Short Fiction · Chapter
The Day Resurgent explained
Danny McCree, a hard-working young man, grapples with the meaning of Easter Sunday while caring for his blind father, who longs to hear about the 'hippopotamus' from a history book.
What happens
Danny McCree, a hard-working young man, grapples with the meaning of Easter Sunday while caring for his blind father, who longs to hear about the 'hippopotamus' from a history book. After a day of wandering and questioning, Danny realizes his father was referring to the Peloponnesus, and he reads to him from 'The History of Greece,' bringing comfort and connection.
Themes in this chapter
Nostalgia and the Passage of Time
Old man McCree's longing for the past and his memories of reading about the Greeks contrast with Danny's modern, practical life.
Social Class and Wealth
Danny's labor as a dray chauffeur and the family's modest flat highlight the struggles of the working class.
Humor and Irony
Danny's confusion over 'hippopotamus' versus 'Peloponnesus' and his gruff manner when doing a good deed provide ironic humor.
Characters to notice
- Dan McMullen
Danny McCree, the protagonist, a dray chauffeur who supports his family and struggles to understand Easter.
- Old Uncle Jake
Old man McCree, Danny's blind father, who sits by the window and longs to hear about the 'hippopotamus' from his history book.
- Mrs. Conant
Mrs. McCree, Danny's mother, who prepares breakfast and cares for her blind husband.
- Maggie Toole
Katy Conlon, Danny's love interest, who invites him to church and wears a hat with green roses.
- The Doctor
Corrigan, the cop, who explains Easter as an annual celebration peculiar to New York.
Key passages
“Hippopotamus! Wouldn't that send you to the Bronx! It's been a year since he heard it; and he didn't miss it so very far. We quit at 469 BC, and this comes next.”
Danny realizes his father was asking about the Peloponnesus, not a hippopotamus, and that they had stopped reading at 469 BC.
Danny's epiphany about his father's request.
“The preacher, who was in a hurry to go to his dinner, had told him, but Danny had had no libretto with which to follow the drowsy intonation. But the preacher spoke the truth.”
The preacher's sermon on resurrection was lost on Danny, but it contained a truth he would later understand.
Danny's failure to grasp the sermon's meaning.