Reflections in a Golden Eye

The third-person narrator explains that an army post in peacetime is a monotonous place trapped in dull patterns. However, unique events do sometimes happen, and at a Southern army base a few years ago, there was a murder: “The participants of this tragedy were: two officers, a soldier, two women, a Filipino, and a horse” (309).

The soldier is Private Ellgee Williams, and his demeanor and appearance are at once childlike and stealthy. He keeps to himself and has very few discernable emotions or vices. His eyes are “a curious blend of amber and brown” (309).

Private Williams is assigned to clear out some of the woods behind Captain Penderton’s quarters, which are near the quarters of Major Morris Langdon, Penderton’s only other close neighbor; he is also supposed to care for Captain Penderton’s wife’s horse. A year and a half ago, Private Williams accidentally spilled coffee on the Captain’s trousers while serving him refreshments, but when the Captain comes out of his house to give Private Williams instructions, he doesn’t seem to remember the Private. As the Private clears brush and branches, Mrs. Leonora Penderton arrives and tells the Private that Firebird, her horse, has been kicked at the stable. She lingers near the Private, but the two don’t speak further. Shortly afterward, Captain Penderton arrives and scolds Private Williams for cutting the low-hanging limbs of an oak tree.

That evening, the Captain tries to work but is distracted by his irritation at Private Williams. He dislikes the Private because of the coffee incident, which he remembers both because it ruined an expensive suit and because of the Private’s association with Leonora’s horse. To console himself, the Captain briefly imagines court-martialing the Private. The Captain’s edginess is due partly to his unusual temperament, which combines both feminine and masculine “susceptibilities” without the corresponding strengths. He is often attracted to his wife’s lovers. Moreover, “[i]n his balance between the two great instincts, towards life and towards death, the scale was heavily weighted to one side—to death. Because of this the Captain was a coward” (315). Captain Penderton is also brilliant with factual learning and has encyclopedic knowledge, but he lacks the gumption to synthesize any of those facts into new ideas.

As Captain Penderton sits at his desk, he remembers a night long ago when he experienced this same “unhappy restlessness,” shortly after his marriage to Leonora. At the time, he went on a walk and came across a stray kitten, which he took from its warm makeshift home and stuffed into a freezing mailbox. Still at his desk, he hears the door slam downstairs and goes to the kitchen to find his wife Leonora and their servant, Susie. They don’t notice him arrive, and he watches his wife with disgust as she drinks and dances barefoot. When he tells her that going barefoot makes her look slovenly and that they’re having company over soon, Leonora mutinously removes the rest of her clothes as well, standing in front of the fire and then walking naked to the front door and up the stairs. The Captain threatens to kill her; she asks him if he’s ever been dragged onto the street by a naked woman. As she leaves, the Captain is horrified and wonders if anyone outside the house saw her.

The narrative shifts to Leonora’s point of view. She is godless, as well as the subject of a great deal of gossip; the women at the post suspect she’s had an exciting variety of extramarital romps, though this isn’t true. She has had a few affairs, but she has been seeing only Major Morris Langdon for the past two years. Leonora has a good reputation but somewhat lacks common sense.

Leonora enjoys her warm bath and dresses for dinner; her lover and his wife, Alison, attend as guests. Leonora and the Major enjoy their meal, and the reader learns that the Major is popular among officers and soldiers alike. Alison looks ill; she has both physical and mental chronic conditions. After dinner, the two couples go to the sitting room for cards and conversation.

Private Williams is still standing outside the house and saw Leonora when she undressed. Because of the Private’s strict religious upbringing, he has hardly had any interactions—sexual or otherwise—with women. In fact, until his clandestine glimpse into the Penderton House, he had never before even seen a naked woman. He watches Leonora, unable to leave for some time.