Department of English

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

"The Palace Thief"

(1993)

Ethan Canin

(July 19, 1960– )

"The Palace Thief" Notes

This short story by Ethan Canin was first published in The Paris Review 128 (fall 1993).

169  St. Benedict: patron saint of Europe and of school children

• Saint Benedict of Nursia, Nursia also spelled Norcia (born c. 480, Nursia [Italy]—died c. 547, Monte Cassino; feast day July 11, formerly March 21), founder of the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino and father of Western monasticism; the rule that he established became the norm for monastic living throughout Europe. In 1964, in view of the work of monks following the Benedictine Rule in the evangelization and civilization of so many European countries in the Middle Ages, Pope Paul VI proclaimed him the patron saint of all Europe. (Encyclopædia Britannica)
• Terry Matz, "St. Benedict," Catholic Online
• St. Benedict, American Catholic
• St. Benedict of Nursia, Catholic Encyclopedia
• Jerome Theisen, "Saint Benedict of Nursia," The Order of Saint Benedict

170  demagogue:

• a political leader who tries to get support by making false claims and promises and using arguments based on emotion rather than reason (Merriam-Webster)
  1: a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power
  2: a leader championing the cause of the common people in ancient times

170  Wendell Wilkie: Wilkie was the Republican presidential candidate running against President Franklin D. Roosvelt in the 1940 election

• Wendell L. Willkie, in full Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Feb. 18, 1892, Elwood, Ind., U.S.—died Oct. 8, 1944, New York City), U.S. Republican presidential candidate in 1940, who tried unsuccessfully to unseat President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He subsequently became identified with his famous “One World” concept of international cooperation. (Encyclopædia Britannica)
• Wendell Wilkie, Presidential Contender, The Contenders, C-SPAN (2011; 2 hr. 3:54 min.)

• Julius Caesar (100 BC–44 BC)
  Caesar was a politician and general of the late Roman republic, who greatly extended the Roman empire before seizing power and making himself dictator of Rome, paving the way for the imperial system. (BBC)
• A superb general and politician, Julius Caesar (c.100 BC–44 BC / Reigned 46–44 BC) changed the course of Roman history. (PBS)

171  Shutruk-Nahhunte: a king of Elam (currently in southwestern Iran) in 1,160 BC who founded a new dynasty

• The Elamite kings Shutruk-Nahhunte and Kutir-Nahhunte invaded Mesopotamia and succeeded in securing a large number of ancient monuments (such as the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin and the stele bearing the law code of Hammurabi). (Encyclopædia Britannica)
• I. Shutruk-Nahhunte and Kutir-Nahhunte, Chapter XXXII: Elam and Western Persia, c. 1200–1000 B.C., The Cambridge Ancient History (1973)

175  first-form: a secondary school level equivalent to grade 7, a common system among private preparatory schools

176  Truman:

177  Robert E. Lee:

178  potentate:

• ruler, sovereign; broadly: one who wields great power or sway (Merriam-Webster)

179  cut:

180  John F. Dulles: The real John Foster Dulles attended public schools in Watertown, New York. He went on to Princeton University, the Sorbonne in Paris, George Washington University Law School, and was US Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959.

Biography of John Dulles, National Cold War Exhibition John F. Dulles, The Cold War Files: Interpreting History through Documents John Foster Dulles, Arlington National Cemetery DULLES, John Foster, (1888–1959), Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Biographies of the Secretaries of State: John Foster Dulles, US Department of State (introduction, rise to prominence, influence on American diplomacy)

181  cardinal: 

• cardinal (Merriam-Webster)
  1: of basic importance <a cardinal principle>
  2: very serious or grave <a cardinal sin>

184  how the battle is lost for want of a horse: note also the implied (but unsaid) comment on a lost rider, i.e., Sedgewick Bell; cf. the proverb and nursery rhyme which is often used to mean small things can have great consequences, or the outcome of history or the greater course of things can depend on small details:

        For want of a nail, the shoe was lost,
        For want of a shoe, the horse was lost,
        For want of a horse, the rider was lost,
        For want of a rider, the battle was lost,
        For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,
        And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

