''Pity Is Not Enough'' is a 1933 semi-

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

novel by American author Josephine Herbst and the first book in her Trexler family trilogy. It is followed by ''The Executioner Waits'' (1934), and ''Rope of Gold'' (1939). The novels interrelate United States history from

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

with Herbst's family history, reflecting the ideological crises of the early twentieth century. The trilogy has been compared with

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his U.S.A. (trilogy), ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a ...

's major work, the ''U.S.A.'' trilogy, which was published in the same decade.

Origins and inspiration

Many characters in the trilogy are inspired by Herbst's family including Victoria, the main character, which is based on Herbst herself, and Joe, inspired by her father. A majority of the political events and themes represented in the novel and its sequels are based on experiences stemming from Herbst's prior work as a Leftist journalist, which was published in ''The New Masses'' and ''The Nation''. As for the novel's themes and the related title, Herbst wrote of her characters: "pity cannot save them. . . . The old standbys . . . religion, respectability, are so many straw bridges."The Literary Encyclopedia: Josephine Herbst
by Angela E. Hubler, Kansas State University

Plot introduction

''Pity Is Not Enough'' follows the Trexlers' history after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

and before World War I. While the main narrative focuses on the Trexler family, the chronology is often disrupted by inter-chapters focusing on Victoria's childhood. Victoria recalls her mother, Catherine, telling the story of her unfortunate brother Joe Trexler, a man who had left his family's home in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to work as a

carpetbagger In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical pejorative used by Southerners to describe allegedly opportunistic or disruptive Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War and were pe ...

in Reconstruction-era

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. When trouble began to hound him, he escaped first to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, where he made acquaintances with the Governor of Georgia, and then returned home for a short while. He manages to escape from the local law by moving again, this time to the west where he joined the gold rush in the

Black Hills The Black Hills is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk Peak, which rises to , is the range's highest summit. The name of the range ...

in Dakota Territory. Future promises of financial success do not become fruitful for Joe or for the majority of his family. His favorite sister Catherine dies relatively young, his two other sisters marry failures who are unable to support them properly, and his younger brother, Aaron, becomes a moderate success but is relatively unhappy. His youngest brother, David, does have some success. Over time Joe slowly falls into dementia. Victoria eventually comes to the conclusion that her Uncle Joe's failure, like her father's failure in business, is not due to personal shortcomings, but to capitalist economic forces beyond their control.

Footnotes

References

*{{cite book , title=Pity Is Not Enough , last=Herbst , first=Josephine , author-link=Josephine Herbst , publisher=Harcourt Brace , location=New York , edition=1st , year=1933 1933 American novels Modernist novels Family saga novels Harcourt (publisher) books