Horace McCoy and His Unorthodox Storytelling

Horace McCoy’s novel, “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” utilizes an unconventional structure to fuel its narrative. Instead of reading the novel and experiencing the conclusion at the end, the reader is given the final outcome of the two protagonists at the very beginning. Because there is no mystery involved in this murder, McCoy’s job is somewhat different than most writers of noir fiction. Rather than simply telling a story where a crime has taken place, he is forced to justify his actions through a primarily flashback-driven narrative. In the span of one-hundred and twenty-five pages, McCoy must present this murder as “understandable and inevitable” (Sturak 150) and does this primarily through the manipulation of time. Through clever use of italicized interjections and the cunning use of ironic foreshadowing, the reader eventually comes to realize that Gloria’s murder most certainly does not merit Robert’s death as well.

McCoy’s narrative does not follow a linear structure. Throughout the novel, there are several passages in which Robert reverts back to the courtroom where the story began. These segments are always italicized, and although they take place separately from the dance-hall narrative, Sturak notes that the reader is only drawn out of the story if he chooses to become so. These flashbacks remind us of the fact that Gloria’s death and Robert’s trial is imminent, but relate to the dance-hall narrative in such a way that they do not seem out of place or gratuitous. These italicized flashbacks take place in several different places, and can either be long or quite short.

For example, after Mario is arrested during the contest, Robert reflects, “Now I know you can be nice and be a murderer too. Nobody was ever any nicer to a girl than I was to Gloria, but there came the time when I shot and killed her. So you see being nice doesn’t mean a thing…” (45). If the reader chooses to apply this statement to Robert’s current position (awaiting his death sentence to be delivered by a judge) and sympathizes with him, that is their choice. But this reflection also relates to the dance hall narrative, in that Robert sympathized with Mario’s plight. (Of course, after deeper reflection, it seems as if the only way in which a person could make a statement such as that would be if the person had lived through a similar ordeal himself. This is what McCoy was trying to accomplish through use of the flashback sequences.) This short scene provides a small bit of validation for Robert’s future actions in that murder is no longer demonized as something only rotten, evil people do. Although it still does not fully compensate for the fact that he killed Gloria, it provides some relief for those people who had doubts about the nature of Robert’s personality.

A shorter example of italics use to revert back to the courtroom and to further justify Robert’s situation is right before he stands in the triangle of sunlight. He says to himself (in regular narrative mode), “It was the first time I had ever appreciated the sun […] When this marathon is over, […] I’m going to spend the rest of my life in the sun. I can’t wait to go to the Sahara desert to make a picture.” (48) Immediately after, he crudely states, “Of course, that won’t ever happen now.” (48) It is at this point that we feel the most compassion and empathy towards Robert. He has just told the reader about the most exciting, passionate, and optimistic point in his life only to jerk the reader back to reality with his sullen, angry reminder of his courtroom problems. The collective sigh of the audience is nearly audible when we realize that Robert’s newfound passion for life will never have a chance to play itself out. This helps the reader develop a strong sense of empathy and understanding towards Robert. “If only the jury could read this!”, the reader shouts emphatically, “They would let him off for sure! It wasn’t his fault! Look!” Once again, a clever tool used by McCoy in order to force his readers to side with Robert throughout the duration of the novel.

Another way in which McCoy allows the reader to make sense of Gloria’s death is through the novel’s many ironic instances of foreshadowing. While not as powerful a tool as the italic phrases, the foreshadowing allows us to understand Gloria’s hatred of living, as well as Robert’s tolerance and acceptance of this facet of Gloria’s personality. Robert doesn’t try to “save” Gloria in any way. (He won’t even consider the possibility of marrying her, he tells Mrs. Layden. He does not love her, he understands her, which is a different thing entirely. This is one of the primary reasons why he is able to “do her a favor” with little remorse.) The quintessential example of this relationship between the two of them is evident on page forty-six:

“More and more I wish I was dead,” she said
There it was again. No matter what I talked about
she always got back to that. “Isn’t there something
I can talk about that won’t remind you that you
wish you were dead?” I asked.
“No,” she said.
“I give up,” I said.

Not only does this conversation outline exactly what is to occur in the coming days, but it positively reflects both of their attitudes towards death and towards each other. Here McCoy has successfully manipulated time in order to make Gloria’s murder not only a justified, inevitable event but an almost welcome one.

Yet another example of ironic foreshadowing between Gloria and Robert is seen on page thirty-six when Rollo says to Robert: “‘Try to keep her piped down,’ he said. ‘That’s a hard job, but I’ll do the best I can,’ I said.” Rollo is actually referring to Robert keeping Gloria from making a scene and cursing in front of the audience, but in reality, it is ultimately Robert who silences Gloria once and for all, despite the difficulty of the task.

Through McCoy’s wonderful melding of past and present, through literary tools like flashback sequences, internal and external dialogue, and irony, he is able to successfully convince his audience that Gloria’s death was not only justified, but that the only person suitable for the job was Robert himself.

Works Cited:

1. McCoy, Horace. “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”. Penguin Signet Books. New York. 1935.
2. Sturak, Thomas. “Horace McCoy’s Objective Lyricism”. From Tough Guy Writers of the Thirties. Ed. By David Madden. S. Illinois University Press. 1968. pp. 137-162.