29 pages 58 minutes read

Willa Cather

The Sculptor's Funeral

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1905

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Character Analysis

Harvey Merrick

Harvey Merrick is the main protagonist of the story. He is described as an artistic genius, his mind “an exhaustless gallery of beautiful impressions” (333). His artistic ability and gentle spirit are associated with imagery that gives him a Christlike quality. At one point, his former student notes that “[w]hatever he touched, he revealed its holiest secret” (333). Within a motif of Christian allusions and symbolism, Merrick becomes a martyr who is metaphorically crucified for his love of beauty and art by the materialistic and utilitarian townspeople.

Though Merrick is the main protagonist, the story is not told from his point of view. Rather than a typical homecoming, his return to Sand City and the Western frontier is only after his death; it is an event filled with a sense of grief and bitterness that sets the tone of the story rather than the victory that the palm leaf on his coffin symbolizes. Except for a single memory—in which Steavens describes a conversation with Merrick just before his death—the artist’s blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text

Related Titles

By Willa Cather

SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Willa Cather
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Willa Cather
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Willa Cather
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Willa Cather
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Willa Cather
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Willa Cather
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Willa Cather
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Willa Cather
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
Willa Cather
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Willa Cather
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Willa Cather
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Willa Cather
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Willa Cather
Guide cover image