SOURCE: “Wright Morris's Plains Song: Woman's Search for Harmony,” in South Dakota Review, Vol. 20, No. 3, Autumn, 1982, pp. 50-62.

In the following essay, Arnold discusses Morris's depiction of gender roles and gender conflicts in his novel, Plains Song.

Perhaps smarting a little under the criticism that his books rarely center around women, Wright Morris, in his recent novel, Plains Song, may be trying to correct the imbalance. His title page indicates that the “song” he is presenting is “for Female Voices.”¹ And indeed it is. The two principal voices are those of Cora Atkins and Sharon Rose Atkins, a niece Cora reared as her own. The first third of the book is given to Cora, the second two-thirds to Sharon, though both figure prominently in the whole book.

Plains Song opens with an introduction to the dying Cora, then jumps back to the story of her courtship and marriage...