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ioe Four
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, October 16, 1955
Rainn October 16. 1955
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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The Mountain People
From the Kentucky Hills
Io a Detroit Housing Project
By ROY AKERS
rHE DOLLMAKER" is a mag-
nificent book filled with many
)nderous kinds of things and
ople. Between its covers one
ids the sumac, dogwood and wild
neysuckle foliage of the south-
n Appalachians, the cindered
:ell of a war-time Detroit hous-
g project, and the all-prevailing
ieme of a faceless bust of Christ
,rved in cherry wood.
It is a woman's story: the story
Gertie Nevels, who became
ansplanted from her native
ountain habitat, during the
ars of the second world war, in-
the frenzied environment of a
etroit munitions plant. Gertie
as merely one of the wives who
llowed their hillbilly husbands
to the Northern munitions cen-'
rs during the period of hostility,
it to many she will come to re-
ain as a symbol for all of them.
And this is good. For one occas-
nally suspects that Gertie, in
erself, is not really a character
t all. That she is, instead, a look-
Lj glass with the reflective
xength of all the women who
ter followed their husbands from
ie wilderness into the city gates.
ERTIE was a massive women of
the Kentucky hills who want-
I nothing quite so much as free-
om and a farm of her own where
ie could watch children, animals
nd plants growing in the sun-
nsed beauty of mountain air.
But.even the people in the back
ill regions of Kentucky are never
uite removed from the effects of
war. -A cartridge shell on a De-
roit lathe is always infinitely more
nportant than the dream a little
irl might happen to be chasing
round a shrub of chrysanthe-
iums on a lonely Southern moun-
ain.
Clovis, Gertie's husband, is a
ian with an affinity for tinkering
rith machinery. He hies himself to
)etroit, takes a job in a war plant,
nd writes Gertie to bring the
hildren and join him. Much
gainst her better judgment and
ertainly against her wishes, Ger-
le takes herself and the five chil-
ren to join Clovis. Before leaving
he hills, however, she takes great
are to send on to Detroit a huge
lock of cherry wood upon which
he has been whittling.
with a dream or Max, the young
bride, who was ever in quest of
one.
The very finest work in "The
Dollmaker" is the characteriza-
tion of little Cassie and Max. Cas-
sie, Gertie's little girl, has a dream
playmate whom she calls Callie
Lou. Callie Lou follows Cassie from
the mountains to the city but, up-
on entering school, Cassie finds
that she is losing her playmate.
She goes out into the alley one
day and is calling for Callie Lou
under some freight cars when the
engine of the train moves. Cassie
is killed but, then, she is never
forced to really lose her dream.
And Max, the young bride, finds
herself married to a man who
couldn't even understand a dream,
much less a wife who dreamed. It
is Max who is always popping in
and asking Gertie to tell her some-
thing to dream about; a place.like
the ocean that is always romantic
and far away. Max finally leaves
her husband and goes to the ocean,
but the husband remains in the
house always waiting for her to
return. Non-dreamers in the world
of "The Dollmaker" suffer too.
THE INHABITANTS of "the al-
ley" have been thrown to-
gether by chance, and it is through
Gertie that the reader comes to see
and know them. Each of the char-
acters here is a person, there are
no stereotypes. They are little peo-
ple, all of them, but in the face of,
adversity they are big with cour-
age, and in defeat they seldom;
shrink from lack of faith.j
Gertie whittles wooden dolls in
the evenings and sells them for;
money. From sheer frustration,
she turns to whittling on her block,
of wood through the empty and,
lonely hours of the night. Her
neighbors are first to see the
likeness of Christ in the rough and,
faceless wooden head. Only at the
end of the book does there come
to Gertie the sudden awareness of
where she might have found a face
for Jesus. But it is better to leave
that as a pleasant surprise for the
enjoyment of the reader.
This, though, will not be the
only surprise the reader will find
in the novel Gertie inhabits. For,
just as surprising, is the pace of
"The Dollmaker" and, what might
be termed, its author's intent.
