Java Head by Joseph Hergesheimer

First published: 1919

Type of plot: Historical

Time of work: The 1840’s

Locale: Salem, Massachusetts

Principal Characters:

• Jeremy Ammidon, the senior partner in a family shipping firm
• Gerrit Ammidon, his son, the master of the Nautilus
• William Ammidon, his other son, an active partner in the firm
• Rhoda Ammidon, William’s wife, an insightful woman
• Taou Yuen, Gerrit’s wife, the daughter of a Manchu nobleman
• Nettie Vollar, Barzil Dunsack’s illegitimate granddaughter
• Edward Dunsack, Barzil’s evil son, an opium addict

The Novel

Java Head is a historical novel, set in the 1840’s, about Salem, Massachusetts, shipowners who had grown wealthy from trade with the Far East, especially China. The novel consists of ten chapters, reflecting the viewpoints of nine different characters. As a result of these changing perspectives, Java Head is a complex novel based on a fairly simple plotline.

At the beginning of Java Head, the primary concern of the wealthy Ammidon family is that Gerrit Ammidon’s ship, the Nautilus, is months overdue. There are, however, tensions within the family—some of them trivial, like the squabbling between Laurel and her prissy sister Camilla; others more serious, like the frequent confrontations between the elderly Jeremy Ammidon, who spent most of his life at sea, and his son William Ammidon, whose only experience is in the countinghouse of the family firm. William’s wife Rhoda rebukes her husband for arguing with Jeremy about replacing their ships with the speedier clippers and about the profits to be derived from the opium trade. Either suggestion sends Jeremy into such a fury that Rhoda fears for his health. However, she sees no harm in the flirtation between her oldest daughter, Sidsall, and a middle-aged family friend, Roger Brevard.

The Ammidons are also troubled about the bad feeling between their family and that of another former ship captain, Barzil Dunsack. Jeremy has had nothing to do with his old friend since Dunsack refused to let Gerrit continue seeing Nettie Vollar, Barzil’s illegitimate granddaughter. Hearing that Barzil is ill, Jeremy pays him a visit in hopes of mending their friendship, but the meeting ends in another quarrel. Rhoda sympathizes with Nettie, who loathes Salem society, which has always snubbed her, and clearly has strong feelings for Gerrit.

The Ammidons are all relieved when they hear that the Nautilus is on her way into port. However, when Gerrit arrives at his home accompanied by a Chinese wife, they do not conceal their disapproval. Even after Gerrit explains that Taou Yuen is the aristocratic daughter of a Manchu nobleman whose life would have been sacrificed had he not married her, Rhoda suggests that he has only postponed tragedy, for his wife will never be accepted anywhere in America.

Having left China in disgrace, Barzil Dunsack’s son Edward has also returned to Salem, bringing with him a chest filled with opium for the habit he cannot or will not break. When Edward sees Gerrit’s beautiful, aristocratic Chinese wife, his old jealousy of the ship captain becomes an obsession, and he decides somehow to use Nettie to break up the marriage so that he can acquire Taou Yuen for himself. However, recognizing Edward for what he is, Taou Yuen contemptuously rejects his advances. After Barzil, Nettie, and her mother Kate see Edward in an opium-induced stupor, they, too, realize that he is a lost soul.

By accident, Jeremy learns that William and his brother-in-law have committed the firm to everything Jeremy despises, and the shock kills him. When Taou Yuen goes into mourning in the Chinese fashion, Gerrit is obviously repelled by her ugliness. Meanwhile, he has been drawn into closer contact with Nettie, and they declare their love for each other. Sensitive to the change in Gerrit, Taou Yuen goes to see Nettie, who has been injured and is bedridden. For a moment, Taou Yuen considers killing her. When Edward enters, locking the door behind him, Taou Yuen realizes her own danger. Aware that no one will hear her call for help, Taou Yuen escapes from Edward by swallowing a lethal dose of opium. Roger arrives too late to save her life.

After Taou Yuen’s funeral, Gerrit and Nettie are married and leave on the Nautilus. Learning that Sidsall is to be sent to school in Switzerland, Roger approaches her parents with a request for her hand. However, when they express their disapproval, his courage leaves him, and he backs down, losing Sidsall’s respect and his only chance at love.

The Characters

In Java Head, by using limited omniscience, the author explores the viewpoints of nine different characters, some of them major, others primarily observers.

Jeremy Ammidon is one of the most fully realized characters. He is a man of principle, as proven by his opposition to the opium trade, but he has unwisely given over the conduct of the business to his son William and his son-in-law. Jeremy is too plainspoken for Salem, which thrives on indirection and subterfuge. Jeremy’s outspokenness alienates his old friend Barzil Dunsack and drives William to conceal the firm’s activities from his father in order to avoid confrontations.

