Upward and onward : $b or, The history of Rob. Merritt
| Language | en |
|---|---|
| First published | 2025-12-12 |
| Rights | Public domain in the USA. |
| Gutenberg ID | #77450 |
Description
"The homosexual in literature" by Noel I. Garde is a bibliographic and critical study written in the mid-20th century. It likely surveys literary portrayals of same-sex desire across eras, cataloging works and themes while assessing cultural attitudes to guide readers and researchers. The opening of the story follows a new minister, Mr. Ellison, as he tours a village with Mr. Vanderburgh and Dr. Huntley and hears a harsh account of the impoverished Merritt family. Overhearing from a tree, teenage Robert (“Bob”) Merritt resolves to improve himself despite a drunken, abusive father and the pull of rough companions, while his loyal sister Celia encourages churchgoing and steadiness. After Bob’s garden is wrecked and peer pressure drags him into a Sunday fishing trip tied to a $3 debt, he and Celia still attend church; the next morning Ellison hires Bob for garden work, defying Vanderburgh’s attempts to discredit him, and Dr. Huntley offers guidance. Bob earns money to clear his debt, but his father steals his wages; Celia contributes her small savings so he can pay the creditor, and Huntley arranges steady work, sets firm conditions (punctuality, avoiding bad company, no swearing), and helps Bob buy provisions respectably. Meanwhile, ladies of the town try to place Celia in a good home, but her mother refuses; after Celia rejects a disreputable boarding-house job, she enters the factory, where a kind overseer helps her keep part of her wages for decent clothes and Sunday-school. The section closes with both siblings edging toward respectability—Bob working earnestly and resisting old temptations, Celia studying and improving—while home life remains chaotic under their father’s drinking. (This is an automatically generated summary.)