It seems to be. written in the
ambling gait of the shuffling feet
of hill folk who are not ashamed
to pause beside a stream merely
to admire the beauty of water
flowing over pebbles. And in a
very real sense, it is a book about
the earth. For Gertie and her
children were removed, only in
physical distance, from the moun-
tain clay. Their bodies and not
*their hearts left the land.
A Man's Hunt
For a Red Fox
By FRANCES RINKEL
"HUNTER'S HORN" by Hare:
ernow was published
six years before her next book,
"The Dollmaker." To r e v i e w
"Hunter's Horn" at this date with-
out an intruding aspect of com-
parison is practically impossible.
One point is immediately evident.
"Hunter's Horn" is more than a
first-novel of "promise," for it
contains to as great a degree as
"The Dollmaker" Harriette Ar-
now's integrity with characteriza-
tion. "The Dollmaker" shows the
writer at full maturity, but
"Hunter's Horn" stands on its own
merit.
In "Hunter's Horn," Harriette
Arnow deals entirely with those
persons shut away in the Ken-
tucky hills-the superstitions and
the self-made codes they live by
and the stern injunctions of bibli-
cal knowledge and interpretations.
Under the creative hand of some
they have been little more than
caricatures, or presented more
deeply, they have still remained
beyond the ken of the sophisti-
cate, the intellectual, or any one
who has solely inhabited the large
cities. These limitations are not
in "Hunter's Horn."
A Closer Look at Football
;a
1. Offensive Formations
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first
In a series of articles explaining some
of the technicalities of football as it
is played at the University.)
By MERRIT GREEN
AN OBSCURE BIGSIDE player
in 1823 by the name of William
Webb Ellis defied the convention
of the game by picking up the ball
in his arms and challenging his
mates to catch him. That his act
was inspired by a sudden stroke of
genius, as some authorities report,
is highly doubtful. Whether moti-
vated by genius, an ill-acquaint-
ance with the rules, or by horse
play, his open field run on that
autumn day 132 years ago has
been parlayed into one of the most
traditional fixtures of the Ameri-
can life.
In its beginning football was
little niore than a contest of
strength - 11 men attempting to
bully themselves and a little ball
through, over, or under 11 other
men who in their turn attempted
to do the same.
Over the years however the
strategy of the game, aided by
changes in the rules and the in-
genuity of individual mentors, has
found its greatest emphasis in
speed, deception, and wide open
play.
Football as it is played In the
larger schools today, is an ex-
tremely complex sport, requiring
extensive preparation and played
within a detailed offensive and
discussion of the defensive play.
The rules require the offensive.
team to locate a minimum of
seven men on the line of scrim-
mage. The four men comprising
the backfield must be one yard
or more behind the line of scrim-
mage. (A special provision pro-
vides for dn exception in the case
of a T-formation quarterback).
The rules also provide that only
six members of the offensive team
may advance the ball from scrim-.
mage, the four backs and the two
men flanking the line, usually the
ends. These six players are also
the only persons eligible to receive
a direct forward pass. Within these
general limitations the offense
must be constructed.
THE UNBALANCED LINE
Before examining the details of
the offensive formation it should
be explained that in most offen-
sive systems the position of the
linemen remain the same regard-
less of the formation being used;
if there is a change in formations
it is generally . executed by the
backs alone. Many teams balance
their offensive line with an end,
a tackle, and a guard on each side
of the center.
However, at the University, as
in the case of most teams using
the single wing, the unbalanced
line is used. An end and taokle
are found on the "short" or "weak"
side of the center, while two
guards, a tackle and an end bol-
,
used much more extensively than
the others.
SINGLE WING
Fromthe stands the single .wing
formation as it is employed at
Michigan looks very much out of
balance with only two men located
on the weak side of the center.
The backfield is lined up in, rela-
tion to the unbalanced line in the
manner described in Fig. 1. The
greatest advantage of the single
wing formation, when combined
with the unbalanced line, is the
tremendous numerical superiority
that can be brought to bear at
any point in the strong side of
the line.
