Roughing It · Chapter
XX explained
The narrator describes crossing the Great American Desert, the desolate landscape littered with bones and wreckage, and the mysterious sink lakes of Nevada.
What happens
The narrator describes crossing the Great American Desert, the desolate landscape littered with bones and wreckage, and the mysterious sink lakes of Nevada. He recounts the repeated telling of the same anecdote about Horace Greeley and Hank Monk by various travelers, culminating in a dying man who attempts to tell it and perishes. The chapter reflects on the ubiquity of the story and the end of stagecoach travel.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This is the story's dramatic climax because it presents the ultimate psychological peak of fear and vulnerabil…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Humor and Exaggeration
The chapter humorously exaggerates the frequency and ubiquity of the Horace Greeley anecdote, with the narrator claiming to have heard it hundreds of times.
- Frontier Myth vs. Reality
The harsh reality of the desert crossing, with bones and wreckage, contrasts with the mythic storytelling of the frontier.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Describes the journey across the desert and the repeated anecdote.
- Hank Monk
The stage driver in the repeatedly told anecdote about Horace Greeley.
- Horace Greeley
The passenger in the anecdote, jolted and rushed by Hank Monk.
- The Dissolute Stranger
A poor wanderer found dying near Ragtown, who attempts to tell the anecdote and dies.
Key passages
“We worked our passage most of the way across. That is to say, we got out and walked.”
We had to get out and walk because the coach wheels sank into the sand.
Describes the difficulty of crossing the desert.
“The desert was one prodigious graveyard.”
The desert was filled with bones and wreckage, like a vast cemetery.
Emphasizes the deadly nature of the journey.
“I never have smelt any anecdote as often as I have smelt that one; never have smelt any anecdote that smelt so variegated as that one.”
I have heard that anecdote so many times, each time with a different smell from the teller's breath.
Humorously underscores the anecdote's ubiquity.
