Short Fiction · Chapters

Chapters explained

Chapter companions for Short Fiction by Voltairine de Cleyre.

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Chapter 1
A Rocket of Iron
The narrator, oppressed by a misty October night and a sense of universal death, flees into the city and is drawn to the Iron Works. There, he witnesses a catastrophic explosion that injures three workers, one of whom is carried away by a pale, resolute young man. The narrator reflects on the human cost of industry and the cold indifference of society, and recognizes in the young man a 'Man of Iron' marked by early death.
Chapter 2
The Chain Gang
The narrator recalls a time in the South when, amidst personal despair, he witnesses a chain gang of black convicts working on a road. Their spontaneous, collective singing—a raw, untaught music—strikes him as a profound, fleeting miracle. He contrasts the living, creative spirit of the singers with the dead, oppressive forces of law and order, and laments that such beauty and pain go unheard by the world.
Chapter 3
The Heart of Angiolillo
The chapter contrasts a naturally charming baby girl with Effie, a woman who received a 'wrong portion' in life. Effie, a Scottish peasant turned domestic servant, is trapped in poverty and an unequal relationship with a weak, pretentious man who dabbles in literature. She sacrifices everything for him, bearing his child and working herself to death. The narrative culminates with Effie's hallucinatory identification with the executed anarchist Angiolillo, whose story the man exploits for social credit. Effie dies forgotten, while the man moves on.
Chapter 4
The Reward of an Apostate
The narrator recounts their sin of forsaking the god of Beauty to follow the god of Energy, and the resulting punishment: an inability to worship or feel beauty any longer. They describe their former life as an ugly, earth-colored creature who found ecstatic joy in secretly worshiping beauty from the shadows, and their brief, passionate infatuation with the 'rude god Energy' who promised power and remaking of the world. After being struck down and abandoned by this new god, they return to find their inner 'wonder-house' empty and barren, unable to feel delight or love, and accept this as the just reward for their apostasy.
Chapter 5
At the End of the Alley
The narrator describes a narrow, squalid alley in the slums, where life is harsh and beauty is scarce. The alley ends in a dead wall, and the narrator visits a widow who lives there, finding her drunk and despairing. The chapter explores themes of poverty, suffering, and the fleeting moments of human connection.

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A Rocket of Iron

The Chain Gang

The Heart of Angiolillo

The Reward of an Apostate

At the End of the Alley