Cards don’t lie by B. Virginia Lee
Biographical Notes
B. Virginia Lee was born in Fresno, a town in central California, in 1902. When she married in 1925, she moved to San Francisco and began a successful career as a literary journalist. She soon rose to become editor-in-chief of a journal, before moving to New York to work as the literary editor of the New American for many years.
Alongside her journalism, she found time to write a great deal of fiction, including the scripts for several Hollywood films.
Summary
Fill in: accuses - convinced - hold-up - invincible – props – retain – soaked - shuffles - villains
Western stories are usually built on certain clichés such as ______heroes, unscrupulous ______, fights, robbery, etc. Essential ______are rifles, horses, stage coaches, wagons, trains, saloons and so on.
The story "Cards Don't Lie" is no exception. The stage coach to Markleville has been robbed several times, but this time the ______goes even more smoothly than before. The only passenger seems to be a little too willing to hand over to the gunmen not only his own money but also the mailbags. He does, however, manage to ______his cat, Trillium.
When the coach arrives in Markleville the usual crowd gathers to listen to the report of the robbery. Everyone seems ______that Sandy Terris, the young passenger, was involved in the hold-up. He is taken to Al Crabbe's bar where, to the astonishment of the sheriff and the crowd, he says he can tell where the robbers are with the help of a deck of cards. While the young man ______the cards the cat strolls around and rubs up against three men. Sandy cuts the cards and holds up the jack of spades and the king of diamonds. He says that two of the bandits resemble these two pictures. Immediately the crowd turns to two men who fit these descriptions, Russell and Stowe. Announcing that "cards don't lie", Sandy points to the two men and ______them of being responsible for the hold-up. He then tells the crowd that the stolen money and mailbags are in that very saloon. When investigations prove him correct the three villains, Stowe, Russell and Crabbe, are arrested.
Sandy later explains that he is a United States postal inspector and that the money and mailbags were ______in catnip before the coach set off. It was then a simple matter to let his cat pick up the trail again.
The story, though containing certain western clichés, has an unusual ending. Both the ending and the method used to track down the robbers give it an individual note and contribute to the amusing tone.
Unit I
1. The Contents
Who is Sandy Terris?
Why does Sandy have his cat with him?
Why are the people in Markleville angry with Sandy?
How do people react when Sandy tells them he will find the bandits with the
help of his cards?
2. The function of the card trick
What is the function of the card trick?
The ending comes as a surprise to the crowd. Why? How do the readers react?
Unit II
The Western as a Genre
1. Stock characters, settings and props
Find typical western clichés in the story.
1) the hold-up,
2) sheriff,
3) saloon,
2. Stereotypes and their function
The following points are valid for most westerns, but especially for 'pulp' westerns, that is the cheap, mass-produced, serialized novels and comics, and some television series.
The hero: appearance and personality
What do most western heroes look like? What sort of men are they? The typical western hero
The villain: appearance and personality
What are typical villains like?
How does the reader react to them
The women
What about the women in westerns? What are they like?
The women are limited to two roles:
3. Function of these stereotypes
Why do you think the characters are so stereotyped? Is it an advantage if the reader can tell whether they are “good” or 'bad' from their appearance? Is there any disadvantage?
If the characters are shown as stereotypes it is easier for the reader to tell whether they are 'good' or “bad”. This makes the story easier to follow because the reader does not have to
Stereotyped characters make the readers feel secure because
4. The crowd
Think of all the westerns you know. How does the crowd usually behave? Compare this with the way the hero behaves. How might the relationship between crowd and hero influence the readers?
5. Is this story a typical western?
The atmosphere of this story is that of a western. As in most westerns the plot is fast and easy to follow. But it is also different from other westerns. How?
4