Gerrit Ammidon is also happier at sea than on land. However, though Gerrit calls himself a simple man, he has a habit of introspection. He knows that what he feels for Taou Yuen is primarily admiration and that he is drawn to Nettie because she seems to need him more than his wife does. However, Gerrit is blind to Taou Yuen’s love for him and to Edward’s designs upon her. His hasty marriage to Nettie suggests that he does not understand how much his neglect and infidelity contributed to Taou Yuen’s tragic end.

Taou Yuen is a somewhat shadowy figure, defined primarily by such externals as her clothing, her cosmetics, and her religious practices, which reflect her adherence to tradition. Unfortunately, she is so self-disciplined that she cannot confide in Gerrit and so uncompromising that she sees her thoughts about killing her rival as a loss of integrity so appalling that she does not deserve to live.

Nettie Vollar views herself as a victim, rejected by Salem society and by the man she loves. By emphasizing her need for him, she wins Gerrit away from his wife.

Edward Dunsack also considers himself a victim, justifying his evil deeds by his supposed ill-treatment by the world. Taou Yuen’s scorn and his own addiction propel him into insanity.

William Ammidon is a foil to Jeremy and Gerrit. Though he is a good family man and a prominent citizen of Salem, he has no principles where business is concerned. However, he loves his father and is devastated when he sees that his underhandedness caused Jeremy’s death.

Rhoda Ammidon’s gift for empathy makes her the peacemaker within the family. The author uses Rhoda to foreshadow coming events, as when she warns William about upsetting his father and tells Gerrit that Taou Yuen will never find happiness with him.

Critical Context

With Java Head, his sixth volume of fiction and his fourth novel, Joseph Hergesheimer consolidated the reputation that had been established in 1917 with The Three Black Pennys. Hergesheimer continued to publish fiction until 1934, but these two early novels, along with Cytherea (1922), were his most popular. Many critics call Java Head his best work. It demonstrated the capacity for painstaking research that enabled him to re-create a past era so effectively. Critics praised Hergesheimer’s finely wrought style, so unlike that of the realists and naturalists who dominated the literary scene at the time he was writing. There were objections to what some saw as a neglect of characterization and plot in favor of what the author admitted was his primary interest, theme. However, though the resolution of Gerrit’s problems in Java Head was both melodramatic and implausible, there was much to admire not only in the author’s style and his use of detail but also in the way he employed various narrative voices and managed complex thematic patterns.

Although Hergesheimer’s early historical novels and his later fiction set in his own time continued to have a wide readership, it eventually became evident that, despite the fact he shared their pessimism, he was too different from the angry young realists and naturalists to maintain his position in the literary world. After The Foolscap Rose (1934), Hergesheimer virtually abandoned his craft. The paucity of critical study of Hergesheimer indicates how greatly his reputation has declined over time. Though occasionally a critic will praise his style or find his aestheticism of interest, Hergesheimer is now thought of primarily not as the serious artist he was but as someone who produced fiction for casual reading.

Bibliography

Cabell, James Branch. Joseph Hergesheimer: An Essay in Interpretation. Chicago: The Bookfellows, 1921. An important monograph in which one of Hergesheimer’s contemporaries comments on the early books. Cabell notes that the author’s most sympathetic characters, including several of those in Java Head, attempt to preserve beauty and order but always fail in their efforts.

Clark, Emily. Ingénue Among the Lions: The Letters of Emily Clark to Joseph Hergesheimer, edited by Gerald Langford. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1965. Lively, informal letters from the editor of The Reviewer reveal much about Hergesheimer, his fiction, and the stellar literary circle of which he was a part. Helpful index.

Gimmestad, Victor E. Joseph Hergesheimer. Boston: Twayne, 1984. An excellent introduction to the author’s work. Includes chronology and bibliography. Chapter 4 analyzes the thematic development of Java Head, describes its reception at publication, and summarizes later critical opinion, which agreed that the novel is more effective pictorially than dramatically.

Jones, Llewellyn. Joseph Hergesheimer: The Man and His Books. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1920. Perceptive comments on the early works suggest reasons the author became so popular.

Martin, Ronald E. The Fiction of Joseph Hergesheimer. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965. A thorough scholarly study, focusing especially on technique and theme. Java Head is compared to two other novels, The Three Black Pennys (1917) and Cytherea (1922). According to Martin, although Java Head excels in its evocation of a past era as well as in characterization and technique, the plot is flawed, and the conclusion seems contrived.