Speed and quickness in the exe-
cution of each play are not so
much at a premium as they are,
in the T-formation, though of
course once the play has been exe-
cuted the greatest amount of
speed possible is desired. A care-
ful observer will notice that the
ultimate ball carrier may take a
seemingly long period of time to
reach the line of scrimmage. This
may be due to a set of compli-
cated maneuvers inrthe backfield
or simply to an effort on the part
of the backfield man to allow the
play to form in front of him.
Because of this lapse of time, it
is possible to pull several linemen
from their original position and
direct them along the line of
scrimmage in order to bring more
blockers to the focal point of the
play. Also, if the play is executed
properly, the extra time lapse will
allow stronger and more effective
blocks to be placed wherever need-
ed.
It should be noted that the suc-
cess of the single wing depends to
a large extent upon a consistent
running threat on the part of both
halfbacks and the fullback. With-
out the abilities of a strong attack
to the weak side of the right half
and the fullback the defensive
team may shift their personnel
toward the offensive strength.
n,. ________________
Therefore the success of the
single wing will depend to a'large
extent upon a defensive alignment
which has been forced to spread
itself thin across a longer line,
finding itself at least numerically
weaker at some point.
SINGLE WING VARIATION
The single wing variation with
the wing back or right half deep
(Fig. 2) retains much of the single
wing power inside the tackle
though weakening to some extent
the blocking efficiency of plays
outside the tackle and end. The
purpose of this variation is to
allow a stronger and quicker at-
tack to the weak side of the line.
T-FORMATION
The T-formation employed by
FIG. 3 - T-FORMA
Michig
ed as
rely uj
in rec
more
alignn
format
It"*
systemi
shifted
the we
the A
forces
even I
weak
If s
made
strong
advan
-Daily-Esther Goudsmit'
Harriette Arnow
A Woman Writing About the Life She Knows
BACK IN THE HILLS of Ann Ar-
bor, where the roads are or-
ange clay in the rainy season, Har-
riette Arnow keeps ,house for her
family, takes care of her children,
and writes her novels.
Coming from five generations of
Kentucky ancestors, Mrs. Arnow
grew up with the traditions of the
mountain people that she has
written about in her three novels.
With her husband, her 13 year-
old daughter and eight year old
son, she still maintains a life not
far removed from the hill people.
Mrs. Arnow's life has been
straightforward: s h e attended
Berea College and the University
of Louisiana, received a bachelor
of science degree and went on
to graduate work in mathematics.
Writing was something she had
always been interested in (she will
admit that she had a poem pub-
lished at 18 in the county news-
paper), but teaching was her first
profession.
WRITING, however, proved the
more important. "I went up
to Cincinnati," she says in her
quiet Southern voice. "I didn't
know anybody-I rented rooms
near the Public Library and I got
odd jobs-typing, cashiering, wait-
ressing-to pay the rent and eat
and write."
This was in 1934. With the en-
couragement of editors like Har-
old Strauss, now editor-in-chief
of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., she pub-
lished her first novel, "Mountain
Path" in 1936.
She learned a great deal about
writing from this first book. She
knew she didn't want to be a
literary woman-"If you spend all
your time being literary, you 'don't
have any time to write"-but she
also found out that it was hard
"to write about life and forget
about art."
Since that early period, Hen-
riette Arnow has, become a novel-
ist of accepted literary ability. In
1949 she published "Hunter's
Horn," which was a best-seller
and a Fiction Book Club selection.
It is a book that is now somewhat
difficult to obtain, partially be-
cause it has been overshadowed by
her most recent novel, "The Doll-
maker."
liHE
is
like a
AUTHOR'S full portraiture
further refreshing, for un-
few of her southern vcm-
RTIE and the children arrive
at Merry Hill, the housing pro-
ect, on a cold and snowy morning.
;he Is as repelled by the cheerless
ubicle of living quarters as Clovis
s enthralled by it. But it is here
hat she becomes a part of the
eighborhood known as "the al-
ey," and it is here also that Mrs.
