The Virginian · Chapter
VI: Em'ly explained
The narrator describes his stay at Judge Henry's Sunk Creek Ranch, where he is known as 'the tenderfoot' and is assigned the Virginian as his escort after repeatedly getting lost.
What happens
The narrator describes his stay at Judge Henry's Sunk Creek Ranch, where he is known as 'the tenderfoot' and is assigned the Virginian as his escort after repeatedly getting lost. The chapter focuses on the narrator's misadventures, his building of a chicken house, and his interactions with the ranch hands, culminating in a humorous anecdote about a hen named Em'ly.
Themes in this chapter
Civilization vs. Wilderness
The narrator's Eastern inexperience contrasts with the Western ranch environment, as seen in his blunders and the ranch's self-sufficiency.
Friendship and Betrayal
The Virginian's silent tolerance and eventual storytelling about the narrator suggest a complex bond, blending camaraderie with gentle mockery.
Nature and the Landscape
Vivid descriptions of the Wyoming landscape, including the Bow Leg Mountains, irrigation ditches, and wildlife, underscore the setting's beauty and harshness.
Characters to notice
- The Virginian
Assigned as the narrator's escort; silently endures the humiliation of playing nurse; later tells a story about the narrator in the bunkhouse and discusses the hen Em'ly.
- Judge Henry
Owner of Sunk Creek Ranch; arranges for the Virginian to escort the narrator; noted for his ranch's luxuries like milk, butter, and eggs.
- Mrs. Henry
Judge Henry's wife; her influence brought shade trees, flowers, and turkeys to the ranch; initially tried to shield the narrator from being called a tenderfoot.
- Honey Wiggin
One of the cowboys at Sunk Creek Ranch; present in the bunkhouse when the Virginian tells a story about the narrator.
- Balaam
Visits the ranch and addresses the narrator as 'the tenderfoot'; described as a maltreater of horses.
- Em'ly
A hen named by the narrator after an old maid at home; described as huge, gaunt, with a missing tail feather and bare breast from sitting on potatoes; the chapter centers on her.
Key passages
“My personage was a hen, and she lived at the Sunk Creek Ranch.”
The main subject of this chapter is a hen that resides at the Sunk Creek Ranch.
Opens the chapter, introducing Em'ly as the central figure.
“I was not called by my name after the first feeble etiquette due to a stranger in his first few hours had died away. I was known simply as 'the tenderfoot.'”
After the initial polite treatment of a newcomer faded, I was only referred to as 'the tenderfoot.'
Highlights the narrator's status as an outsider and his lack of Western skills.
“He bore it in courteous silence, except when speaking was necessary.”
He endured the task politely, only speaking when he had to.
Describes the Virginian's patient but resentful demeanor as the narrator's escort.
“And the hat on his haid was the one mark showed yu' he weren't a snappin'-turtle.”
The hat on his head was the only clue that he wasn't a snapping turtle.
The punchline of the Virginian's story about the narrator, heard by the narrator outside the bunkhouse.
“I named her myself, after I came to notice her particularly. There's an old maid at home who's charitable, and belongs to the Cruelty to Animals, and she never knows whether she had better cross in front of a street car or wait. I named the hen after her.”
I named the hen after an indecisive, charitable old maid I know back East.
Explains the origin of the hen's name, Em'ly, and the narrator's humorous comparison.
