THE MORNING WATCH

by James Agee ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 1951

The author of the script for the touching and powerful movie, The Quiet One again turns his attention to the emotional crises of a boy. Richard, boarding at an Anglican church school in Tennessee contemplates the Watch on Good Friday Eve with shame and self-castigation. In the church he fights against his earnest twelve-year-old pride. Doggedly he reaches for words and ritual to release his guilt in contemplating the Crucified Christ. The boy's mind envisions self-punishments which have their immediate and satisfying rewards as he imagines his brave acts applauded, but other waves of guilt shout ""presumption and pride"" and the watching hour runs out. A forbidden run to the swimming place in the chilly dawn with two others calls for a sacrificial ""death"" achieved by submerging himself in the icy water. It is however, the brutal death of a snake, which Richard finally puts out of its squirming agony, that breaks his suspension in death. But the aftermath of a twelve year old's passion is a weight of weariness, until death's unreality returns him to the easter world of a boy. Some exquisite writing and sensitive insight into the mind of a youngster.

Pub Date: April 3, 1951

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1951

Categories: FICTION