Lrnow's book touches greatness.
Gertie, for the first time in her
ife, has entered a world that is
levoid of privacy and freedom. She
las been caught in the things that,
o Clovis, stand as the symbols
' success. A used car, and used
ors to come, on which he will
we payments for the rest of his
ife; inflated war-time wages foi
be privilege of buying wilted lgt-
uce, and a fancy washing machine
[ro the purPose of swishing clothes
through the chlorine odor of city
iwater-these are the things that
Ciovis lays at the feet of a moun-
lain wife.
"THE Dollmaker" has been ac-
claimed by critics as "one of
the outstanding novels of 1954."
More impressive than this official
word is the reaction of readers,
even more unusual in light of the
book's size and cost. "Dollmaker"
is a five dollar book-a gamble
for any publisher no matter what
the stature of the author, and a
thick book that requires more than
casual attention.
But despite its somewhat im-
posing appeaf-ance, "The Dollmak-
er" has evoked extraordinary read-
er response. Readers have found
the characters of Hunter's Horn"
and "The Dollmaker" so real that
they write to their author about
them.
The women, particularly, are
strong, complete figures. Their
lives are simple-but beneath the
hard-working surface is something
that sets them apart-a deep sen-
sitivity to life which they are
compelled to express.
Gertie Nevels of "The Dollmak-
er" is one of these women -
maintaining her family while put-
ting the poet part of herself into
the block of cherrywood that she
carves. It is impossible not to
draw the conclusion that Mrs. Ar-
now herself is another version of.
Gertle-living on % farm and rais-
ing her children, while she ex-
presses in writing the integrity
that is particularly hers.
a- -r ikbb
patriots of literary stature, Har-
riette Arnow does not view her
people microscopically with the
emphasis upon the diseased cells,
tissues, emotions and mentalities.
The people of "Hunter's Horn"
are not types; they are individuals.
They do not stand for anything
symbolically, except in the com-
plexities of those things that are
universal to all of us. She does
not insult her characters into be-
ing separate enities for a minute
dissection of a vague past, a pur-
poseless present, and no future.
They live. They breathe. They are.
What they are is many things.
"Hunter's Horn" brings them into
focus with a breadth and warmth
and scope that is a pleasure, and
in an ever broadening under-
standing, a gratitude.
Ignoring subthemes, the plot
of "Hunter's Horn" can be simply
stated. We follow Nunn Ballew and
his pursuit of an uncanny red fox,
King Devil. Nunn sacrifices every-
thing to this pursuit, for although
the whole community is affected,
it is Nunn's challenge, and his
personal victory or defeat. He sac-
rifices his family, his land, the
honor of his name and his own
self-respect to this pursuit. He is
a man of weakness and of strength
and he contains this desperate
self-knowledge. He knows, too,
that the price may be greater
than the conquest-that an ele"
ment grown out of proportion to
actual size may prove' a final dis-
actuality. Knowing it is one thing.
Believing it is another.
"f MNTU'S. HORN" contains
a qulity of subtle and roll-
icking humor that is not in evi-
dence in "The Dolimaker." There
are many instances of it as a part
of the characterization and inter-
spersed with the action. Perhaps
the best is the chapter containing
the efforts of the children to put
old Andrew, the teacher, in a good
light with the visiting school sup-
erintendents who have come to
judge his competency according
to their standards -standards
neither of the bill country nor of
old Andrew. This, is humor at its
best, for there is a tinge of pathos
and satire behind it. The complete
clapter, even as well in ted as
it is with the book, could stand
alone as an excellent short story.'
This is the ,wonderful ability of
Harriette Arnow. There Is a full
ness and completeness to eah
chapter. TeTre is no rushjo ens.
that a chapter was presented be-
cause of the need to be on to the
FIG. I1- SINGLE-WING FORMATION
defensive framework.
This article has been written in
an attempt to bring forth some of
the subtler aspects of the game
which are often obscured by the
dazzling individual performances
and emotional overtones of the
sport, and with particular refer-
ence to the system utilized at the
University.
