# XVI explained — One of Ours

> Chapter companion for One of Ours by Willa Cather.

## What happens

The Wheeler family gathers for Christmas dinner, including Bayliss, who harbors resentment toward Claude and reflects on his lonely boyhood. Tensions arise over the Erlichs' business and Bayliss's plan to attend a musical show with Gladys and Enid, which Claude reluctantly agrees to drive.

## Themes in this chapter

### Family and Individuality

The Wheeler family Christmas dinner highlights the tensions between Bayliss's resentment and Claude's freedom, as well as the differing values and personalities within the family.

### Class and Social Mobility

Bayliss's criticism of the Erlichs' business and his courtship of Gladys, who is poor but stylish, reflect class dynamics and the pursuit of social standing.

## Character check-ins

### Claude Wheeler

Claude is home for the holidays, tries to keep his temper with Bayliss, and reluctantly agrees to drive the party to a musical show.

### Bayliss Wheeler

Bayliss visits for Christmas dinner, feels jealous of Claude, criticizes the Erlichs' business, and proposes a trip to a musical show to court Gladys.

### Ralph Wheeler

Ralph comes home for the holidays, tells stories about his neighbors in Yucca county during dinner.

### Nat Wheeler

Nat returns home for the holidays and talks politics with Bayliss at dinner.

### Mrs. Wheeler

Mrs. Wheeler prepares the Christmas dinner, is gently scolded by Bayliss for drinking a second cup of coffee, and remembers Claude's fondness for reading aloud.

### Gladys Farmer

Gladys is the object of Bayliss's courtship; she is a talented musician and old friend of Claude, but her poverty makes her vulnerable to Bayliss's advances.

## Key lines

> When he was a boy of fourteen or fifteen, it used to make him bitterly jealous to hear his mother coaxing Claude to read aloud to her.

Bayliss felt jealous as a teenager when his mother asked Claude to read to her.

_Reveals Bayliss's long-standing envy of Claude's bond with their mother._

> He envied Claude his fine physique and his unreckoning, impulsive vitality, as if they had been given to his brother by unfair means and should rightly have been his.

Bayliss resented Claude's physical strength and spontaneous energy, feeling they were undeserved.

_Highlights Bayliss's deep-seated sense of injustice and inferiority._

> Marrying Bayliss, he thought, would be no joke for any woman, but Gladys was the one girl in town whom he particularly ought not to marry.

Claude believed marrying Bayliss would be difficult for any woman, especially Gladys, who deserved better.

_Shows Claude's protective concern for Gladys and his disapproval of Bayliss's courtship._

## Links

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