Word arts from the heart

The Art
for Heart’s sake was written by Reuben Lucius Goldberg (1883-1970).
He
was an American
cartoonist,
sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor, was born in San Francisco.
Goldberg is best known for a series of popular cartoons he created
depicting complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect way.
Rube
Goldberg began practicing his art skills at the age of four when he
traced illustrations from the humorous book History
of the United States.

Among his
best works are Is
There a Doctor in the House?
(1929), Rube
Goldberg’s Guide to Europe (1954)
and I
made My Bed
(1960).

Art for Heart’s sake is
about the old man Collis P. Ellsworth who has troubles with his
health. Doctor Caswell offers him to take up painting, for a chance.
In some time Ellsworth painted an awful picture which was no a work
of art at all. To bewilderment of the doctor this painting was not
only accepted for the Show at the Lathrop Gallery, but took the First
Prize. The old man just explained that he had bought this gallery
last month.

The idea of this text is
everything can be bought for money. Value of art will vanish if
everyone foists his god-awful smudge as an eternal work of art.

The text
is written as a 3^rd
person narration with dialogues of the personages. This text can be
divided into the following parts. The first is doctor’s suggestion
to take up art. The second is Swain’s lessons. The third is about
the Trees Dressed in White. The forth is the culminating point of the
text. Ellsworth was awarded with the First Prize for his painting.
The last one is Ellsworth’s confession. That he had bought the
gallery, that’s all.

The
prevailing mood of the text is humorous. The author underlines the
old man behaves like a child (he replied Nope
on the male nurse suggestion many times. He colored the open spaces
blue like a child playing with a picture book. He proudly displayed
the variegated smears of paint on his heavy silk dressing gown. He
requested someone to read his envelope because his eyes were tired
from painting. It was done specially to archive strong effect). At
the end the author used the
effect of defeated expectancy.
When the old man confessed that he just bought that gallery.

A lot of lexical and
stylistical devices were used in this text. The author managed to
depict all his characters with genuine skills. Koppel, doctor
Caswell, Swain and Ellsworth were described not direct but through
their behaviour, speech and dialogues.

The first
character who was introduced to the reader was the
male nurse Koppel.
He was the helper of doctor Caswell to treat the old man. The author
described how hard it was. He used gradation
to reveal the male nurse’s despair (He won’t take his pineapple
juice. He doesn’t want me to read to him. He hates the radio. He
doesn’t like anything!). Koppel couldn’t do a thing with the old
man. Despite he tried to prevent him from exhibiting the Trees
Dressed in White as the old man could become a laughing-stock.

To the
contrary to anxious and uneasy Koppel calm and gentle Doctor
Caswell
introduced in front of us. He is a professional and thinks a lot
about his patients (He
had done some constructive thinking since his last visit.
Making proposition to the old man he took
his stethoscope
ready in case the abruptness of the suggestion proved too mush for
the patient’s heart. In spite of rude and vigorous Ellsworth’s
answers like Rot
and Bosh
Caswell managed to persuade him to take up art with his professional
calm). He understood Ellsworth was no ordinary case. Further
unintentionally the old man’s diagnosis was described. The author
used zeugma
for the irony (All his purchases of recent years had to be liquidated
at a great sacrifice both to his health and his pocketbook).

The doctor preferred not to
interfere when Ellsworth decided to exhibit his painting at the
gallery. Doctor Caswell was the only man who managed with a supreme
effort to congratulate the old man on the First Prize while Swain and
Koppel uttered a series of inarticulate gurgles. One mistake the
doctor made is he thought it safe to allow Ellsworth to visit museums
and galleries.

The next
personage is Frank
Swain.
He is 18 years old and a promising student. He has some simile with
the doctor. Swain was also patient.
The author used such simile
(there
was a drawing on the table which had a slight resemblance to the
vase) to underline the Swain’s reaction (Not bad, sir. It’s a bit
lopsided). Swain is professional
too. As his visits grew more frequent he brought a box of
water-colors and some tubes of oils. He was no indifferent to the
Ellsworth and worried about the picture Trees Dressed in White. He
was forced to sneak into the Gallery and see the picture his own
eyes.

At least
the most inconsistent personage is Ellsworth.
As it was mentioned before he behaved like a child. The author used
many slang
words
(rot,
bosh, by gum, poppycock)
to display that the old man’s attitude to the Koppel, Swain and
Doctor, to emphasize such trait of the character as foolishness,
confidence, independence. Originally the old man was not sure to take
up art. He looked appraisingly at Swain and drew the scrawls
expecting the Swain’s critic (the wrinkles deepened at the corners
of the old man’s eyes as he asked elfishly what he thought of it).
In some time he asked Swain to come three times a week. It tells
about his progress in painting. The author used personification
(I want to ask you something before old
pineapple
juice comes back).
It reveals the old man’s attitude to the male nurse. Then
represented
speech
of the old man was used (How
were the galleries run? Who selected the canvases for the
exhibition?).
Ellsworth displayed his insatiable curiosity about the galleries but
in fact being a person who couldn’t help from buying anything he
formed an artful plan in his brain.

Ellsworth
executed the painting. The author used epithets
(a
god-awful smudge;
a loud,
raucous
splash
on
the wall) and simile
(which
resembled a gob of salad dressing thrown violently up against the
side of a house)
to give a real appraisal of the painting and show the absurd
accepting this picture to the gallery. The author used epithet
(a
lifetime
dream
of every mature artist was a Lathrop prize) and inversion
(upon
this distinguished group Ellsworth was going to foist his painting)
to emphasize the importance of this exhibition, its scale and
prestigious.

Ellsworth
organized everything before. This fact that Koppel, Swain and the
doctor were in the room when the envelope was brought was not a
chance. He anticipated this result (He
was unusually cheerful during
the exhibition). He proved them that art is nothing and everything
can be bought for money. All treatment and the good work, that the
doctor has accomplished, were spoilt. Ellsworth managed to wind
everybody round his finger. Why it has happened?

From
the point of view of syntax the text includes a lot of short and
elliptical sentences (Not bad). All
these language means reveal the author’s manner, his style of
writing. He renders his feeling and thoughts such way and therefore
reaches his desired effect.

It is worth adding that the
author was a great cartoonist. It impacts on his style of writing. He
paid attention on details and traits of characters.

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