Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara

First published: 1934

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Naturalism

Time of plot: 1930

Locale: Pennsylvania

Principal Characters

• Julian English, a car dealer
• Caroline, his wife
• Harry Reilly, a rich man
• Al Grecco, the bootlegger’s handyman

The Story

Julian English is thirty years old, a congenial seller of cars and popular with the country club set. He has the right connections with Ed Charney, the local bootlegger, and consequently is always well supplied with liquor. He and Caroline have been married four years. Both natives of Gibbsville, they have an assured social position and no children.

Just before Christmas, they go to a party at the country club. As usual, Julian has too much to drink. He sits idly twirling his highball and listening to Harry Reilly’s stories. Harry is a rich Irish Catholic and definitely a social climber. Julian dislikes Harry, although Harry loaned him twenty thousand dollars the previous summer to bolster his Cadillac agency. That loan does not give Harry the right to make passes at Caroline, Julian thinks darkly. Harry tells stories in paragraphs. He always pauses at the right time. Julian keeps thinking how fitting it would be if he stopped the stories by throwing his drink in Harry’s face. Julian grows bored. On impulse he does throw his drink in Harry’s face. A big lump of ice hits Harry in the eye.

On the way home, Julian and Caroline quarrel furiously. Julian accuses his wife of infidelity with Harry, among others. Caroline says that Julian always drinks too much and chases women as well. More important, Harry has a mortgage on the car agency and a good deal of influence with the Catholics, and he is a man who can hold a grudge.

Al Grecco is a little man who, as Ed Charney’s handyman, has a certain standing in the town. He likes Julian because Julian is the only one of the social set who is really friendly. Al grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Before he was finally sentenced to a year in prison, he was arrested several times. When he got out, he worked in a poolroom for a while until his boss died. The widow wanted Al to stay on as manager, but he went to work for Charney. Now he delivers bootleg booze, runs errands, and keeps an eye on Helene Holman, the torch singer at the Stage Coach, a country inn owned by Charney. Helene is Charney’s girl, but Charney knows that if she is not carefully watched, she might, out of sheer good-heartedness, extend her favors to other men.

On Christmas Day, Julian wakes up with a hangover. As is his custom, he quarrels with the cook. At Caroline’s suggestion, he goes to Harry’s house to apologize. Although Harry’s sister is sympathetic, she brings down word that Harry will not see him; he has a black eye and is still perturbed.

Julian’s father and mother come for Christmas dinner. The father, a staid, successful surgeon, is always looking for evidence of moral weakness in Julian, for his own father committed suicide after embezzling a fortune. He is afraid that the English inheritance is stained. Dinner is a trying occasion.

Caroline and Julian have supper at the club. The usual crowd is there. Julian is unmercifully ribbed in the locker room. In a dismal mood, he sits drinking by himself while he waits for a chance to see Father Creedon and asks him to patch up his incident with Harry. The old priest is sympathetic and makes light of the affair. After agreeing that Harry is a bore, he promises to send Julian some good Irish whiskey.

Charney is a good family man who spends Christmas Day with his wife and son. He intends to go out to the Stage Coach only in the evening. Then his son becomes suddenly ill. It looks as if he will have to stay home. Mindful of Helene’s weaknesses, he telephones Al to go out to the inn to keep watch on her. It is Christmas night and she will be drinking too much. Al does not care for the assignment, but he dutifully goes out to the inn and sits down with Helene.

The country club set begins to drift in. Froggy Ogden, who is Caroline’s one-armed cousin, is the oldest man there; he seems to feel a responsibility for Julian, who is still drinking. In a spirit of bravado, Julian dances several times with Helene, even though Al warns him of Charney’s anger. Finally, carried away by the music and too many drinks, Julian and Helene leave the dance floor. Caroline and Froggy find Julian in a stupor in the back of a sedan and take him home.

The day after Christmas, Caroline goes to her mother and announces her intention to divorce Julian. Her mother finds it difficult to listen to her daughter. Caroline thinks of herself as a heroine in an old-fashioned melodrama. She is determined not to go back to Julian. After meeting him on the street and quarreling with him again, she cancels the big party that they were to have given that very evening.

As he backs out of the garage with a case of Scotch, Al decides to kill Charney. When Charney phoned him, Al tried to excuse his lack of vigilance: He protested that he allowed Helene only to dance. Charney, in a rage, said some things that Al cannot accept.

Determined to look businesslike, Julian goes to his office at the automobile agency. He sits importantly at his desk and writes figures on a piece of scratch paper. The only conclusion he can reach is that he needs more money. One of his salesmen comes in to try to lay down the law. He asserts that Julian’s difficulties are being gossiped about in the little town of Gibbsville. The offense to Charney is particularly grave: He is a good friend to the agency and helps them sell cars to other bootleggers.

Julian leaves the office in no cheerful mood. He wanders into his club for lunch. Since it is the day after Christmas, the dining room is deserted except for some elderly lawyers and Froggy. Avoiding his wife’s cousin, Julian sits down in a far corner of the room. After picking up his plate, Froggy follows him and begins to reproach him for his conduct with the torch singer. He tells Julian he always distrusted him and warned Caroline about his conduct many times. When Froggy invites him outside to fight, Julian refuses because he cannot hit a one-armed man. Froggy becomes more insulting, and the lawyers come to their table to intervene. Julian is intensely angered when they seem to side with Froggy. Turning quickly, he hits one of the lawyers in the mouth and dislodges his false teeth.

Julian goes home and falls asleep. About ten o’clock, a society reporter awakens him when she comes to get a story about the canceled party. After several drinks, he tries to seduce her but with no success. As soon as she leaves, Julian goes to the garage, closes the door, and starts the motor; his death is pronounced a suicide by the coroner.

Bibliography

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