We have made no attempt to
gear our remarks to those persons
who are completely unfamiliar
with the game, and throughout we
will assume that the reader is
aware of the fundamentals of a
football game. Thus there will be
no attempt to explain in detail
the meaning of such things as "the'
line of scrimmage," "formations,"
"end," "halfback."
Our attempt will be to expand
the knowledge and understanding
ster the "strong" side of the line.
The great advantage of the un-
balanced line is the power it can
generate in terms of numbers. Any
single wing team with an effective
threat to the weak side of the
line will force the defense to spread
their numbers over a greater area
allowing the offense to employ
two men to block one at crucial
points along the line.
THE FORMATIONS
Upon this unbalanced line is
superimposed the various backfield
formations used by the Michigan
team. The term "formations" may
imply several things, but for our
purposes it is sufficiently defined
as the positional arrangement of
the offensive team before the ball
is put into play, during which time
both the line and 4the backfield
remain motionless.
inil
HARRIS
TWJ
FIG. 4-- WING-T FO]
r
BUT, most of all this is a book
of, for, and about people. And
in her handling of people, fabri-
cated characters though they may
be, Mrs. Arnow has brought a
freshness to current American
writing. Beside the work of Micky
Spillane, Kathleen Winsor -- and
many other sensationalist writers
of our day- "The Doilmaker"
can and does stand as a sun-rinsed
gren, on a rather littered, and
sometimes filthy, shelf.
The relating of moral values to
valid, ethical standards is the role
of philosophy and not of literas
ture. Still, it is refreshing to find
an author with both the talent
and the gumption to replace the
fictional patrons of the bordello
and semi-commercial boudior with
other characters. who have the
besic, human strength to seek a
somewhat higher meaning fr
her friends are portrayed in frus-
tration, but the imagery is focused
on all opposing forces of human
endeavor, and notrJust the ele-
mental plane of pure and simple
sex.
The one obvious weakness in this
book is in the handling of the
male animal. 'The male characters,
as such, are handled well but as
people they emerge pretty much.
as weaklings. However, Arnow, at
her worst, is never quite as bad in
her treatment of men as is Faulk-
ner at his best, with women.
Mrs. Arnow Is a lady possessed
of myriad facets. In creating "The
Dollimaker," she has become the
greatest dolmaker of them all.
Love and hate, charity and greed,
understanding and prejudice:
these are some of the labels at-
tached to the gradations of human
emotion. And after living with
Gertie among the inhabitants of
"the aley" for a few hours, the
reader smiles and says to him-
self, "Yes, these things do apply
but that is the one redeeming
feature about ;our race, our time
our world- each person has them
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Published
Novels
B UT FOR ALL the pettiness of
the things, there is the com-
pepsatlon to be found in the peo-
pie of "the alley." Mrs. Arnow is
gifted with the uncommon talent1
f root being able to create a minor
ebaracter. AU of her characters
live andbreathe and walk. And the
Kcentricities of Dock, the mule,
The published novels of War-
riette (SipsoN) Anww:
"Menil Path," $74 waest
Covlel-Ftlede, New York, 19M.
"Muster's Horn," 5SW nae,
] semllas, New York, 19".t
"The Dnater:' 509 w gee..
Naaltaaa, 11ev York, 3954.
FIG. 2-- SINGLE WING WITH WING BACK DEEP
of the average football fan through The University employs several
a more intimate examination of different formations; however, four
offensive and defensive structure basic= formations, are used more
Which constitutes the "Michigan than 90 per cent of the-time: t he
Sytet." T-formation, single wing, a varia-
7Te present article wil concern tion of the single wig with the
itself entirely with the offensive wing back deep and wing-T, a
system leaving for the future a variation of the T-formation, are
'1
TECE & WREN Cfot4ei
107 South University -- Across from Ann Arbor
STORE HOURS: 9 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.
11
liwing.
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Uttled the
w has, somehow, be-]
rotesqueness of man's
Aitin. with *rnAthea
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