One of Ours · Chapter
XIV explained
Claude works the fields, cutting corn and planting wheat, while grappling with questions of property and purpose.
What happens
Claude works the fields, cutting corn and planting wheat, while grappling with questions of property and purpose. He reflects on Dan's words about the limits of a hired man's labor and feels the weight of his half-responsibility for land not his own. The chapter also covers Ralph's move to the new ranch, the family's attendance at Leonard Dawson's wedding, and Claude's quiet satisfaction in seeing his wheat fields green.
Themes in this chapter
Rural vs. Urban Life
Claude's internal conflict between the security of the farm and the desire to 'go out into the world and earn his bread among strangers'.
Class and Social Mobility
Dan's commentary on property and labor highlights the class divide between landowners and hired men.
Disillusionment and Search for Meaning
Claude's discontent and his questioning of the purpose of his days reflect a search for meaning beyond farm work.
Characters to notice
- Claude Wheeler
Works the cornfield, reflects on property and his own discontent, plants wheat, and finds solace in labor and Mahailey's appreciation.
- Dan
Hired man who explains his philosophy of saving his strength, contrasting with Claude's driven work ethic.
- Mahailey
Appreciates Claude's help with wood and coal, calls him a 'nice boy'.
- Mrs. Wheeler
Enjoys the fall, makes new house-dresses, and feels like a bride keeping house for just Claude.
- Bayliss Wheeler
Criticizes Claude's decision to plant wheat on the corn field, questioning his methods.
- Nat Wheeler
Moves to the new ranch, jocosely refers to the field as 'Claude's wheat field'.
Key passages
“It’s your corn, or anyways it’s your Paw’s. Them fields will always lay betwixt you and trouble. But a hired man’s got no property but his back, and he has to save it.”
Dan tells Claude that the land belongs to Claude's father, so Claude can afford to work hard, but a hired man must conserve his energy because his only asset is his own body.
Dan's philosophy on labor and property ownership.
“He often felt that he would rather go out into the world and earn his bread among strangers than sweat under this half-responsibility for acres and crops that were not his own.”
Claude wishes he could leave and work independently rather than bear the partial burden of land that belongs to his father.
Claude's desire for independence and escape from familial obligation.
“Day after day he flung himself upon the land and planted it with what was fermenting in him, glad to be so tired at night that he could not think.”
Claude poured his restless energy into the soil, finding relief in exhaustion that silenced his troubled thoughts.
Claude uses physical labor to suppress his inner turmoil.