Sometimes a Great Notion

On a rainy night, Evenwrite and Draeger are discussing what to do about the union strike and the Stampers. Evenwrite blames the difficulties of the labor effort on the rain. They decide to take a boat to talk to Hank directly. Once across the river at the Stampers’ dock, Evenwrite and Draeger realize they do not have flashlights. Joe Ben finds them stumbling through the dark and takes them to the house, where the Stampers are surprisingly nice to Draeger and Evenwrite. Draeger makes an offer to Hank to “buy the operation from you outright” (409). Draeger and Evenwrite plead with the Stampers to think of kids going “hungry all winter” while the Stampers use the strike “to line your pocket” (410). The Stampers laugh off the idea, explaining that they will lose money if they accept the offer. Evenwrite and Draeger leave disappointed. They discuss remaining options, including picketing the Stamper logging operation. Evenwrite later sneaks into the Stampers’ work area and drives spikes into their logs, intending to break their saws when the logs are cut and thus slow down the Stampers’ operation.

Evenwrite’s grandfather was a “Wobbly,” or member of the International Workers of the World union, which advocated for workers’ rights.