner. Each character’s journey reflects the complexities of small-town life, marked by ambition, disillusionment, and the search for personal fulfillment. Through their interconnected lives, the narrative explores themes of love, betrayal, and the harsh realities that shape individual destinies.
The Story of a Country Town: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Edgar Watson Howe
First published: 1883
Genre: Novel
Locale: The Middle West
Plot: Social criticism
Time: Mid-nineteenth century
Abram Nedrow (Ned) Westlock, a Middle Border boy (and man), the narrator of the story. He is a farm helper for his father and later an apprentice in journalism. He becomes a successful editor of the paper his father leaves him. For years in love with Agnes, he marries her after his mother's death. A close observer of people, he is also a moralist on such matters as temperance and personal industry. As a critic of small-town temperament and mores, he anticipates Sinclair Lewis' Carol Kennicott.
The Reverend John Westlock, his father, a Methodist minister, a strong, capable, independent, and thrifty man. He also is a domestic tyrant, a hard worker, and strongly opinionated. Suffering from a gnawing discontent, he leaves the ministry, becomes the editor of a newspaper, and later deserts his family, informing Ned of a seven-year liaison with Mrs. Tremaine, who accompanies him in his flight.
Mrs. Westlock, the minister's weak, timid, and submissive wife. She dies just before her repentant husband returns.
Jo Erring, her younger brother, in early youth a member of the Westlock household and throughout his life a close friend of Ned. Stout, energetic, and ambitious but rather crude and uneducated, he works hard to prove himself worthy of Mateel. Having learned milling under Damon Barker, he builds a mill of his own and marries Mateel. Doomed from the beginning, the marriage is never happy, and it finally dis-integrates. After Mateel divorces him and marries Bragg, Jo murders his successor and later poisons himself in prison.
Mateel Shepherd, Jo Erring's sweetheart. Although she is in love with Bragg, she marries Jo, whom she later divorces to marry Bragg. Driven insane by Bragg's murder, she dies shortly afterward.
Clinton Bragg, Jo's rival for Mateel. He is boastful, sullen, insolent, lazy, an ostentatious drinker, educated, and scornful of others' ignorance. He is murdered by Jo.
Damon Barker (in reality Captain Deming), a former ship captain and now a miller, a friend of Ned and Jo. After his wife's death, he reveals his identity to his daughter Agnes, who goes to live with him.
Agnes Deming, his daughter, a young and pretty school-teacher. Popular in Fairview, she is a kindly friend and adviser to everyone. Although she is older than Ned, she accepts his love. They grow closer when she cares for his ailing mother, and at the end of the story she and Ned have been happily married for several years.
The Reverend Goode Shepherd, the father of Mateel and successor to Mr. Westlock at the Fairview church.
Mrs. Tremaine, the widowed half sister of Damon Barker, for whom she keeps house. She elopes with Mr. Westlock but leaves him when she learns he has left Ned his money and property.
Dad Erring, Jo's father, a shingle-maker. He is nonreligious, eccentric, and reticent, tending to his own business and ignoring that of others.
Mr. Lytle (Little) Biggs, Agnes' uncle, the father of eight children. A small, free-spoken man, he is critical of others' follies and faults as well as his own, such as his penchant for lying.
Big Adam, Mr. Biggs' hired man, a fat, bull-voiced country lout with a habit of drawing imaginary corks and pouring imaginary drinks. He becomes Barker's helper and later the mill operator.