I'm a Fool by Sherwood Anderson
"I'm a Fool" is a short story by Sherwood Anderson that centers on a nineteen-year-old boy working as a swipe at a local racetrack. The narrator shares his experiences and feelings about his job, which he presents with an air of bravado, despite its menial nature and lack of prospects. His best friend, Burt, is a black man, and together they navigate the racetrack environment, seemingly enjoying their transient lifestyle. However, the narrator grapples with an inner dissatisfaction, highlighted by his disdain for those he perceives as elitist, like college men in the grandstand, even while he exhibits similar pretentiousness.
A pivotal moment occurs when the narrator meets Wilbur Wessen and his sister, Lucy. He falsely presents himself as Walter Mathers, a wealthy racehorse owner's son, which leads to a deeper connection with Lucy. This relationship exposes the narrator's vulnerability and sensitivity, contrasting sharply with his rough exterior. Ultimately, he realizes that his deception has cost him a genuine connection with Lucy, leaving him regretful and self-loathing as she departs. The story explores themes of identity, social perception, and the pain of self-deception, culminating in the narrator's poignant recognition of his own foolishness.
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I'm a Fool by Sherwood Anderson
First published: 1922
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: About 1919
Locale: Rural Ohio
Principal Characters:
The narrator , the protagonist, a nineteen-year-old boyLucy Wessen , his "girl"Wilbur Wessen , her brotherBurt , the black stableboy
The Story
The narrator is a nineteen-year-old boy whose life revolves around his job as a swipe at a local racetrack. Though it is a menial job with no future, the young man brags to the reader about it, describing it in a sort of homespun lyricism that purportedly shows his genuine feelings about his career among horses, jockeys, and trainers. Significantly, his best friend and fellow worker is a black man, Burt, and the young man boasts of the good life that they lead, traveling from track to track tending the horses. What the reader infers from all this is that the swipe's protestations are clearly part of a deep-seated dissatisfaction with his life. In narrating his "adventures" at the track, for example, the swipe remarks on the college men in the grandstand, who "put on airs" and think that they are superior because of their education. However, the narrator himself does precisely the same thing. One payday, he walks into a bar, orders a drink and expensive cigars, and spurns a well-dressed man with a Windsor tie and a cane who is standing near him and whom he accuses of "putting on airs."
It is the narrator's detestation of the false front and his own use of it that is at the heart of the story. Sitting in the grandstand, the narrator meets Wilbur Wessen and his sister, Lucy. The Wessens take a liking to the swipe, and he in turn becomes attracted to Lucy. He is impressed with her breeding, her charm, and her gentleness, and in an impetuous moment he introduces himself as Walter Mathers, the son of the owner of a noted racehorse.
Later that evening the narrator and Miss Lucy go off to a quiet spot by the lake, and the young man describes his feelings, revealing a sensitivity and gentleness that belie the demeaning crudity of his life as a swipe. He learns that she and her brother are leaving soon by train, and he realizes then that he has lost her. By lying to her, giving her a false identity, he has cut off any possibility of her writing to him and of his being honest with her. He is hurt all the more by his realization that she genuinely cares for him, not because of his name or supposed wealth, but for himself.
At the end, Miss Lucy leaves, and the swipe has tears in his eyes, hating himself, convinced that he will never see her again and that he has been a fool.