Henry And Symbolism In The Californian's Tale

If a man you had never met before invited you into his house and offered to let you stay with him until his wife returned home, what would you do? Would you gladly take him up on his offer, or would you quickly turn him down? In “The Californian’s Tale,” the narrator was hiking across California when he bumped into a man in his mid-forties, named Henry. Henry invited the hiker back to his home. Henry had told the hiker that his wife was away visiting relatives, and offered to let the hiker stay with him until his wife returned. During the hiker’s stay, Henry was accidentally dropping little clues that didn’t quite add up. Henry grew more and more worried throughout the week. The narrator led to believe that Henry’s wife was alive, when in all reality she had died 19 years prior. She had been captured by indians; she was never seen again. The author foreshadowed the outcome of the story by using dialogue, imagery, and carefully crafted details.
The hiker was astonished by the differences between Henry’s home and the other homes across California. Most homes in California were dull and dirty. The narrator described Henry’s home as, “...towels too clean and white for one out of practice to use without some vague sense of profanation,”(16). Henry’s house was the exact opposite of
Henry could have just said that his wife was nineteen, but instead the author chose to write, “‘Nineteen her last birthday,’ he said, as he put the picture back…”(22). When the hiker suggested that Henry write a letter to his wife, Henry rejected the idea quickly and responded with, “‘I’m getting old, you know, and any little disappointment makes me want to cry,’”(23). Once Joe, a friend of Henry’s, had heard the letter that Henry’s wife had wrote he stated, “‘Lord, we miss her so!’ he said,”(23). This foreshadows that she has been gone for longer period of time than let