Article #478-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from The Cost, by David Graham Phillips

Pauline Gardiner joined us on the day that we, the Second Reader class,
moved from the basement to the top story of the old Central Public
School. Her mother brought her and, leaving, looked round at us,
meeting for an instant each pair of curious eyes with friendly appeal.

We knew well the enchanted house where she lived--stately, retreated
far into large grounds in Jefferson Street; a high brick wall all
round, and on top of the wall broken glass set in cement. Behind that
impassable barrier which so teased our young audacity were flower-beds
and "shrub" bushes, whose blossoms were wonderfully sweet if held a
while in the closed hand; grape arbors and shade and fruit trees,
haunted by bees; winding walks strewn fresh each spring with tan-bark
that has such a clean, strong odor, especially just after a rain, and
that is at once firm and soft beneath the feet. And in the midst stood
the only apricot tree in Saint X. As few of us had tasted apricots,
and as those few pronounced them better far than oranges or even
bananas, that tree was the climax of tantalization.

The place had belonged to a childless old couple who hated children--or
did they bar them out and drive them away because the sight and sound
of them quickened the ache of empty old age into a pain too keen to
bear? The husband died, the widow went away to her old maid sister at
Madison; and the Gardiners, coming from Cincinnati to live in the town
where Colonel Gardiner was born and had spent his youth, bought the
place. On our way to and from school in the first weeks of that term,
pausing as always to gaze in through the iron gates of the drive, we
had each day seen Pauline walking alone among the flowers. And she
would stop and smile at us; but she was apparently too shy to come to
the gates; and we, with the memory of the cross old couple awing us,
dared not attempt to make friends with her.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from The Cost by David Graham Phillips**

Context of the Source

The Cost (1904) is a novel by David Graham Phillips, an American journalist and novelist known for his muckraking (exposés of social corruption) and realist fiction. The novel explores themes of social class, wealth inequality, and the moral costs of ambition in early 20th-century America. The excerpt introduces Pauline Gardiner, a wealthy new student whose family has just moved to the fictional town of Saint X. The narrator, a child in the Second Reader class, describes the mystique and allure of Pauline’s privileged world, contrasting it with the working-class or middle-class lives of the other children.

Themes in the Excerpt

Class Divide & Social Exclusion
- The excerpt immediately establishes a stark contrast between Pauline’s wealthy background and the ordinary children of Saint X.
- The Gardiner estate is described as an "enchanted house"—almost a forbidden paradise—with high walls, broken glass, and iron gates that physically and symbolically keep the children out.
- The apricot tree, a rare and coveted luxury, becomes a symbol of inequality—something the children can see but not access, reinforcing their exclusion from wealth and privilege.
Childhood Curiosity & Longing
- The narrator and their classmates are fascinated by Pauline’s world, gazing at her through the gates like outsiders peering into a fairy tale.
- The sensory details (the smell of tan-bark, the sweetness of flowers, the taste of apricots) heighten the childish wonder and desire for what they cannot have.
- The shyness and hesitation in their interactions with Pauline suggest both awe and intimidation—she is different, and they are unsure how to bridge the gap.
Isolation & Loneliness
- The previous owners, a childless old couple, hated children—or perhaps their hatred was a defense against their own loneliness.
- Pauline, though wealthy, is initially isolated—walking alone in the garden, smiling but not approaching the gates. This suggests that wealth does not guarantee companionship.
- The irony is that while the children long to be inside her world, she may also long for connection outside of it.
The Illusion of Paradise
- The estate is described in almost mythical terms—an "enchanted" place with winding paths, grape arbors, and bees, evoking Eden or a storybook garden.
- However, the broken glass on the walls and the iron gates remind us that this "paradise" is guarded, artificial, and exclusionary.
- The apricot tree (a symbol of forbidden fruit) reinforces the idea that what is most desirable is often just out of reach.

Literary Devices & Stylistic Choices

Imagery & Sensory Language
- Phillips uses vivid, sensory-rich descriptions to immerse the reader in the children’s perspective:
  - "tan-bark that has such a clean, strong odor, especially just after a rain" (olfactory)
  - "blossoms were wonderfully sweet if held a while in the closed hand" (tactile & gustatory)
  - "firm and soft beneath the feet" (tactile)
- This heightens the longing—the children (and readers) can almost taste and smell what they cannot have.
Symbolism
- The Apricot Tree = Forbidden luxury, unattainable desire (like the biblical Tree of Knowledge or the golden apple of myth).
- The High Wall & Broken Glass = Class barriers, social exclusion, the pain of being kept out.
- The Iron Gates = The threshold between two worlds—wealth and poverty, inclusion and exclusion.
Juxtaposition & Contrast
- The beauty of the garden vs. the harshness of the barriers (broken glass, high walls).
- The friendliness of Pauline’s mother vs. the hostility of the old couple who once owned the house.
- The children’s curiosity vs. their fear of overstepping boundaries.
Narrative Perspective (Child’s Point of View)
- The naïve, wondering tone of the child narrator makes the social critique more poignant.
- The children don’t fully understand why they are excluded—they just feel the injustice of it.
- The simplicity of their desires (just to taste an apricot, to play in the garden) contrasts with the complexity of adult social structures.
Foreshadowing & Irony
- The old couple’s hatred of children may have been a mask for their own sorrow—suggesting that wealth and isolation can be a curse.
- Pauline’s shyness and smiles hint that she, too, is trapped in her own way—perhaps lonely despite her privilege.

