Short Fiction · Chapter
IX: Yale, Beaten by Blind Boys explained
The narrator, as Yale captain, resigns due to the misery of three players but is persuaded to stay after trading them to Dartmouth.
What happens
The narrator, as Yale captain, resigns due to the misery of three players but is persuaded to stay after trading them to Dartmouth. The team wins two games but loses to several odd opponents, including the Weehawken School for the Blind, who use trickery. The narrator spends Christmas at the Grudge mansion, where he deals with the eccentric Bera Grudge and her tiger obsession.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Media and Business
The Grudge family's wealth and social status are exaggerated, with the father's desperation to marry off his daughter satirizing business-like approaches to personal life.
Family and Generational Conflict
Bera's eccentric behavior and her father's frustration highlight generational and personality clashes within the family.
Characters to notice
- Bert
Narrator and Yale captain who resigns and later visits the Grudge family.
- Mr. Grant
Jack Grudge's father, president of U.S. Steel, worried about his daughter Bera.
- Ella
Bera Grudge, the eccentric daughter who constantly shouts 'Sis-Boom-Ah! Tiger!' and is obsessed with tigers.
- Mrs. Green
Mrs. Stevens, the laundress at the Grudge house, who engages in banter with the narrator.
Key passages
“After the Harvard game I tendered my resignation as Yale captain because my incumbency was making some of the men so miserable.”
I quit as Yale captain after the Harvard game because my leadership was upsetting the players.
The narrator's resignation is a humorous take on team morale.
“The Weehawken team’s college color was light yellow and this was the origin of the expression blind man’s buff.”
The Weehawken team's color was light yellow, which is why we now say 'blind man's buff.'
A pun on 'blind' and 'buff' (as in bare skin) to explain the phrase.
“Her father said to me one night: 'Lardy,' he said, 'I’d give anything to get Bera married off.'”
Mr. Grudge told me he would do anything to see Bera married.
The father's desperation is a comedic highlight.