Excerpt

Excerpt from Hermione and Her Little Group of Serious Thinkers, by Don Marquis

The most remarkable thing about Voke Easeley
at a casual glance is his Adam's apple. It is not
only the largest Adam's apple I have ever seen, and
the hardest looking one, and the most active one,
but it is also the most intelligent looking one. Voke
Easeley's face expresses very little. His eyes are
small and full and green. His mouth, while large,
misses significance. His nose, indeed, is big; but
it is mild; it is a tame nose; one feels no more
character in it than in a false nose. His chin
and forehead retreat ingloriously from the battle
of life.

But all the personality which his eyes should
show, all the force which should dwell in his
nose, all the temperamental qualities that should
reveal themselves in his mouth and chin, all the
genius which should illumine his brow -- these dwell
within his Adam's apple. The man has run entirely
to that feature; his moods, his emotions, his
thoughts, his passions, his appetites, his beliefs, his
doubts, his hopes, his fears, his resolves, his
despairs, his defeats, his exaltations -- all, all make
themselves known subtly in the eccentric motions
of that unusual Adam's apple.

When I saw him first in action I did not at once
get it. He stood stiffly erect in the center of
Hermione's drawing-room, surrounded by the serious
thinkers, with his head thrown back and his Adam's
apple thrust forward, and gave vent to a series of
strange noises. Beside him stood a very slender
lady, all dressed in apple green, with a long green
wand in her hand, and on the end of the wand
was an artificial apple blossom. This she waved
jerkily in front of Voke Easeley's eyes, and his
Adam's apple moved as the wand moved, and from
his mouth came the wild sounds in response to it.

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Explanation

Don Marquis’s Hermione and Her Little Group of Serious Thinkers (1916) is a satirical novel that mocks the pretentious intellectual and artistic circles of early 20th-century America, particularly those obsessed with fads, pseudo-philosophy, and performative eccentricity. The excerpt focuses on Voke Easeley, a member of Hermione’s salon of "serious thinkers," whose entire personality is absurdly concentrated in his Adam’s apple. Through exaggerated physical description, grotesque imagery, and ironic tone, Marquis critiques the hollow posturing of modern intellectuals who mistake oddity for depth.

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Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt

1. Physical Description as Satire

The passage begins with a hyperbolic and grotesque description of Voke Easeley, emphasizing his Adam’s apple as his defining—and only—meaningful feature. The narrator lists its superlative qualities:

• "The largest Adam’s apple I have ever seen"
• "The hardest looking one"
• "The most active one"
• "The most intelligent looking one"

This comic exaggeration (a form of hyperbole) reduces Easeley to a single, absurdly animated body part. His face, by contrast, is emptied of expression:

• His eyes are "small and full and green" (vague, unremarkable).
• His mouth "misses significance" (lacks meaning).
• His nose is "mild" and "tame" (like a "false nose", suggesting artificiality).
• His chin and forehead "retreat ingloriously from the battle of life" (cowardly, passive).

The juxtaposition of the hyper-active Adam’s apple with the lifeless face creates a grotesque effect, implying that Easeley’s "intellect" is performative nonsense. His entire personality is funneled into this one bobbing feature, making him a caricature of the modern thinker who mistakes physical tics for profound thought.

2. The Adam’s Apple as a Symbol of Pseudo-Intellectualism

The narrator claims that all of Easeley’s emotions, thoughts, and beliefs are expressed through his Adam’s apple:

"all the personality which his eyes should show, all the force which should dwell in his nose, all the temperamental qualities that should reveal themselves in his mouth and chin, all the genius which should illumine his brow—these dwell within his Adam’s apple."

This personification of the Adam’s apple as the seat of intelligence is absurd, mocking the idea that physical mannerisms (like throat-clearing, dramatic pauses, or affected speech) equate to deep thought. Marquis is satirizing intellectual posers who rely on performative quirks rather than substance.

The repetition of "all" (anaphora) and the listing of grand abstract nouns ("moods, emotions, thoughts, passions, appetites, beliefs, doubts") further inflate the ridicule—Easeley’s "genius" is nothing but random throat spasms.

3. The Theatrical Scene: Hermione’s Salon

The second half of the excerpt places Easeley in Hermione’s drawing-room, surrounded by "serious thinkers." The scene is deliberately ridiculous:

• Easeley stands "stiffly erect" with his "head thrown back and his Adam’s apple thrust forward"—a pretentious, affected pose.
• A "very slender lady in apple green" (color symbolism linking her to the Adam’s apple) waves a green wand with an artificial apple blossom in front of his face.
• His Adam’s apple moves in response, and he emits "wild sounds."

This surreal, almost vaudevillian performance parodies:

• Spiritualist séances (popular at the time, where mediums claimed to channel spirits through physical contortions).
• Avant-garde art performances (where "deep" meaning was often just bizarre spectacle).
• Pseudo-scientific experiments (like phrenology or other quack theories that claimed to read personality from body parts).

The artificiality of the scene (the false apple blossom, the performed sounds) underscores that Easeley’s "thinking" is staged, hollow, and meaningless.

4. Literary Devices & Tone

• Hyperbole & Exaggeration: The Adam’s apple is described in over-the-top terms to highlight its absurdity.
• Grotesque Imagery: Easeley’s face is distorted and unnatural, emphasizing his lack of genuine humanity.
• Irony & Satire: The narrator’s deadpan description of Easeley’s "genius" contrasts with the ridiculousness of the scene.
• Symbolism: The Adam’s apple (traditionally associated with the fall of man and original sin) here symbolizes false wisdom—the idea that humans, in their vanity, mistake physical quirks for divine inspiration.
• Repetition & Listing: The cataloging of Easeley’s supposed depths ("hopes, fears, resolves, despairs") makes the satire more biting—he has none of these things, only random throat movements.

5. Themes

• The Hollow Intellectual: Easeley represents the modern "thinker" who has no real ideas but performs intellectualism through odd mannerisms.
• Artificiality vs. Authenticity: The green wand, artificial blossom, and "wild sounds" highlight the fakeness of Hermione’s salon.
• The Absurdity of Modern Movements: Marquis mocks faddish intellectual circles (like theosophy, futurism, or freudianism) that prized obscurity over clarity.
• The Body as a Site of False Meaning: The Adam’s apple becomes a comic stand-in for the soul, suggesting that modern people project meaning onto meaningless physical tics.

6. Significance in the Novel

This passage exemplifies Marquis’s broader critique of pretentious intellectual culture. Hermione’s "little group of serious thinkers" is a satirical jab at:

• Salon culture (where people gathered to appear intelligent).
• Modernist art and literature (which sometimes valued shock over substance).
• Self-help gurus and quack philosophers (who promised enlightenment through nonsensical rituals).

Easeley is one of many absurd figures in the novel, each representing a different modern affectation. By reducing him to a bobbing Adam’s apple, Marquis suggests that true thought has been replaced by performative nonsense.

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Conclusion: Why This Passage Matters

Marquis’s excerpt is a masterclass in satire, using physical comedy, exaggeration, and ironic tone to expose the emptiness of certain intellectual trends. Voke Easeley is not a person but a parody—his "thinking" is just throat spasms, his "depth" is pure performance. The passage remains relevant today as a critique of pseudo-intellectualism, where style often substitutes for substance, and oddity is mistaken for originality.

In essence, Marquis asks: If a man’s entire personality is in his Adam’s apple, does he even have a personality at all? The answer, of course, is no—and that’s the joke.