Poetry · Chapter
Two Delegates explained
A comedic and epic-style poem describes a tense encounter between two political figures, Great Gorham and Frank Pixley, in a restaurant.
What happens
A comedic and epic-style poem describes a tense encounter between two political figures, Great Gorham and Frank Pixley, in a restaurant. Their mutual hostility and dramatic confrontation cause panic among the patrons, but ultimately both men simply eat their respective meals.
Themes in this chapter
Political Satire
The chapter lampoons political egos and posturing through a mock-heroic depiction of a trivial restaurant confrontation.
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The grandiose behavior of the delegates contrasts with their mundane actions, highlighting the absurdity and self-importance of political figures.
Characters to notice
- Great Gorham
Enters a restaurant demanding an ounce of bacon and a bean; his fierce presence terrifies the waiter.
- Frank Pixley
Arrives in a gloomy mood after being silenced at a convention; roars for a leg of beef and engages in a hostile stare-down with Gorham.
Key passages
“Great Gorham first, his yearning tooth to sate And give him stomach for the day’s debate, Entering a restaurant, with eager mien Demands an ounce of bacon and a bean.”
Great Gorham, hungry and preparing for the day's debate, enters a restaurant and orders a tiny portion of bacon and a single bean.
The exaggerated modesty of the order contrasts with the grand political setting.
“So fierce his mien, with provident accord The waiters swarmed him, thinking him a lord. He spurned them, roaring grandly to their chief: 'Give me (Fred Crocker pays) a leg of beef!'”
Pixley's fierce appearance makes the waiters assume he is a nobleman, but he dismisses them and loudly orders a leg of beef, indicating Fred Crocker will pay.
Highlights Pixley's arrogance and the comic misunderstanding of his status.
“Hotly the heroes now fell to—their breath Came short and hard, as in the throes of death. They clenched their hands, their weapons brandished high, Cut, stabbed, and hewed, nor uttered any cry, But gnashed their teeth and struggled on! In brief, One ate his bacon, t’other one his beef.”
The two men engage in a fierce struggle, described in violent terms, but in the end they simply eat their respective meals.
The anticlimax satirizes the inflated drama of political rivalry.