Plainsong

Victoria feels her contractions begin. She waits to tell the brothers, as they are tending to the animals. She tidies what she can until, eventually, the contractions become “harder and more definite” (238). Victoria walks outside and waits for the brothers to finish what they are doing. She tells them that it has started but is too soon to go into town. The McPherons take a moment to understand but then rush to help.

The brothers fuss around, insisting that Victoria should head to the hospital. Once she agrees, they arrive at the hospital where the brothers “stood in a kind of mute panic and intolerable outrage” (239). Hours pass by. The brothers refuse to leave, even during the night. Eventually, Harold offers to go back and feed the livestock while Raymond stays with Victoria.

Finally, Victoria is taken to the delivery room. When the doctor tells Raymond that he can see her, Raymond quizzes him with suspicion and then shakes the doctor’s hand. When Raymond enters the room, he sees the baby girl and says that she is a “beautiful little thing” (243). As he takes the baby in his arms, Harold enters, still dressed in his work clothes.