# An Adjustment of Nature explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by O. Henry. ## What happens The narrator recounts a story from three years ago about his friend Kraft, a painter who believes in the 'Unerring Artistic Adjustment of Nature.' They frequent Cipher's restaurant, where the magnificent waitress Milly works. Kraft fears that a wealthy lumberman will marry Milly and take her away from her natural environment. When a Klondiker millionaire appears and shows interest in Milly, the friends get him drunk and send him away to preserve the natural order. Later, the narrator learns that Kraft married Milly himself, revealing his true motive. ## Themes in this chapter ### Social Class and Wealth The Klondiker's wealth threatens to disrupt Milly's natural place at Cipher's, highlighting class tensions between the working class and nouveau riche. ### Deception and Appearance vs. Reality Kraft pretends to act out of artistic principle but actually has personal motives, as revealed at the end when he admits he married Milly. ### Humor and Irony The ironic twist that Kraft, who preached about preserving nature's adjustment, was himself the one to upset it by marrying Milly. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown Narrator The narrator, a friend of Kraft and Judkins, tells the story of their efforts to preserve Milly's place at Cipher's. ### Billy Keogh Not present in this chapter. ### Andy Donovan Not present in this chapter. ### The Captain Not present in this chapter. ### Johnny Atwood Not present in this chapter. ### Jim Not present in this chapter. ### Lorison Not present in this chapter. ### David Mignot Not present in this chapter. ### Samuel Tansey Not present in this chapter. ### Annie Williams Not present in this chapter. ### Ranse Truesdell Not present in this chapter. ### Octavia Beaupree Not present in this chapter. ### The General Not present in this chapter. ### Miss Alice Not present in this chapter. ### Jeff Peters Not present in this chapter. ### Willie Robbins Not present in this chapter. ### The Colonel Not present in this chapter. ### The Doctor Not present in this chapter. ### Curly Not present in this chapter. ### Aileen Not present in this chapter. ### Fergus O'Hollihan Not present in this chapter. ### Mame Dugan Not present in this chapter. ### Hetty Pepper Not present in this chapter. ### The Hermit Not present in this chapter. ### Whistling Dick Not present in this chapter. ### Dan McMullen Not present in this chapter. ### Lawyer Gooch Not present in this chapter. ### Grandemont Charles Not present in this chapter. ### Van Sweller Not present in this chapter. ### Simmons Not present in this chapter. ### Dry Valley Johnson Not present in this chapter. ### Yancey Goree Not present in this chapter. ### Barney O'Connor Not present in this chapter. ### Curtis Raidler Not present in this chapter. ### Dicky Maloney Not present in this chapter. ### Shamrock Jolnes Not present in this chapter. ### Cork McManus Not present in this chapter. ### Denver Galloway Not present in this chapter. ### Teddy Westlake Not present in this chapter. ### Frank Goodwin Not present in this chapter. ### Beelzebub Blythe Not present in this chapter. ### Thomas McQuade Not present in this chapter. ### Tom Hopkins Not present in this chapter. ### Soapy Not present in this chapter. ### Ives Not present in this chapter. ### Webb Yeager Not present in this chapter. ### Nevada Warren Not present in this chapter. ### Mr. Morley Not present in this chapter. ### Mac McGowan Not present in this chapter. ### Señor Goodwin Not present in this chapter. ### Young Murray Not present in this chapter. ### Luke Summers Not present in this chapter. ### Jimmy Valentine Not present in this chapter. ### Mr. Peters Not present in this chapter. ### Uncle Bushrod Not present in this chapter. ### Vallance Not present in this chapter. ### Mrs. Conant Not present in this chapter. ### Joe Larrabee Not present in this chapter. ### Maggie Toole Not present in this chapter. ### Injunction Cherokee Not present in this chapter. ### Old Uncle Jake Not present in this chapter. ### George Ringo Not present in this chapter. ### Doc Millikin Not present in this chapter. ### Cricket McGuire Not present in this chapter. ### Tom Lawson Not present in this chapter. ### Tonia Perez Not present in this chapter. ### Willard Geddie Not present in this chapter. ### Francis Kearny Not present in this chapter. ### Mr. Blinker Not present in this chapter. ### Señor White Not present in this chapter. ### Perry Rountree Not present in this chapter. ### Fuzzy Not present in this chapter. ### Buck Patterson Not present in this chapter. ### Tobin Not present in this chapter. ### Robert Walmsley Not present in this chapter. ### Thomas McLeod Not present in this chapter. ### Jacob Spraggins Not present in this chapter. ### Thacker Not present in this chapter. ### Bob Hart Not present in this chapter. ### Billy Pemberton Not present in this chapter. ## Key lines > It was our love of the Unerring Artistic Adjustment of Nature that inspired us. We could not give her over to a lumberman, doubly accursed by wealth and provincialism. We were motivated by our belief in nature's perfect order. We couldn't let her marry a wealthy, unsophisticated lumberman. _The narrator explains their philosophical justification for interfering with the Klondiker's courtship of Milly._ > With his own guns we drove him from the field. We used his own money against him to defeat him. _The friends trick the Klondiker into spending his own wealth on drinks, incapacitating him._ > I hurried away to see Kraft. His satanic eyes were the same, his hair was worse tangled, but his clothes had been made by a tailor. I went to visit Kraft. His eyes were still mischievous, his hair messier, but he now wore tailored clothes. _The narrator observes that Kraft's appearance has improved financially, hinting at his changed circumstances._ > Then, said I, 'when you led us against the lumberman—the—Klondiker—it wasn't altogether on account of the Unerring Artistic Adjustment of Nature?' 'Well, not altogether,' said Kraft, with a grin. I asked if his motivation for stopping the Klondiker was purely artistic. Kraft grinned and admitted it was not entirely so. _The final revelation that Kraft had personal, romantic motives for intervening._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/an-adjustment-of-nature - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters