“Consequences” is this month’s story for the Willa Cather Short Story Project. Have you read it? If not, read it over on the Willa Cather Archive where you can also view the original magazine illustrations by Everett Shinn: https://cather.unl.edu/writings/shortfiction/ss009

Content warning for suicide.

A New York story of two men

This story was a surprise. “Consequences” is about two men who lead very different lives. Henry Eastman is a 40 year old harding working lawyer who argues cases in front of the Supreme Court, and Kier Cavenaugh is “a young man of pleasure.” His father was a Pennsylvania preacher who died shortly after oil was found on his land. Young Cavenaugh, suddenly wealthy, came to New York “to burn some of the oil.” Now he’s 32 years old and “still at it.”

They live in the same building on Central Park South. One rainy evening, Cavenaugh’s car pulls up to the Flat Iron Building where Eastman is trying to wave down a taxi. He offers Eastman a ride home. Eastman accepts and comments that he had seen Cavenaugh’s car drive by earlier. Cavenaugh explains he had driven a bunch of “girls,” who he refers to as “little boilers,” home from work. Eastman asks, “Aren’t they notoriously afraid of cars and smooth young men?”

Safe cars and chancy cars

Cavenaugh replies, “They know which cars are safe and which are chancy. They put each other wise. You have to take a bunch at a time, of course. The Italian girls can never come along; their men shoot. The girls understand, all right; but their fathers don’t. One gets to see queer places, sometimes, taking them home.”

Obviously, Cavenaugh thinks his car is one of the safe cars. But is it? Maybe those Italian fathers DO understand, and understand even more than Cavenaugh thinks he knows.

Cavenaugh makes the rounds each evening visiting multiple restaurants, wining and dining and partying with the “girls.” Everyone is having a grand time, so what could be the consequence of that? Enter the mystery man, an elderly gentleman dressed in shabby evening clothes who occasionally appears to Cavenaugh, but only when he’s alone. The old man knows things.

Auld Lang Syne

Some time later, Eastman and Cavenaugh spontaneously spend a quiet New Year’s Eve together. They’re in Eastman’s apartment and Cavenaugh notices the photo of a man on the mantle. He was a friend of Eastman’s who recently died by suicide. This gets them talking about other men they know who died by suicide or just disappeared. They discuss thoughts and theories about suicide, the why behind possible reasons, and what signs there might be.

By the end of the story, only one man is alive.

“Consequences” is more psychological suspense than paranormal, although it has elements of horror. As mentioned in the reminder post, you can see shades of Henry James, Hawthorne, and Poe, to which I would add Oscar Wilde (and fast forward with a dash of Stephen King). Although there are red flags early on, the beginning of this story seems like it will be a light piece about how different men can be. But it takes a serious turn on New Year’s Eve, after which I was left with a sense of dread.

Dr. J

In the end, there’s not much hope. At one point during their discussion on New Year’s Eve, Eastman mentions Dr. Johnson, who Cavenaugh thinks is some “old fellow,” a specialist doctor in the area. I think the reference is to Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) but Eastman doesn’t offer a correction. It has been a long time since I’ve read anything by Dr. J, but a quick Google search led me to his essay Number 120, The Miseries of Life. This paragraph seems very much in line with the sentiments of “Consequences” —

But by him that examines life with a more close attention, the happiness of the world will be found still less than it appears. In some intervals of publick prosperity, or to use terms more proper, in some intermissions of calamity, a general diffusion of happiness may seem to overspread a people; all is triumph and exultation, jollity and plenty; there are no publick fears and dangers, and “no complainings in the streets.” But the condition of individuals is very little mended by this general calm: pain and malice and discontent still continue their havock; the silent depredation goes incessantly forward; and the grave continues to be filled by the victims of sorrow.

Source: Samuel Johnson’s Essays

Whereas Johnson seems to have compassion for “the victims of sorrow,” Eastman says that men like Cavenaugh are “soft.” Initially, I was put off by this comment, but after reading the story again and pondering Johnson’s quote, I think what Cather may have been getting at is that neither man is happy or contended. Eastman keeps his “character” together by throwing himself into his work. As he says to Cavenaugh, “What we call character, is held together by all sorts of tacks and strings and glue.” He’s a workaholic lawyer.

Suicide in Cather’s stories

There are many suicides in Cather’s stories. In last month’s story, “The Bohemian Girl,” the main character, Nils Erickson, calls the man who died by suicide “a chump.” That story was published in 1912 and “Consequences” in 1915. In later stories, like My Antonia (1918), suicide is treated more compassionately, perhaps because the characters have a stronger emotional connection or perhaps Cather’s own thoughts and feelings about suicide evolved. But, then again, in an earlier story, “Paul’s Case” (1905), the subject is treated with more understanding than condemnation, so perhaps it is simply an author showing various cultural attitudes and revealing the character of those who judge vs those who are compassionate.

Okay, I’ve gone on long enough. If you’ve read “Consequences,” what’s your response to this story?

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New to this blog? Learn more about the Willa Cather Short Story Project here. In a nutshell, we read one Cather short story a month. I remind everyone of what story we’re reading on the second Wednesday of the month and then share a response on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Jump in anytime!