Revenge! — Context and Discussion

Primary Colours and Uncompromising Natures

The collection's first sentence announces a preoccupation with extreme personalities. Barr repeatedly places characters in situations where compromise is impossible. In 'An Alpine Divorce,' the Bodmans are described as having 'no middle distance' in their lives, and the narrator notes that 'marriage at best is but a compromise, and if two people happen to be united who are of an uncompromising nature there is trouble.' This framework recurs in later stories: a man resolves to get rid of his wife by pushing her off a mountain path, but the plan backfires in a twist that depends on the wife's equally ruthless nature. Barr's narrators often adopt a detached, almost anthropological tone, as when they calculate the odds of marital compatibility. This voice gives the stories a cool, analytical quality even when describing violent acts.

Financial Ruin and the Mechanics of Deceit

Several stories in Revenge! revolve around financial schemes, stock market crashes, and the physical security of valuables. In the excerpt from a later tale, a character named John has a safe blown open at one o'clock because 'the bottom dropped out of everything' and Sneed stocks went down. The narrative dwells on the logistics of the chase: a tugboat with 'a banner of black smoke' pursuing a yacht, the captain's willingness to ignore signals, and the precise timing of bank failures. Barr shows a detailed knowledge of New York finance and the legal loopholes that allow a wealthy man like Druce to outmaneuver his rivals. The story 'The Shadow of the Greenback' likely continues this theme. These tales treat money as a tangible, dangerous substance—something that can be locked in a safe, transferred by cheque, or lost in a moment of fog.

Setting as a Source of Tension

Barr uses specific, vividly described settings to heighten the stakes of his plots. The Alps appear in the first story, where a mountain path becomes a site for attempted murder. The fog in New York harbour creates a literal and metaphorical blindness: characters cannot see the tugboat chasing them, and the captain exploits the weather to avoid detection. The yacht Seahound is described with precise nautical detail—its engines, its speed, the captain's shrewdness. In 'A Dynamite Explosion' and 'An Electrical Slip,' the titles themselves promise that technology or natural forces will play a role. Barr does not use setting as mere backdrop; it actively shapes what characters can do. The fog delays the yacht, the mountain path offers only one direction, and the safe requires dynamite to open. These physical constraints drive the plots forward.

Readers approaching Revenge! should expect variety: the collection shifts between Alpine chases, Wall Street panics, and domestic standoffs. Barr's narrators often withhold judgment, letting the events speak for themselves. The stories reward attention to detail—a cheque not cashed, a fog that lifts too late, a safe blown open at the wrong hour. The title promises revenge, but the book delivers it in many forms, not all of them expected.

There’s a particular ache in Barr’s Alpine tale, a coldness between two people that lingers long after the page turns. It reminds me of how childhood stories hold their own quiet sorrows, the kind we only recognize later. That other collection, Stories of Childhood — Text and Context, carries a similar weight, gentler but just as true.