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"Odd Man Out": A novel. (Original writing);
Abstract
This novel is set in Jameson County, a fictional location in the sharply rolling northeastern corner of Kansas. As the burgeoning affluence of the early nineteen-fifties begins to affect the area, Mid-Continent Communications Corporation is about to promote Doug Thompson, a thirty-year-old telephone central office installer, to first-line supervisor. But first he must satisfactorily lead the testing operations of one final job, the dial conversion of the county seat, Alton. The effect of the pending promotion combines with the personal needs and compulsions of Doug's co-workers and their wives to produce a series of disasters. As the work progresses, catastrophe after catastrophe threatens Doug's advancement and bring him to rationalize behavior he would have previously condemned. Over the course of the installation Doug learns about the forces that drive his supervisors and the true values underlying the corporation's purported high standards. But before he can fully obtain the insight necessary to respond morally to the situation, his own actions, both passive and active, contribute to the deaths of three co-workers, including his best friend, Ollie Ward. Whereas Doug violates his principles out of a prideful desire for status and under pressure from Julie, his wife, Ollie does so out of an uxorious relationship resulting from an emotionally deprived youth, and because he misperceives his wife's value system. Despite Beverley's protestations to the contrary, Ollie is convinced she will be pleased by his ability to provide material things and by pride in his growth with the company. Both Ollie and Doug must eventually face the truth about the culture they live in and the people who influence their behavior. Each reacts to the truth differently, but both react drastically; Ollie responds as his emotions dictate, but Doug has the intellect to better understand some of what has been manipulating him. He realizes that the value system he is embedded in and which he had always considered protective is illusory, artificial, and confining. But his breakthrough in understanding offers no real escape, for in the modern world none is possible.
Subject Area
American literature
Recommended Citation
Beesley, Bernard Franklin, ""Odd Man Out": A novel. (Original writing);" (1991). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9211486.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9211486