The Octopus · Chapter
Conclusion explained
Presley departs California aboard the Swanhilda, reflecting on the devastation wrought by the Railroad—the deaths of Annixter, Harran, Osterman, Broderson, Hooven, and Mrs.
What happens
Presley departs California aboard the Swanhilda, reflecting on the devastation wrought by the Railroad—the deaths of Annixter, Harran, Osterman, Broderson, Hooven, and Mrs. Hooven, the corruption of Lyman Derrick, the ruin of Dyke, and the suffering of Minna and Hilma. He finds solace in the larger view that the Wheat, as a world-force, continues its nourishing cycle, indifferent to human tragedy, and that good ultimately prevails.
Themes in this chapter
Corporate Oppression
The Railroad's destruction of lives and livelihoods is vividly recounted, showing the inhumanity of corporate power.
Nature and Fertility
The Wheat remains 'untouched, unassailable, undefiled,' a mighty world-force that nourishes nations despite human suffering.
Violence and Revolution
The fight at the irrigating ditch, the rabbit drive, and the deaths of multiple characters underscore the violent climax of the Ranch-Railroad conflict.
Characters to notice
- Presley
Leaves California aboard the Swanhilda, reflecting on the past drama and the larger meaning of the Wheat.
- Cedarquist
Bids Presley farewell, discusses his new wheat shipping venture and the sale of the Atlas Works.
- Annixter
Remembered as having died at the moment of his moral salvation; his death saves lives in India.
- Hilma Tree
Widowed by Annixter's death in the dawn of her happiness.
- Lyman Derrick
Corrupted by the Railroad, now the Regular Republican nominee for Governor of California.
- Dyke
Hounded from his employment and made a criminal by the Railroad; his hop-fields are ruined.
Key passages
“Falseness dies; injustice and oppression in the end of everything fade and vanish away. Greed, cruelty, selfishness, and inhumanity are short-lived; the individual suffers, but the race goes on.”
Falsehood and oppression ultimately perish; while individuals may suffer, humanity as a whole progresses.
Presley's philosophical conclusion about the larger view of history.
“Annixter dies, but in a far distant corner of the world a thousand lives are saved.”
Annixter's death, though tragic, contributes to saving many lives elsewhere.
The paradox of individual loss versus global good.
“The Wheat remained. Untouched, unassailable, undefiled, that mighty world-force, that nourisher of nations, wrapped in Nirvanic calm, indifferent to the human swarm, gigantic, resistless, moved onward in its appointed grooves.”
The Wheat continues its eternal, indifferent cycle, nourishing nations regardless of human turmoil.
The central symbol of the novel's conclusion.