The Crucial Moment 1911

"The Crucial Moment" by Charles Egbert Craddock is a dramatic novella written in the early 20th century. The story unfolds in the context of a rural Southern community threatened by rising waters from the Mississippi River, exploring themes of conflict, vengeance, and the weight of a single fateful moment. The narrative follows the character Walter Hoxer, a levee contractor whose life spirals into chaos after an explosive confrontation with a wealthy landowner, Major Jeffrey. The plot centers on Hoxer, who seeks to defend his reputation and integrity after Major Jeffrey publicly accuses him of cutting corners in his levee construction. Tensions escalate into a violent encounter where Hoxer, feeling cornered, is compelled to shoot Jeffrey in self-defense. Following this fateful moment, Hoxer becomes a fugitive, evading the law while grappling with the moral implications of his actions. The story culminates in a desperate escape that ultimately leads to Hoxer's tragic demise in the river, leaving behind his loyal dog, whose devotion symbolically highlights Hoxer's lost humanity in the face of irrevocable choices. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Mary Noailles Murfree was an American author of novels and short stories who wrote under the pen name Charles Egbert Craddock. She is considered by many to be Appalachia's first significant female writer and her work a necessity for the study of Appalachian literature, although a number of characters in her work reinforce negative stereotypes about the region. She has been favorably compared to Bret Harte and Sarah Orne Jewett, creating post-Civil War American local-color literature.