Significance of the Excerpt

Social Commentary on Class & Privilege
- The excerpt critiques the arbitrary nature of wealth—why should some children have apricot trees and private gardens while others can only press their faces against the gates?
- It exposes the psychological impact of inequality—the children internalize their exclusion, feeling both desire and resentment.
Introduction of Pauline as a Complex Figure
- Pauline is not just a rich girl—she is both an object of envy and a potential friend.
- Her isolation suggests that wealth does not equal happiness, a theme that likely develops in the novel.
The Cost of Exclusion
- The title The Cost refers to what is lost when society is divided by class.
- The children lose the chance to play in a beautiful garden; Pauline loses the chance at easy friendship.
- The broken glass on the walls is a literal and metaphorical wound—the price of keeping people out.
Nostalgia & Lost Innocence
- The childhood perspective makes the injustice more emotional—adults may accept class divisions, but children feel them acutely.
- The memory of the old couple’s bitterness suggests that resentment and exclusion are cyclical.

Final Interpretation: What the Text Reveals

This excerpt is not just a description of a wealthy girl’s arrival—it is a microcosm of social division. The garden is a paradise that excludes, the apricot tree is a symbol of unattainable pleasure, and the children’s longing is a metaphor for the human cost of inequality.

Phillips does not villainize the wealthy (Pauline is kind, her mother friendly) but instead highlights the systemic barriers that keep people apart. The real tragedy is that both sides lose—the poor children are denied beauty and joy, while the rich child is denied easy companionship.

The passage sets up a central tension in the novel: What is the cost of wealth? What is the cost of poverty? And who really pays the price?

Key Takeaways

Class barriers are both physical (walls, gates) and psychological (fear, awe).
Wealth can be isolating, just as poverty can be exclusionary.
Childhood perspectives reveal the emotional weight of social inequality.
The "cost" in The Cost refers to the human sacrifices made in a stratified society.

Would you like any further analysis on specific aspects, such as the historical context of early 20th-century class struggles or comparisons to other works of realist fiction?

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s depiction of the Gardiner estate’s physical barriers—high walls, broken glass, iron gates—serves primarily to:

A. illustrate the architectural preferences of the wealthy in early 20th-century America.
B. emphasize the Gardiners’ pragmatic need for security in an unstable social climate.
C. contrast the natural beauty of the garden with the artificiality of urban development.
D. materialize the intangible social divisions that govern the children’s perceptions of access and belonging.
E. foreshadow the eventual decline of the Gardiner family’s fortune through symbolic decay.

Question 2

The narrator’s description of the apricot tree as “the climax of tantalization” is most effectively interpreted as:

A. an ironic commentary on how arbitrary scarcity amplifies desire, regardless of the object’s intrinsic value.
B. a literal expression of the children’s genuine preference for apricots over more common fruits.
C. a metaphor for the unattainable romantic ideals that will haunt the narrator in adulthood.
D. an indictment of the Gardiners’ hoarding of resources that rightfully belong to the community.
E. a nostalgic reflection on the lost innocence of childhood, where small pleasures held immense significance.

Question 3

The passage’s shift from the “childless old couple who hated children” to the Gardiners’ more open demeanor primarily functions to:

A. demonstrate the moral superiority of the Gardiners over the previous owners.
B. suggest that wealth alone does not determine one’s capacity for kindness or cruelty.
C. introduce a tension between inherited social structures and the potential for individual agency to reshape them.
D. imply that the children’s initial fear of Pauline was entirely unfounded and irrational.
E. critique the superficiality of first impressions in judging a person’s character.

Question 4

The sensory details in the passage (e.g., the odor of tan-bark, the sweetness of blossoms) serve which of the following least effectively?

A. To evoke a Prouvstian association between memory and sensory experience.
B. To heighten the children’s longing by making the inaccessible garden vividly tangible.
C. To underscore the contrast between the richness of the estate and the deprivation of the children’s lives.
D. To establish the narrator’s reliability by grounding abstract emotions in concrete observations.
E. To imply that the children’s fascination is rooted in aesthetic appreciation rather than material envy.

Question 5

The passage’s closing lines—“we, with the memory of the cross old couple awing us, dared not attempt to make friends with her”—are most thematically resonant with which of the following ideas?

A. The inevitability of social reproduction, where past conflicts dictate future interactions.
B. The irrationality of childhood fears, which dissipate with maturity and experience.
C. The way historical and structural inequalities condition even the most innocent of human connections.
D. The universal human tendency to project past traumas onto unrelated present situations.
E. The tragic irony that those who most desire connection are often the least capable of initiating it.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The passage’s physical barriers are not merely functional but symbolic manifestations of social stratification. The walls and glass do not just represent division—they embody it, shaping the children’s understanding of what they can and cannot access. This aligns with the passage’s broader critique of how material conditions enforce psychological boundaries (e.g., the children’s hesitation to approach Pauline despite her friendliness). The barriers are tangible expressions of intangible hierarchies.