# Chapter VIII explained — The Octopus

> Chapter companion for The Octopus by Frank Norris.

## What happens

Presley, haunted by the suffering of the Hooven family and the violence at the irrigating ditch, confronts the vast wealth and power of the railroad magnates. He dines at the Gerard mansion, where his rage and horror at the oppression of the farmers crystallize into a vision of inevitable revolution. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hooven and her daughter Hilda, starving and homeless, collapse on a hilltop in San Francisco, drifting toward death.

## Themes in this chapter

### Class Conflict

Presley's vision of the wealthy as harpies feeding on the poor, and the contrast between the Gerards' luxury and the Hoovens' starvation, dramatizes the brutal class struggle.

### Violence and Revolution

Presley imagines the People rising up to sack the Gerard mansion, a prophetic vision of revolutionary violence born from oppression.

### Corporate Oppression

The railroad's tentacle reaches everywhere, ruining farmers like Magnus and Annixter, and driving the Hoovens to destitution.

## Character check-ins

### Presley

Tortured by guilt and rage, he seeks out Shelgrim and later attends a dinner at the Gerard mansion, where he envisions the wealthy as harpies feeding on the people.

### Hilda Hooven

Starving and bewildered, she follows her mother through the streets and finally lies down with her under a bush on a hilltop.

### Minna Hooven

Mentioned as having exhausted their money; Presley worries about her fate in the city.

### Magnus Derrick

Referenced as having been beggared by the railroad, contributing to the wealth of men like Gerard.

### Annixter

Mentioned as being devoured by the system, killed at the irrigating ditch.

### Harran Derrick

Referenced as one of those being devoured by the railroad's oppression.

### Shelgrim

The railroad president, whom Presley attempts to see in his office, described as the master pulling the levers of oppression.

### Cedarquist

Presley's host for dinner; his wife brings Presley to the Gerard mansion.

## Key lines

> Because the farmers had been killed at the irrigation ditch, these others, Gerard and his family, fed full. They fattened on the blood of the People, on the blood of the men who had been killed at the ditch.

The wealth of the railroad magnates like Gerard is built directly on the deaths of the farmers slaughtered at the irrigation ditch.

_Presley's bitter realization of the cannibalistic nature of the class system._

> Yes, the People would turn some day, and turning, rend those who now preyed upon them.

Presley foresees a violent uprising in which the oppressed masses will destroy their oppressors.

_A key moment of revolutionary prophecy in the chapter._

> We gowun to die togedder. Put der arms roundt me, soh, tighd, leedle babby. We gowun to die, we gowun to vind Popper. We aindt gowun to be hongry eny more.

Mrs. Hooven, in despair, tells Hilda they will die together and find her father, ending their hunger.

_The tragic climax of the Hooven family's suffering._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_octopus_se/chapters/viii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_octopus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_octopus_se/chapters