Review of The White Quail

 Review of The White Quail by John Steinbeck

Read The White Quail here

"The White Quail" was published as a part of Steinbeck's book "The Long Valley". You can buy it here.

I loved John Steinbeck's short story "The Chrysanthemums", so I was excited to read another short story of his. Like "The Chrysanthemums," the main character of "The White Quail" is a female, which is a nice change of pace since most of his novels and novellas are centered around male characters. This story is about a married couple, Harry and Mary Teller, and Mary's obsession with her garden. Mary had planned her garden long before she even had the property and only agreed to marry Harry after he accepted her plans for the garden. Mary tends to her garden throughout the story, keeping it pristine and not allowing Harry to have any pets. She has dormer windows in her room with an excellent view of the garden. She has her own room and locks it at night to keep out her husband. One day she finds a white quail drinking from her pond and believes it to represent herself. When a cat scares off the birds, she demands Harry poison the cat. Instead, he insists on shooting it with an air gun. However, he decides to shoot the white quail and accidentally kills it.

Unlike the strong female character from "The Chrysanthemums", the main female character in this story is portrayed as having some mental issues. She spends most of her time in the garden and is unwilling to have anything to ruin it. Harry wanted a dog, but she wouldn't let him because it could destroy the garden. A stray cat visits the garden, and she wants Harry to poison it. She had a small pond built in the garden for the birds to drink from, but when there are no birds at first, she becomes upset. Anytime something comes up that might affect her garden, she goes into fits, receives headaches, and Harry has to lie her down in bed until she recovers. At one point, Mary starts imagining herself inside the house from outside the window and talks to herself. When she first sees the white quail, rare, and drinks water away from the other quails, Mary immediately views herself as the quail.

Throughout the story, Harry usually comforts his wife and indulges in her obsession with the garden, often doing as she says, even giving up his idea of having a dog. In the beginning, Harry married Mary mostly because she was beautiful. He repeatedly refers to her as being pretty and is surprised when she oversees the construction of her garden. As the story goes on, it's clear that he starts to resent the garden. At one point, Harry tells Mary that he is afraid of her because, like her garden, Mary becomes more and more untouchable. Every night he checks Mary's bedroom door, and every night it is locked. Early in their marriage, it is mentioned that Mary will let Harry kiss her every time he agrees with her about the garden. Towards the end of the story, Mary insists that Harry kill that cat, and he finally refuses her.

The garden represents their marriage, the quail represents Mary, and the cat represents Harry. The garden is the driving wedge in their marriage. Mary wants it to be untouchable and pristine, which of course, is impossible. Harry wants more out of their relationship, possibly wishing the garden was gone. Mary refers to the quail as her essence, her purity, and beauty. Harry accidentally killing the quail instead of getting rid of the cat is symbolic of him killing Mary instead of him chasing off his desires. The story ends with Harry stating that he is truly alone, in his marriage. The story never addresses Mary's sanity or eccentricities, so we'll never know if she needs mental treatment for her obsession and delusions.

"The White Quail" is a different story from what I've read of Steinbeck. Mary is only similar to the main character of "The Chrysanthemums" in that they both love their gardens. However, "The Chrysanthemums" offers more internal reasoning and desires from the main female character, whereas we only see Mary as it concerns her garden. Probably because her garden is her whole life, but we never understand how she feels about her marriage or husband. It's a unique story more in line with Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" or William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." "The White Quail" doesn't deal with the usual themes of Steinbeck. It's a quick read for anyone, but if you're a Steinbeck fan, I think you'll find it unique to his other works.

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