A Summer Tragedy

“He had not worn his stiff-bosomed shirt more than a dozen times in all his married life. His swallowtailed coat lay on the bed beside him, freshly brushed and pressed, but it was as full of holes as the overalls in which he worked on week days.”

The comparison of Jeff’s swallowtailed coat to his work overalls reinforces the poverty and hard labor that have defined his life. On the one hand, the holes in his overalls suggest the tedious labor he must complete on a near daily basis. In contrast, the swallowtailed coat is also full of holes, although these holes are from moths, as there are few occasions in Jeff’s life that merit getting dressed up.

“Jeff, standing outside the door, with his absurd hat in his left hand, surveyed the wide scene tenderly. He had been forty-five years on these acres. He loved them with the unexplained affection that others have for the countries to which they belong.”

The image of Jeff tenderly surveying the land he has worked for the past few decades demonstrates that, despite years of living in poverty, he still manages to find a sense of pride in certain aspects of his life. His affection is described as inexplicable, as outsiders might wonder how he is able to love any aspect of a harsh, exploitative system such as share farming.

“But even the frizzly chickens seemed now to be in a stupor. Jeff thought that they had some ailment; he expected all three of them to die shortly.”

The frizzly chickens in Jeff and Jennie’s yard symbolize the couple’s mood in the hours leading up to their suicide. The chickens walk around in a stupor, mirroring the stupor that Jeff experiences as he contemplates the suicide pact. In addition, Jeff’s sense that the chickens will die soon foreshadows his own death at the end of the story.