The Cashier by Gabrielle Roy
"The Cashier" by Gabrielle Roy is a poignant exploration of the psychological and emotional turmoil faced by Alexandre Chenevert, a bank cashier grappling with the weight of global crises and personal health issues in the aftermath of World War II. Set in 1947, the narrative begins with Chenevert's restless nights, filled with anxiety over social injustices, such as poverty, strikes, and the plight of displaced individuals. As he attempts to maintain professionalism at work, his irritability and struggles with mundane tasks reflect his inner turmoil.
The story takes a pastoral turn when Chenevert retreats to a lakeside cabin, seeking solace in nature. While initially rejuvenated by the peaceful surroundings and the self-sufficient lifestyle of a local farmer, he soon becomes restless and returns to his frenetic urban life. As the plot unfolds, Chenevert's health deteriorates, revealing the deep physical and emotional impacts of his anxieties, culminating in a diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Through poignant scenes of reflection, love, and recognition of friendships, the novel captures Chenevert's ultimately tragic journey, underscoring themes of human vulnerability and the quest for meaning amid life's challenges. Roy's narrative invites readers to contemplate the intertwined realities of personal suffering and broader societal issues, making "The Cashier" a compelling study of the human condition.
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The Cashier by Gabrielle Roy
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1955
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Alexandre Chenevert, the cashier, wakes up at night worrying about world affairs. Longshoremen are on strike, and food rots on the docks while poverty-stricken children suffer from malnutrition. It is 1947, Germany has surrendered, the war is over, yet fighting still continues in Greece. Chenevert visualizes Jewish refugees, refused admission by the British mandate government, drowning off the coast of Palestine, and decides he hates England. His stomach hurts, but medicines in his bathroom cabinet offer no relief. He falls asleep shortly before the alarm rings and awakes befuddled and unrefreshed.
At the bank in his glass teller’s cage, Chenevert tries being impassive and working in a mechanical manner but becomes irritable and scolds customers who fail to fill out deposit or withdrawal slips properly. He quarrels with a coworker who does not share his worries about world affairs. When closing his accounts for the day, he discovers a one-hundred-dollar error, which he must repay in small installments.
Chenevert consults a doctor, but tests fail to show objective causes for stomach pains. The doctor thinks he worries unnecessarily and suggests he take a vacation. Chenevert decides to rent a lakeside cabin and recruit his strength in the countryside while his wife visits their daughter.
Roy inserts a pastoral episode as the middle third of the novel, occupying seven of the book’s twenty-two chapters. Chenevert sleeps well in his cabin and enjoys the beauty of the landscape. The farmer tells him that his family is self-sufficient in food, raising crops, getting fish from the lake, and meat from moose he hunts in the fall. Chenevert views the farm as paradise but cannot find adequate words when he tries to write down his ideas. Growing bored with the country, he returns early, enduring a nightmarish bus ride that gets snarled in heavy traffic as he approaches Montreal.
The concluding four chapters chronicle Chenevert’s decline and death. Although he claims to feel better after his vacation, he grows thinner and uses many medications for stomach pain. He frets over news of the Nuremberg trials and has to be dissuaded from fasting to protest Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
Chenevert believes that he has cancer but avoids seeing a doctor, hoping medical advances will soon produce a cure. When hospitalized, he is diagnosed with prostate cancer, not the stomach cancer he feared. By then it is too late for surgery. He comes down with pneumonia and a kidney infection. Chenevert and his wife realize they love each other. When employees and clients of the bank come to visit, he discovers that he has many friends. Morphine soon ceases to work, and Chenevert and the priest who hears his confession pray for his death.
Bibliography
Clemente, Linda M., and William A. Clemente. Gabrielle Roy: Creation and Memory. Toronto: ECW Press, 1997.
Hesse, M. G. Gabrielle Roy. Boston: Twayne, 1984.
Lewis, Paula Gilbert. The Literary Vision of Gabrielle Roy: An Analysis of Her Works. Birmingham, Ala.: Summa, 1984.
Mitcham, Allison. The Literary Achievement of Gabrielle Roy. Fredericton, New Brunswick: York Press, 1983.
Ricard, Francois. Gabrielle Roy: A Life. Translated by Patricia Claxton. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1999.
Roy, Gabrielle. Enchantment and Sorrow: The Autobiography of Gabrielle Roy. Translated by Patricia Claxton. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1987.