The Lost Boy by Thomas Wolfe
**Overview of "The Lost Boy" by Thomas Wolfe**
"The Lost Boy" is a poignant short story by Thomas Wolfe that explores themes of memory, loss, and familial relationships through the lens of the Gant family, a fictionalized representation of Wolfe's own relatives. The narrative centers on Grover Gant, the elder brother of the protagonist Eugene, who died young. The story is structured in four sections, each offering different perspectives: Grover's own experience, his mother Eliza's reminiscences, reflections from his sister Helen, and Eugene's attempts to recall his late brother.
Set in the early 1900s in Asheville, North Carolina, the story paints a vivid picture of Grover's brief life, including a touching moment in which he grapples with a misunderstanding involving a shopkeeper. Eliza's monologue reveals her deep affection for Grover, contrasting it with her critical view of Eugene. Helen shares her bittersweet memories of childhood, highlighting the family's dynamic and the enduring impact of Grover's absence on their lives. The final section sees Eugene, now an adult, confronting his fragmented memories of Grover as he revisits significant places, ultimately capturing the profound sense of loss that permeates the family's history. Through its reflective narrative, "The Lost Boy" delves into the complexities of love, remembrance, and the indelible marks left by those who are lost.
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The Lost Boy by Thomas Wolfe
First published: 1937
Type of plot: Autobiographical, realism, impressionistic
Time of work: 1904-1935
Locale: Altamont, North Carolina, and St. Louis, Missouri
Principal Characters:
Grover Gant , a twelve-year-old boyEliza Gant , his motherHelen Gant , his older sisterEugene Gant , his younger brother
The Story
"The Lost Boy" offers another glimpse of the Gants, the fictionalized version of Thomas Wolfe's own family that is featured in his first novel, Look Homeward, Angel (1929). This story focuses on Grover Gant, the lost boy and older brother of Eugene Gant (Wolfe). It is told in four sections, viewed through the perceptions of Grover himself, his mother, his sister, and Eugene.{OldFileName}New{/OldFileName}
In April of 1904, the twelve-year-old newsboy Grover waits in the courthouse square of Altamont (actually Wolfe's hometown of Asheville, North Carolina), for the newspapers he will sell. Grover, who is alive only in this section, is identified by his olive skin, his black hair and eyes, and the brown berry birthmark on his neck. He notes small details of the streets and shops he passes and takes comfort in the thought that in the square nothing ever changes.
Attracted by the smell of fresh, warm chocolate from the candy shop, Grover decides to buy fifteen cents' worth of fudge with some stamps he has received from the pharmacist as payment for running errands. He mistakenly pays with eighteen cents in stamps, but the shopkeeper accuses Grover of stealing the extra stamps and refuses to return them. In tears, the boy goes to his father, who is able to set things right, and the world regains its balance and safety for Grover.
The second section of the story is told in a monologue that takes place years later as Eliza Gant, the mother, addresses the adult Eugene. Her distinctive voice is chatty and colloquial, with a country accent. She recalls the family's journey through Indiana in 1904 when they traveled by train to the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as a recent interview with a reporter who sought to learn more about Eugene, who is now a writer. Eliza takes great pleasure in pointing out that Grover was by far the shrewdest, most intelligent, and best of all her children; he has become her most loved child. She praises him while at the same time undercutting her famous son Eugene, whom she calls lazy because he has an easy job as a writer. Although she asserts that she has never bragged about any of her children, she speaks constantly of Grover.
The hearty voice of Helen, the older sister, is punctuated by slang, but underneath her enthusiasm lies a surprising melancholy. A family photo taken before Eugene's birth has reminded her of their past, and the aging of their siblings now makes her uncomfortable. She describes for the adult Eugene that summer in St. Louis when she was fourteen, when their mother ran a boardinghouse while Grover worked and took the younger children to the fair. Eugene retains no memory of his brother, who died of typhoid when Eugene was only three, but Helen relates how, when she would bathe Eugene, he used to cry for Grover instead. Finally she confesses to sneaking off one afternoon with Grover and eating pork and beans in a downtown diner. Afterward he became immediately and fatally ill. As Helen recalls her childhood dream of becoming a famous musician, she cannot understand how everything has turned out to be different from what she had imagined.
In the final section, Eugene recovers memories of his childhood and his brother Grover, whom he alone has forgotten. In 1935, he returns to the same St. Louis house where his family spent the summer of 1904, to search for any recollection of his dead brother. As he looks around, he begins to remember long-ago odors and sensations. He feels the silence of the family's absence in the house. Even the quality of the summer heat has changed. These memories emerge not from what he has been told but through the confirmation of his physical senses. When he finally speaks with the woman who lives there now, he is able to give her details about the house that even she does not know. He asks to visit the front room where Grover died, too ill to be moved. As he is ready to leave, a sudden vivid image of Grover floods over him—the dark eyes and hair, the berry birthmark, even Eugene's own childish voice struggling to pronounce his brother's name. Then the lost boy is gone forever.
Bibliography
Bassett, John Earl. Thomas Wolfe: An Annotated Critical Bibliography. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1996.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Thomas Wolfe. New York: Chelsea House, 2000.
Donald, David Herbert. Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe. 1987. Reprint. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003.
Evans, Elizabeth. Thomas Wolfe. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1984.
Field, Leslie A., ed. Thomas Wolfe: Three Decades of Criticism. New York: New York University Press, 1968.
Idol, John Lane. Literary Masters: Thomas Wolfe. Detroit: Gale, 2001.
Kennedy, Richard S. The Window of Memory. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1962.
McElderry, Bruce R. Thomas Wolfe. New York: Twayne, 1964.
Phillipson, John S., ed. Critical Essays on Thomas Wolfe. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1986.
Rubin, Louis D., Jr., ed. Thomas Wolfe: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973.