A Hazard of New Fortunes · Chapter
III explained
Dryfoos, awakened by laughter and music from the drawing-room, converses with his wife about their old farm and the graves of their children, expressing deep homesickness and discomfort with their new wealth.
What happens
Dryfoos, awakened by laughter and music from the drawing-room, converses with his wife about their old farm and the graves of their children, expressing deep homesickness and discomfort with their new wealth. He then observes Beaton teaching Christine the banjo, feeling a mix of suspicion and uncertainty about the young man's intentions, while his wife laments the changes in their family and worries about their children's future in New York.
Themes in this chapter
Family and Generational Conflict
Dryfoos and his wife argue about their children's choices, especially Conrad's desire to help the poor and Christine's interest in Beaton, revealing deep generational and value-based divides.
Urban vs. Rural Life
Mrs. Dryfoos longs for the farm and expresses discomfort with New York, while the family's new wealth and social activities contrast sharply with their simpler past.
Love and Marriage
Beaton's attention to Christine and her evident happiness suggest a budding romantic interest, complicated by Dryfoos's suspicion and class anxieties.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Dryfoos
Awakens from a nap, talks with his wife about the old farm and children's graves, then observes Beaton with Christine, feeling suspicious and uncertain.
- Mrs. Dryfoos
Weeps over the loss of the family burying ground, expresses homesickness and discomfort with wealth, and worries about her children.
- Angus Beaton
Teaches Christine the banjo in the drawing-room, sings a French song, and behaves with nonchalant confidence, causing Dryfoos's unease.
- Christine Dryfoos
Learns the banjo from Beaton, appears radiant with happiness, and ignores her father's presence during the lesson.
- Mela Dryfoos
Giggles and watches Christine's bliss with unselfish pleasure, plays piano chords, and answers her father's questions about the banjo.
- Conrad Dryfoos
Discussed by his parents: his desire to help the poor as a religious brother, his dissatisfaction with the magazine business, and his absence from home.
Key passages
“I can't see as we've got a bit more comfort of our lives, Jacob, because we've got such piles and piles of money. I wisht to gracious we was back on the farm this minute.”
Mrs. Dryfoos tells her husband that their wealth has not brought them any more comfort and that she wishes they were back on the farm.
Expresses the theme of urban vs. rural life and the emotional cost of material success.
“He don't mean a Catholic priest—not a Roman one, Jacob. He's told me all about it. They ain't the kind o' Catholics we been used to; some sort of 'Piscopalians; and they do a heap o' good amongst the poor folks over there.”
Mrs. Dryfoos explains to her husband that Conrad wants to join a religious order that helps the poor, not a Roman Catholic priesthood but an Episcopal one.
Highlights Conrad's spiritual and social motivations, and the family's misunderstanding of his calling.
“I don't believe I'll ever feel at home anywheres else. I woon't know where I am when the trumpet sounds. I have to think before I can tell where the east is in New York; and what if I should git faced the wrong way when I raise?”
Mrs. Dryfoos fears she will never feel at home in New York and worries about being disoriented at the resurrection.
Illustrates her deep attachment to the farm and her spiritual anxiety about displacement.
