Short Fiction · Chapter
On Behalf of the Management explained
Sully Magoon recounts the story of his friend Denver Galloway, a natural-born manager who has never invested his own money but excels at running other people's enterprises.
What happens
Sully Magoon recounts the story of his friend Denver Galloway, a natural-born manager who has never invested his own money but excels at running other people's enterprises. Denver takes on the role of campaign manager for General Rompiro, a South American presidential candidate in exile, and enlists Sully's help. The chapter explores the nature of management, ambition, and the art of bluff and front.
Themes in this chapter
Ambition and Failure
Denver Galloway's ambition to manage something grand like a railroad or diamond trust contrasts with the dubious reality of a South American campaign.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Denver's glamour and front deceive General Rompiro into believing he is a great man, while the General himself is not what he seems.
Humor and Irony
The ironic contrast between Denver's grandiose self-image and his actual ventures, as well as the humorous descriptions of the General and the hotel.
Characters to notice
- Denver Galloway
A born manager, red-headed and charismatic, who manages the Hotel Brunswick and takes on the campaign of General Rompiro.
- Sully Magoon
The narrator and friend of Denver, who is drawn into Denver's scheme to manage a South American presidential campaign.
- General Rompiro
A South American presidential candidate in exile, described as a small, liver-colored man who admires Denver greatly.
Key passages
“The woman manager (he says) economizes, saves, oppresses her household with bargains and contrivances, and looks sourly upon any pence that are cast to the fiddler for even a single jig-step on life’s arid march.”
According to Sully, a female manager is thrifty and restrictive, denying small pleasures to save money.
Sully's gendered view of management sets up the contrast with the male manager's style.
“Now, the man manager (I still quote Sully) is a Caesar without a Brutus. He is an autocrat without responsibility, a player who imperils no stake of his own.”
The male manager is a ruler who takes no personal financial risk and bears no consequences for failure.
Defines the central concept of the chapter: the manager as a risk-free operator.
“I’ve given him the wizard grip and the cabalistic eye. The glamour that emanates from yours truly has enveloped him like a North River fog.”
Denver claims he has mesmerized the General with his charisma and aura of importance.
Denver's self-aggrandizing description of his influence over General Rompiro.