Sometimes a Great Notion

Oregon is overcast with cold November rain and inundated with the sounds of Canada geese. Lee, Hank, and Eggleston listen to the honking: “‘[w]inter is here,’ the geese proclaimed” (454). The rain is unceasing; it “falls on the just and unjust alike” (456).

Eggleston runs a laundromat. He bought the movie theater next door at his wife’s suggestion so that no competing laundry business would move in. His wife became jealous of Eggleston’s Black assistant, Jelly, suspicious that her husband was having an affair. Eggleston was not having an affair, but after his wife accuses him, he and Jelly get together. Eggleston and Jelly continue their affair even after she moves to Portland. Eggleston frequently goes to Portland to see her on the pretense of choosing films for the theater. Eggleston also sends money to support Jelly and the child they secretly have together.

However, the logging strike has financially squeezed the town’s residents, so Eggleston’s revenues have gone down. He is having a hard time sending money to Jelly, so she has the idea of marrying a sailor for financial reasons, while still seeing Eggleston. Growing cold and disengaged, Eggleston finds himself “envying the geese their invisible confidants in the winnowing dark overhead” (462). Eggleston writes a letter to Jelly saying he is coming to see her, but leaves out in the open, fully expecting his wife to find it. He writes a letter to his wife saying he will be gone on movie theater business. Eggleston weeps afterwards and decides that Hank is to blame for his situation (since the Stampers are interfering with the strike).

Many members of the extended Stamper family have descended on town because Draeger has spread the rumor that Hank is going to sell the logging operation. All of the relatives who have ever worked for the Stamper business are shareholders and expect to receive a portion of the supposed sale. The flu is also going around, adding to the dreariness caused by the protracted strike, the nonstop rain, and the noise of the geese.

Lee reads poetry by Wallace Stevens in his room at night, then goes to see Viv, who is alone in her room. She asks Lee why he has really come to Oregon. Viv asks the question seriously, but Lee brushes it off. He instead gives her a book of Wallace Stevens poems and insists she reads it. Viv finds the poetry difficult to understand.

Because of the flu, Hank is having trouble getting enough help to continue the logging work. Even Lee is sick, but Hank convinces him to come to work. Hank gets a call from Eggleston, who sounds drunk. The narrator describes Eggleston committing suicide by intentionally driving himself off the road.