Short Fiction · Chapter
The Ferry of Unfulfilment explained
A man from Nome, Henry Blayden, spots a beautiful girl from Sieber-Mason's department store on a New York street and follows her onto a ferry.
What happens
A man from Nome, Henry Blayden, spots a beautiful girl from Sieber-Mason's department store on a New York street and follows her onto a ferry. He tries to woo her with sincerity and talk of his gold dust wealth, but she is exhausted from lack of sleep and repeatedly mistakes his earnestness for a joke. She falls asleep on his shoulder, and when she wakes, he has disappeared.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Romance
The Man from Nome is instantly smitten and pursues the girl, hoping to win her affection despite her initial dismissal.
Social Class and Wealth
The contrast between the rough, wealthy miner and the working-class girl highlights themes of money and social standing in romance.
Humor and Irony
The girl's sleepy responses and misinterpretation of his earnest talk about dust and sweeping create ironic humor.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator describes the Man from Nome and the Girl from Sieber-Mason's, providing insight into their thoughts and actions.
- Andy Donovan
The Man from Nome is identified as Henry Blayden, a gold miner from Nome who follows the girl onto the ferry.
- Annie Williams
The Girl from Sieber-Mason's is Miss Claribel Colby, a Jersey commuter who works at the department store and is weary from lack of sleep.
Key passages
“At the street corner, as solid as granite in the “rush-hour” tide of humanity, stood the Man from Nome.”
The Man from Nome stood firmly at the street corner amidst the bustling crowd during rush hour.
Introduces the main character's stoic presence in a chaotic urban setting.
“Miss Claribel Colby, the Girl from Sieber-Mason’s, belonged to that sad company of mariners known as Jersey commuters.”
Miss Claribel Colby was one of the many weary commuters traveling from New Jersey.
Highlights her daily routine and the melancholy of commuting.
“The head of the Girl from Sieber-Mason’s slid over gently and rested upon his shoulder. Sweet sleep had won her, and she was dreaming rapturously of the Wholesale Fish Dealers’ Assistants’ ball.”
She fell asleep and her head came to rest on his shoulder, dreaming happily of the ball she had attended.
Shows her exhaustion and the innocent intimacy of the moment.