• For Want of a Nail, the Shoe Was Lost, Mother Goose: A Scholarly Exploration, Rutgers University
• Outlandish Proverbs: A Translation
• For want of a nail, etc., Dictionary of Proverbs (2005)
• Smallness, Details, and Little Things, The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations (2006)
  A little neglect may breed great mischief...for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; for want of a horse the rider was lost.
  —Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, June 1758
  *The thought is sometimes extended with, "For the want of a rider the battle was lost." Franklin himself, after stating the proverb, added that the rider was "overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for want of care about a horse-shoe nail." It is proverbial, included, for example, in George Herbert's Jacula Prudentum, 1651.
• butterfly effect, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions (1999)
• want (noun) (Merriam-Webster)
  1 the fact or state of being absent <the proverb that begins, “for want of a nail, the shoe was lost”>

185  Scipio Africanus Major: 

• Scipio Africanus the Elder, Encyclopædia Britannica
• Howard Hayes Scullard, "Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (236–184/3 B.C.)," The Latin Library (biography)

200  The die is cast: an expression that dates from classical times; the dice has been rolled and can't be undone, meaning decisions or actions have been made that cannot be unmade and certain consequences will inevitably follow, a phrase that indicates both resignation and determination, an ironic mix of reluctance and decisiveness; Mr. Hundert, being a teacher of ancient Roman history, is probably thinking not merely of the meaning of the phrase in general usage, but also of its historical Caesar

• some process is past the point of no return (This die is one of a pair of dice. This cast means "thrown.") (NTC's American Idioms Dictionary)
• After that speech favoring reform of the education system, the die is cast. This is now a campaign issue.
• The die is cast. There is no turning back on this point.

203  a taste of copper in my throat: the usual phrase is "a taste of copper in my mouth," copper referring to blood or something that tastes like blood

211  Il Iacta alea esto: Latin for "Let the die be cast," attributed to Julius Caesar as he crosses the Rubicon river, in effect, declaring war against ancient France in 49 B.C.E. It has the sense of "once you make your move, you have to live with it, don't regret it, or you can't regret it."

• Plutarch of Chaeronea, "Caesar Crosses the Rubico," Life of Caesar, trans. Rex Warner (1958)
  For a long time he [Caesar] weighed matters up silently in own mind, irresolute between the two alternatives. In these moments his purpose was constantly changing. For some time too he discussed his perplexities with his friends who were there, among whom was [the future historian] Asinius Pollio. He thought of the sufferings which his crossing the river would bring upon mankind and he imagined the fame of the story of it which they would leave to posterity. Finally, in a sort of passion, as though he were casting calculation aside and abandoning himself to whatever lay in store for him, making use too of the expression which is frequently used by those who are on the point of committing themselves to desperate and unpredictable chances, 'Let the die be cast,' he said, and with these words hurried to cross the river.
• the die is cast
• an event has happened or a decision has been made that cannot be changed (Oxford Dictionaries)
• said when a situation is certain to develop in a particular way because decisions have been taken that cannot be changed (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
• An irrevocable choice has been made (The Phrase Finder)
• Something that you say when a decision has been made or something has happened which will cause a situation to develop in a particular way. A die is a small block of wood or plastic with different numbers of spots on each side, used in games, and 'cast' means to throw. <From the moment the first shot was fired, the die was cast and war became inevitable.> (Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms)

227  whisper into the ear of the chairman: cf. the expression "to have someone's ear" which means "to know someone with power or authority who will listen to you" (Macmillan Dictionary), "to be able to give someone advice, influence them, etc. because they trust you" (Oxford Advanced American Dictionary), to "have access to and influence with someone" (Oxford Dictionaries); "If someone has the ear of an important person, their ideas are listened to and considered important by that person." (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary); a somewhat eerie echo of the earlier ear-aid transmitter image during the Mr. Julius Caesar rematch

Themes

Ken James: Ethan, what was the theme in this story for you as a writer?

Ethan Canin: The theme has to do with the power of a quiet life… The power of a man to really make a change with his heart, his soul, as opposed to having to be rich. A different kind of idol… A teacher’s life is a very powerful, dignified life. We shouldn’t forget that. That’s what Mr. Hundert loses sight of in the movie, and regains in the end. God bless a great teacher… I didn’t have many.

