The Complete Shorter Fiction - The Adventures of Fred Pickering

[Deborah, Moderator]

This story appeared in The Argosy in September of 1866.

Fred makes some choices in his life based on pride, and inflated opinion of his own talents. The proverb pride goeth before a fall came to my mind. What do you think Trollope intents with this story?

[Lynnm]

He definitely had too much pride, and as Mr. Burnaby says, thinks too highly of his abilities.

The story is also about becoming a writer, and as the last line says, you have to be a journeyman to do that. Unless you have amazing talent, but those types of writers are few and far between, and even many of them have to write things they aren't passionate about until they learn their craft.

It was a sad story - he went from joking about starving and thinking that it would be a grand, dramatic gesture in the pursuit of writing literature vs. the cold, hard reality of having nothing.

[Deborah, Moderator]

Lynnm wrote: "He definitely had too much pride, and as Mr. Burnaby says, thinks too highly of his abilities.

The story is also about becoming a writer, and as the last line says, you have to be a journeyman to ..."

And he kept making worse by his choices

[Deborah, Moderator]

Do you think this story reflects Trollope's experiences in becoming a writer?

[Lynnm]

Deborah wrote: "Do you think this story reflects Trollope's experiences in becoming a writer?"

I don't know much about Trollope's life so I Googled him. It sounds as if he had a hard time in life - both in general and in writing - before he finally became successful. So it might be.

[Everyman]

I have to wonder whether Gissing based New Grub Street in part on this story. There are some very close parallels between the two.

[Everyman]

My primary reaction was sadness. I wanted to get angry at Fred for pulling Mary (and their baby) into this, but I couldn't. He was too much like a big, clumsy but perpetually tail wagging golden retriever.