Spoon River Anthology · Chapter
Ralph Rhodes explained
Ralph Rhodes confesses to wrecking his father's bank through loans to dabble in wheat, but reveals his father was complicit.
What happens
Ralph Rhodes confesses to wrecking his father's bank through loans to dabble in wheat, but reveals his father was complicit. He describes his subsequent life of dissipation in New York, chasing women and wine until his theft finally catches up with him in old age, demanding he return to Spoon River in disgrace.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
Ralph reveals that his father, a churchgoer, was complicit in the bank wrecking, exposing the hypocrisy of religious respectability masking financial fraud.
Unfulfilled Lives and Repression
Ralph's pursuit of pleasure in New York leaves him empty and sickened, culminating in a lonely, degraded end—a life unfulfilled by dissipation.
Characters to notice
- Thomas Rhodes
Ralph's father, the banker, who was complicit in the wheat scheme but couldn't margin the deal in his own name due to his church relationship.
Key passages
“All they said was true: I wrecked my father’s bank with my loans To dabble in wheat; but this was true— I was buying wheat for him as well, Who couldn’t margin the deal in his name Because of his church relationship.”
Everything people said about me is true: I ruined my father's bank by taking out loans to speculate in wheat. But what they don't know is that I was also buying wheat for him, since he couldn't make the deal in his own name because of his position in the church.
Ralph confesses to the bank failure but implicates his father, revealing hidden complicity.
“And you look up, and there's your Theft, Who waited until your head was gray, And your heart skipped beats to say to you: The game is ended. I've called for you, Go out on Broadway and be run over, They'll ship you back to Spoon River.”
Then you look up and see your crime personified, which waited until you were old and weak to tell you the game is over. It orders you to go out on Broadway and get run over, so your body can be sent back to Spoon River.
Ralph personifies his theft as a figure that finally confronts him in old age, demanding a sordid end.