2.4 At Sea on the Land: The Token by Joseph Hergesheimer (1921)

I am surprised it took this long to find an author like Joseph Hergesheimer. Over the last three weeks we've read a mix of tales, from stories by famous authors, to popular tales that resonated in their day, to still-anthologized works like "The Most Dangerous Game." Hergesheimer, the author of today's story, is the first time we've come across an artist who followed that winding road that begins at fame and ends at obscurity. 

Throughout the 1920s Hergesheimer was regarded as one of the most important writers in America. His fourth novel, Java Head (published by Knopf), almost won the Pulitzer in the award's second year of existence. ¹ Powerful directors like Henry King and King Vidor directed cinematic adaptations of his work in the silent era. At the time Hergesheimer wrote frequently and was read by many. He was known to have been a great influence on now-canonical authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Upton Sinclair. The critic Leon Kellner lavished praise on Hergesheimer, writing that "as an artist Hergesheimer stands alone." Now Hergesheimer stands in the shadow of those he influenced. 

Prestige and historical subsistence doesn't ever work simply. Hergesheimer's reputation and name began to diminish in the 1930s. Whether this can be accounted for by shifts in literary style or a weakening desire to read about the extravagant lives that the Philadelphia-born author detailed, is unclear. All that said, "The Token," the short story Overton has included in this volume, is fascinating.

"The Token" first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post (October 22, 1921)

And it follows nicely from previous tales: there is a twist, there is a love story, there is the relationship between a man and his job at sea, there are familial tensions, and there is the residual violence of American colonialism.

Written in the third person, but with a narrative voice that reflects the protagonist, "The Token" details a short period in the life of the 19-year-old shipmate Epes Calef. Hergesheimer opens with the optimism that comes when Epes finishes his final job as a supercargo, overseeing the sale of the Triton's goods: "What Epes Calef principally thought, walking sharply away from his discharged responsibility at the Custom House, through the thin icy light of the late afternoon was that he was glad that was finally done with." The next time the Triton sets sail Epes will be its first mate.

Epes is in the family business. His over controlling father, Ira, runs the business and his older brother, Bartlett, is the main financial officer. His very name seems to suggest a man with a heavy pad of paper filled with financial transactions.

Business is business and the path has been set for Epes to slowly work his way up to command the Triton. That path is determined by his own interest in seafaring (he is disgusted by the idea of having to live in Salem or Boston as his family does) and he is engaged, in part out of convenience, to Annice Balavan. Epes puts little value into the marriage. As Hergesheimer writes, "He had made this a possibility, no, inevitable, just before he had left on this last voyage. He was in for it, he told himself, in a phrase not wholly gracious, since he had given her the Calef token."

Joseph Hergesheimer (1880-1954)

That ungracious thought of the gift is the introduction to the titular object and its meaning. Epes moves through life following a set of principles. The coin is imbued with the lineal weight since it was obtained "by the first adventurous Calef… its tradition, its power, and fast animated it."

Despite Annice's independent life and her intelligence, beauty and love for Epes, he views the marriage more than anything as a "very sensible and advantageous arrangement." In this regard he is pretty much the opposite of the protagonist from yesterday's story. But to give the coin is to make a promise, and the promise must be fulfilled. Motivated by his desire to be live on the sea (at a time when such lifestyle makes less sense than it used to) Epes often fails to recognize his own insolence and selfishness. He merely defers to precedent

In the world of early 20^th century American short stories precedents often appear strong but end up shattered. Epes soon learns that his brother Bartlett has unexpectedly died. More devastating than the death of a family member is the meeting Epes has with his father Ira, a man who "both to the world at large and to his family, [was] the perfect shape of integrity…[and] rigidly correct deportment… to exterior circumstance and people." Ira is driven by a kind of logic that has no interest in emotions or desires. So, recognizing that the world is changing and that the family business needs a new financial officer, Ira commands Epes to take Bartlett's position. Epes must shed his love of the sea and resign himself to a life lived on the land. He must follow tradition.

Hergesheimer uses this premise to set in motion a few parallel storylines. Epes has to come to terms with the beauty of the ocean becoming a dream more than a reality, just as he has to reckon with the relationship with his father and his fiancé. He does this with as little grace as possible. This is not Hemingway folks. Caught between his own interests and his inability to refuse orders Epes becomes incorrigible.

Hergesheimer published frequently in the 1920s--this is an excerpt from an article on the importance of books (Chicago Tribune, April 13, 1929)

When he tries to reason with his mother, Clia, Epes learns that the one time she attempted to contradict Ira's wishes he abused her. Repulsed by his mother's devotion and incensed at his father's violence Epes can't seem to inhabit a room without raging at others. The rest of the story works through a few scenes where Epes begins to talk to Sumatra, the sixteen-year-old sister of Annice, a girl that he finds to be "rather a detestable child."

Sumatra has always wanted to be a sailor and she has always had a crush on Epes. Unable to articulate any sadness following his brother's death, and furious over his new life, much of the back half of "The Token" revolves around Epes' unrelenting insults aimed at Sumatra. Those insults appear driven by resentment that Sumatra wants to learn about the sea from Epes. She is interested in the life the 19-year-old can no longer live. Though Epes believes it to be impossible for a woman to occupy such a position, Sumatra's ambition and Epes' loss make him feel impotent. Readers meet the 1920s figure of fragile masculinity.

I'll hold back from much more summary. More than perhaps any author in Overton's collection, Hergesheimer is skillfully able to relay a character's sense of being in the world in a few paragraphs. Like the writing on television shows American Crime or Treme, in short manner an individual's life is established with a certain kind of unexpected fullness. For every snide and horrific comment Epes makes to Sumatra, she has a layered riposte that reflects the fragility of youth while challenging Epes' sexism. Equally, Hergesheimer is not afraid to paint Epes as empathetically revolting.

The concluding passages of this story bring the handful of characters together in a way that is both predictable and startling.  As always I'm interested in how this story fits into the volume; Epes certainly has a Romantic ideal of the sea, and a peculiar love story drives this narrative. 

However, like O. Henry's "Friends in San Rosario" the conclusion is undergirded by loss. This is a messy story about messy people. Floating around in that messiness, Hergesheimer raises questions but he is never didactic.

To not live up to one's ideals is a painful experience, one that generally brings a sense of shame. Hergesheimer pulls the thread of such a feeling loose. His characters often fail. And with the ending it seems clear that they will forever repeat such a failure, even if they at first believe they've found success.

You can read “The Token” courtesy of Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/TheToken

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1 Samuel Beckett, cited in most contemporary pieces I've read about Hergesheimer, described Java Head as "one of the best [books] I ever read."^↩