American Heartland: Willa Cather's The Sculptor's Funeral & the Midwestern Myth

The phrase, "America's Heartland," particularly in modern political parlance, is loaded with connotations and subtextual ideas that are deeply embedded within the social consciousness. Rugged individualism, religious piety, moral values, plainspokenness, and the work ethic are all characteristics that define the American ideal. These ideas are so ingrained within our cultural consciousness that one risks the accusation of being un-American if one questions or contradicts them. Yet, this was not always the case. During the turn of the 20th century, Willa Cather's work addressed her ambivalent feelings about the Midwest, particularly the small town, that receptacle for many of the ideas expressed above. Cather's short story, in particular, "The Sculptor's Funeral," takes an unromanticized look at Sand City, Kansas, a small town which reabsorbs one of its exiles, Harvey Merrick, a sculptor who escaped the town's provincialism, corruption, prejudices, and violence only to return in the event of his death. Cather uses his funeral to examine the values of small, Midwestern towns.

One aspect of the small town values which Cather illuminates in "The Sculptor's Funeral" is the provincial attitudes exhibited by the people who reside in Sand City. Many of the people, including members of Merrick's own family, use his death as a means to advance their own interests, or, in this case, to validate their own way of life. Many of the townspeople in Sand City earn their living either through business ventures or agriculture. Those not directly involved in these industries, such as attorney Jim Laird, do work which allows the other men to keep their wealth. Anyone who contradicts this way of life is met with disdain and mockery. During a sitting at the Merrick home, the men who were previously awaiting for the arrival of his casket at the train station begin a conversation regarding Merrick's education (which prompted his leaving Sand City) and the affect this had on his father's financial situation. Banker Phelps suggests: