# Chapter XVI explained — Cimarron

> Chapter companion for Cimarron by Edna Ferber.

## What happens

Yancey Cravat returns to Osage after five years, appearing in the uniform of the Oklahoma Rough Riders amid the town's patriotic fervor for the Spanish-American War and its moral crusade against Dixie Lee. Sabra, who has been running the Wigwam and leading the campaign against vice, is torn between her joy at his return and her horror when he decides to defend Dixie Lee in court, leading to a violent confrontation. The chapter culminates in a packed courtroom as Yancey takes on the case.

## Themes in this chapter

### Gender Roles and Women's Agency

Sabra's evolution into a capable newspaper editor and moral crusader contrasts with Dixie Lee's vulnerability; Yancey's defense of Dixie challenges the purity squad's authority.

### Myth vs. Reality

Yancey's romantic, heroic return as a Rough Rider clashes with the harsh reality of his abandonment and the town's moral hypocrisy.

### Social Class and Morality

The respectable women of Osage use moral reform to consolidate power, while Dixie Lee, a lower-class outsider, is scapegoated.

### Transformation and Progress

Osage's shift from frontier lawlessness to civic virtue, symbolized by the anti-vice campaign and the Spanish-American War patriotism.

## Character check-ins

### Sabra Cravat

Running the Wigwam for five years, leading the purity campaign against Dixie Lee, and confronting Yancey over his decision to defend the harlot.

### Yancey Cravat

Returns after five years in Alaska and the Spanish-American War, nonchalant and exuberant, immediately decides to defend Dixie Lee in court.

### Cim Cravat

Now a slender, graceful boy with a sensitive face, reaches almost to Yancey's shoulders, asks about a pony.

### Donna Cravat

Shy of Yancey upon his return, described as a Venable.

### Dixie Lee

The defendant in the disorderly conduct case, all in black in the courtroom, facing expulsion from Osage.

### Jesse Rickey

Erratic printer at the Wigwam, takes Yancey's return for granted.

### Pat Leary

Prosecuting attorney in the Dixie Lee case, wearing a solemn suit of black.

### Judge Sipes

Presiding over the Dixie Lee case, nervously chewing tobacco.

## Key lines

> It was characteristic that at this moment in Osage's history, when the town was torn, now by martial music, now by the call of civic virtue, Yancey Cravat should have chosen to come riding home; and not that alone, but to come riding home in full panoply of war, more dashing, more romantic, more mysterious than on the day he had ridden away.

Yancey's return at a time of patriotic fervor and moral reform is typical of his dramatic nature, appearing as a war hero in full Rough Rider uniform.

_Highlights Yancey's theatricality and the town's divided attention between war and virtue._

> For five years she had pictured him returning to her in dramatic fashion; in his white sombrero, his Prince Albert, his high-heeled boots. For five years she had known what she would say, how she would look at him, in what manner she would conduct herself toward him—toward this man who had deserted her without a word, cruelly. In an instant, at sight of him, all this left her mind, her consciousness. She was in his arms with an inarticulate cry, she was weeping, her arms were about him, the buttons of his uniform crushed her breasts.

Sabra had rehearsed a cold reception for Yancey after his abandonment, but seeing him overwhelms her and she falls into his embrace.

_Shows Sabra's emotional conflict between resentment and love._

> I'll tell you what I think,' cried Sabra—the Sabra Cravat who had been evolved in the past five years. 'I think you're crazy! They've all said so. And now I know they are right.'

Sabra, hardened by years of independence, accuses Yancey of madness for defending Dixie Lee.

_Demonstrates Sabra's transformation and her fury at Yancey's actions._

> He lifted her, scratching, kicking, clawing, set her gently down in the chair in front of her desk.

Yancey physically overpowers Sabra's violent resistance and places her in her chair.

_Illustrates the physical and emotional struggle between them._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/cimarron_se/chapters/xvi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/cimarron_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/cimarron_se/chapters