Ken James: You say you didn’t have many great teachers. Was there one in particular that influenced you?

Ethan Canin: I actually wrote [this story] after encountering—20 years after graduating—an old grade school teacher of mine. He was a fabulous teacher: a tyrant. It turns out those are the kind of teachers I remember. All the Roman and Greek history that was in the story (not in the movie) I actually remembered cause he just drove it into us.

I met the guy on the street 20 years later and he was practically homeless. He was bedraggled. He was ill. He died a couple of months later. I went home that day and wrote the story just thinking of him.

—Ken James, "The Emperor's Club Interviews with Author Ethan Canin and Screenwriter Neil Tolkin" (2002)

Review Sheet

Characters

Mr. Hundert – a history teacher at St. Benedict's School; "I had come to this job straight from my degree at Carleton College at the age of twenty-one, having missed enlistment due to myopia" (184); "I was sixty-eight years old—yes, perhaps too old to be headmaster" (205)

Sedgewick Bell – son of Senator Bell; "Sedgewick appeared in my classroom in November of 1945, in a short-pants suit. It was midway through the fall term" (170); thirteen years old when he entered the first form at St. Benedict's (175); "natural leadership" (174); "He had grown physically larger as well, and now when I chanced upon him on the campus, he held his ground against my disapproving stare with a dark one of his own...he had cultivated, despite his boorish character, an impressive popularity among his schoolmates...His stride had become a strut" (191)

Fred Masoudi – "a somewhat gifted boy" (181); "bouncing about in the Italian suit and alligator shoes of the advertising industry, yet he was still drawn immediately to the other do-nothings from his class" (208)
Martin Blythe – "a studious type" (181); "lost half his leg as an officer in Korea, and now, among his classmates, he tried to hide his lurching stride, but he wore the same knitted brow that he used to wear in my classroom" (208)
Deepak Mehta – "the son of a Bombay mathematician, who was dreadfully quiet but clearly my best student" (181); "had become a professor of Asian history, walked with a slight stoop, yet he still turned his eyes downward when spoken to" (208); "his rise through academia to a post at Columbia University...although he looked healthy enough, he told me that he had recently had a small heart attack" (209)

Mr. Woodbridge – headmaster of St. Benedict's School (171)
Senator Sedgewick Hyram Bell – (175); "At the time, Senator Sedgewick Hyram Bell as appearing regularly in the newspapers and on the radio in his stand against Truman's plan for national health insurance" (176); "feisty as a game hen, bursting through a side door and clapping me on the shoulder" (177); "likeable" (177);
Charles Ellerby – (175); "

Setting

Place

USA –

    Woodmere, Virginia

            Mr. Hundert's history classroom – (170)

            Mr. Hundert's room – "In those days I lived in small quarters off the rear of the main hall, in what had been a slave’s room...With my bed folded into the wall, the room became my office" (175)

        retirement lodging –

    Washington, D.C.

        Senator Bell's office – "The office was as grand as a duke's" (177)

    Charlotte, Carolina

        island – "The event [rematch of Mr. Julius Caesar] was to take place on an island off the Outer Banks of Carolina that belonged to EastAmerica Steel" (203); "On the island I was shown to a suite of rooms in a high corner of the lodge, with windows and balconies overlooking the sea" (207)

            EastAmerica's lodge – "That evening all of us ate together in the lodge" (207)

Time

Autumn – (170)

    November 1945 – "Sedgewick appeared in my classroom in November of 1945" (170)
    March 15, 1946 – "On the fifteenth of March, when the three finalists took their seats on stage in front of the assembled population of the school, Sedgewick Bell was among them, and his father was among the audience" (181)

Summer – "But as the summer progressed, a certain dread began to form in my mind" (205)

    June 1986 – "At the commencement exercises in June a small section of the ceremony was spent in my honor" (203); "in the eerie quiet of summer" (204)

    July 1986 – "In early July, however, Sedgewick Bell's secretary finally did call" (206)

Sample Student Responses to Ethan Canin's "The Palace Thief"

Response 1:

Response 2:

Reference

Canin, Ethan. "The Palace Thief." The Palace Thief. London: Bloomsbury, 1994. 169–227.  Print.

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Last updated January 29, 2015