"Black, uneasy, stoop-shouldered group."36

The story starts with an image of the untimely arrival of the sculptor's corpse "already twenty minutes overdue." This is interesting in that it immediately puts the sculptor out of sync with his hometown. The image seems to operate on two basic premises, that is, the artist died before his time while at the same time he never quite belonged to the rhythm of the town in which he was born.

The next discernible image (that is, from the rhetoric of the small town norm) is that of Jim. He too seems isolated, that is, even in the midst of the crowd he is alone. His posture, movements, and even "astonishing...red beard" set him apart from the rest of the group gathered in waiting. He is a character that is drawn very close to the sculptor later in the story when he makes his passionate defense. The character of Jim is introduced early to keep the idea of isolation close to reader's mind while also str

As the train approaches, the unity of the group and the individuality of both Jim and the Sculptor are clearly shown. The sculptor, being the only one in the group that is dead, stands out unarguably all alone in the scene. Jim is the first to approach the train, not at all concerned if the rest of the group (which takes a moment to make sure that they are ready to follow) approves of his action. While the rest stick together, Jim rushes stets out to confront himself in the visage of the sculptor, both figuratively, and in a literal forshadowing of his own imminent death.

The portraits of differentiation are conspicuously juxtaposed with numerous illustrations of conformity. One instance that cannot go unmentioned is when the GRA man approaches Jim; this is the first time that the two worlds collide. One notices that Jim seems to put the death into a proper reverential scope, while the GAR man simply wishes that the sculptor had belonged to his group. After being ignored by Jim, the man returns to the group to report, making sure that the mass had gelled into a new mind set together

Some common words found in the essay are:
Funeral Black, Jim Sculptor, outside world, home town, call whistle, life call whistle, life call,
Approximate Word count = 735
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)