Afaoei & oca mined, GanAitiand
@jj ftaa% TAJ kited in Sautk
- By FABER O’HAGAN
TRAGIC GROUND, Erskine Caldwell. Duell, Sloane and
Pierce, $2,50.
I try to hold up a mirror to nature in the south and to my own
nature, to human nature. I don’t say that lynching is evil or that
cruelty is bad. But by showing- people as they are, cruel, and by
showing their victims, by showing people oppressed to hopeless
ness, perhaps I’ll have some effect on many lives.
With these words Caldwell explains the purpose of his own
novels. Unfortunately editors and book reviewers seem unable
to accept his statement. With very
few exceptions they ignore the so
cial implications of the books and
say, scornfully, that there are no
such people.
The result of this is that while
_the honesty of his social outlook
and the power of his writing have
made him one of the half dozen
best writers in the land, Caldwell
is not generally accorded the honor
and position he has earned.
The Rural South
It is regrettable that people like
Caldwell’s character do exist. Any
one who has lived for more than
three months in the rural districts
of the deep South, among the poor
whites, has seen many of them.
"Tragic Ground” will probably be
labeled pornographic and forgotten
as quickly as possible.
It is filled with passion and pel
lagra. It is peopled by ignorant
mountaineers who are drawn to
the big cities to work, and then
left hopelessly confused and dis
couraged when the factories close
and throw them out of work. The
novel is rich with men who drink
too much in order to find forget
fulness. It has many 13-year-old
girls who already know how to get
money from men. There is a g'reat
deal of informal and unsanctified
love, and there’s a murder, too, but
the villain of the piece is not a
man.
The villain is the hard, cold cru
elty of a society which permits
such regions as Poor Boy Town,
where not even the downtrodden
negroes will live.
Defects of Society
The story deals with the tribu
lations of one Spence Douthit, who
finds himself stranded without a
job in a war boom town when the
powder factory closes. His erratic
struggling and his pathetic reluc
tance to return to his native Bease
ly county throw the defects of our
social, industrial, and educational
system into high relief.
Most of the unkind reviews come
from the South, where local pride
forces editors to say the novel is
a lie. More of them come from
shocked northerners who just know
there can't be any such people and
places. Those who know the rural
sections of the South know that
they do exist, that men are neither
vicious nor perverted. They are be
wildered by a society which lies to
them, gives them no education,
cheats them, exploits them, and
finally throws them away, coxrfi
dent that the next year will bring
a new crop of hill-billies.
This book shows what ignorance
has done to a quarter of our land.
We should read these stories with
open minds instead of holding our
noses and sputtering that Caldwell
is a liar.
Navy Needs More Men
For Radar Technicians
There is a great need for young
men with mathematics and science
training' to qualify as radar tech
nicians, reports Chief Specialist
W. E. Bell in charge of navy re
cruiting in Lane county.
Those who qualify for this pro
gram are eligible for training
equivalent to two years of college
in radio and electrical engineering.
Specific information regarding this
program may be obtained at the
United States navy substation,
room 6, in the Eugene post office,
KAILE'S APPAREL SHOP
Phone 976 1044 Willamette
All the clothes for a
college girl's wardrobe and
to fit her budget
QilheAt
“PORTLAND’S LEADING PHOTOGRAPHER”
Invites students
to her modern studio
at all times
708 S. W. Morrison St.
Portland, Oregon
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