57 pages • 1 hour read
Plainsong
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Chapters 41-44Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 41 Summary: “Victoria Roubideaux”
Victoria feels her contractions begin. She waits to tell the brothers, as they are tending to the animals. She tidies what she can until, eventually, the contractions become “harder and more definite” (238). Victoria walks outside and waits for the brothers to finish what they are doing. She tells them that it has started but is too soon to go into town. The McPherons take a moment to understand but then rush to help.
The brothers fuss around, insisting that Victoria should head to the hospital. Once she agrees, they arrive at the hospital where the brothers “stood in a kind of mute panic and intolerable outrage” (239). Hours pass by. The brothers refuse to leave, even during the night. Eventually, Harold offers to go back and feed the livestock while Raymond stays with Victoria.
Finally, Victoria is taken to the delivery room. When the doctor tells Raymond that he can see her, Raymond quizzes him with suspicion and then shakes the doctor’s hand. When Raymond enters the room, he sees the baby girl and says that she is a “beautiful little thing” (243). As he takes the baby in his arms, Harold enters, still dressed in his work clothes. When a nurse arrives and chastises the brothers, neither argues “because things were all right now” (244). The next morning, Doctor Martin receives a delivery of a half-steer’s worth of meat. It is a gift from the McPheron brothers.
Chapter 42 Summary: “Ike and Bobby”
School is out for the summer; Bobby and Ike deliver the newspapers and complete chores at home. Guthrie teaches summer classes, and Ella is still in Denver. Bobby and Ike spend a lot of time alone together. They lay coins on a railroad track, alongside a bracelet belonging to their mother. They wait for the train.
They smoke stolen cigarettes while they wait. Finally, the train thunders past. When it has passed, they collect the coins and the bracelet. The coins have been flattened, as has the bracelet, which is “thin as paper” (248). They bury all of the items in the dirt and place a rock on top. They each smoke another cigarette and lie in the sun, not talking or moving for some time.
Chapter 43 Summary: “McPherons”
The McPherons arrive back from the barn one afternoon and find an unknown black car parked in front of the gate. They enter their house and find Dwayne sitting across the table from Victoria, who is holding the baby: “I come back to take her with me” he announces, “[a]nd the baby too” (249). Harold chastises the boy for not standing when “somebody enters the room in his own house” (249). The brothers tell Dwayne to leave. Dwayne insists that Victoria leave with him, but she refuses.
Dwayne jumps up and grabs Victoria by the arm. Raymond and Harold approach him and tell him to let go. He jerks her arm, and the baby falls to the floor. As the baby begins to cry, Dwayne apologizes. The brothers lift the boy off his feet and carry him to the door. When they throw him onto the gravel, he agrees to leave but insists they haven’t seen the last of him. He drives away in his car.
Victoria and the baby are fine, but she admits that Dwayne scared her. She does not think he will return, but that he only “wanted to make a show” (251). Victoria reiterates that she wants to be on the farm. She nurses the baby, causing the brothers to look “away from the girl and out into the room” (251).
Chapter 44 Summary: “Holt”
On Memorial Day, two women exit a house and stand on the porch. Maggie’s father sits alone a at a long table laid out in the dining room. The two women look out at two boys rocking a baby in a glider swing. In the distance, three men stare into the corral, “each with a booted foot crooked on the bottom rail” (252).
Guthrie is hesitant about allowing his boys to take care of the baby, but both Maggie and Victoria tell him it will be fine. Guthrie and the McPherons discuss the old red cow who did not have a calf. They plan to take her to the sale barn. The Beckmans have hired a lawyer, and Guthrie does not know what he will do but does not seem to mind. The brothers hope that Victoria will stay “a while still” (253). Maggie and Victoria watch the scene and wait a little while before calling everybody in to supper.
Chapters 41-44 Analysis
The birth of Victoria’s baby is the emotional climax of the novel. As evidenced by the final chapter, it brings a resolution to all plot lines. Though this ending is vague, it embellishes the narrative with the sense that the characters are embarking on a fresh start. After months of pregnancy and the travails associated with Victoria’s life during this time, the baby has come to represent her struggles. When the baby arrives, these troubles can be temporarily cast aside, and life can be enjoyed.
After the violent encounter with the Beckman family, Guthrie and his family enjoy a moment of peace in the final chapter. Though Bobby and Ike are grown up—they are smoking and committing acts of minor vandalism—they sit with the baby, “rocking her a little in the evening” (253). This moment of peace contrasts with the traumatic scenes with Russell; it is a case of a character entering the boys’ lives for the first time, rather than departing. Guthrie discusses the upcoming legal issues he might encounter, as the Beckmans have hired a lawyer. When he is asked what he will do, he dismisses the issue: “I’ll be all right” (254). Compared to the constant worry and misery which has accompanied him earlier in the text, this relaxed and accepting version of Guthrie denotes a change in his character. He is happier now, and he is with Maggie. While his career might be in jeopardy, he has learned that there are more important things in life.
For Victoria, the birth of her baby represents a key moment of growth. Even before the baby arrives, there is a noticeable difference in her character. Earlier in the book, Victoria worries about everything and frets about how to care for the baby. However, she is in control from the moment her contractions begin, so much so that she puts off going to the hospital until the moment she is ready. This small display of agency represents the way in which she has wrestled back control over her life. This is also seen when Dwayne arrives at the farm and demands to take her away. She delays him just long enough that the McPheron brothers can come to her aid. By the end of the novel, Victoria has become thoughtful, sensible, and a mature young woman.
The overall effect of the baby’s arrival is reflected in the title of the chapter. While every other chapter bears the name of one of the characters, denoting the point of perspective from which it will be told, the final chapter is titled simply “Holt.” This illustrates the way in which the events described in the book—though relatively small-scale—have changed the entire town. The novel is not so much about individuals as it is about community. Maggie has successfully brought together the Guthrie family, the McPheron brothers, Victoria, and herself. At the beginning of the novel, each member of the group felt isolated and alone. They have now all found solace in one another’s company. They have become a community unto themselves; they are the emotional center of the town of Holt.
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