by (Brendan Anthony 0*Grady Thesis presented to the faculty of Arts of the University of Ottawa, submitted in the Department of Eng­ lish In view of obtaining the doc­ torate in philosophy. if.. iintOTHtoues^ - UWARIES j> Ottawa, Canada, 1954 UMI Number: DC53325 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform DC53325 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 iiCKNOWL£i)0£MBI>lTS Though it is impossible to name all the people who have helped him in the preparation of this thesis, the author wishes to acknowledge special indebtedness to at least the following: Dorothy Day, who made available her unpublished manuscript on the life of Peter Maurin; who supplied the author vaith many of Peter I&urin's original manuscripts and letters; who corresponded with the author concerning this thesis and criticized the work-in-progress; and who by her letters and interviews encouraged the writing of this thesis. Rev. Brother Agnel Isidore, F.S.C., Superior-General of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, who supplied a record of Peter Maurin's service svith that teaching order. Rev. Brother Horberto Bautista, F.S.C., who in his correspondence with the present author supplied valuable information on the early life of his brother, Peter tourin. Arthur Sheehan, who granted an interview and supplied the author with several of his own essays on Peter Maurin. Edward .hillock, who discussed this thesis ..ith the author and suggested several important "leads". The Canadian litabaasy in Paris, for procuring a photostatic copy of Peter tiaurin's military service record from the French Jecretary of State for War. The staff of fhe Catholic ,<orker in iiew fork, particularly Kobert Ludlow and Thomas Sullivan, who discussed thi3 project with the author and assisted him in obtaining information in the files of the paper. Dr. Emmett 0*Grady, Head of the Department of English at the University of Ottawa, who directed the writing of this thesis. And several other people, who, though inconvenienced by the author in his search for material, answered his questions in personal interviews or by correspondence. CURRICULUM STUDIQRUM NAME: Brendan Anthony 0*Grady. DATE OF BIRTH: April 14, 1925. PLACE OF BIRTH: New York City, New York. DEGREES: Bachelor of Arts, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, June 1947. Title of thesis: "Benjamin Franklin, His Autobiography and Poor Richard's Almanac, as an Impression of the American Formula of Success, viz., Industry, Frugality, and Piety." Master of Arts, Columbia University, New York City, New York, June 1950. Title of thesis: "Charles L. O'Donnell, American Catholic Poet." TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page INTRODUCTION VI* I. THE MAN 1 II. THE PROPAGANDIST 43 1. Three Difficulties 46 2. In New York 69 3. On the Road 87 4. Co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement 103 III. THE EASY ESSAYS 118 1. Phrased Format 129 2. Simplicity 138 3. Popular Diction 148 4. Conciseness 160 5. Repetition 169 6. Definitions 181 7. Orderliness 200 8. Authorities and Witnesses 218 9. Recommended Reading .......242 10. Humour 256 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 279 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 283 APPENDICES 294 INTRODUCTION In the future a great deal will probably be written about Peter Maurin, but comparatively little has been written to date. Most of what has been published on Peter Maurin has been written by admirers, if not by avowed "disciples"; in other words, to date those who have writ­ ten about him at all have seen fit for the most part to praise him. But even this panegyrical literature is not voluminous. Almost any worthy investigation properly pursued and presented, therefore, should contrib­ ute to the limited recorded study of this important figure in American Catholic thought and activity. The paucity of material on Peter Maurin may best be explained by the fact that his work is of so recent origin that it has not been possible to Judge it completely as yet in its appro­ priate perspective. rfihile we may be too close in time to Peter Maurin to judge the philosophical value of his work, it is possible to analyze at least the technique employed by this outstanding twentieth-century propagandist and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement. ji. contemporary of Peter Maurin, therefore, attempting to write with a high degree of accuracy within a few years of the subject's de­ mise might at first be suspected of vanity, for the very selection of such a topic may suggest at least a tacit prophecy. The present essay does not, consciously, contain any such pretensions. Rather, it attempts an objective study, by a virtual contemporary, of the propaganda tech­ nique of Peter Maurin — nothing more. Though Peter Maurin was a pioneer in Catholic Action in Amer­ ica, it is not to be inferred from this work that the apoatolate of the vit laity is simply (or even primarily) a matter of technique. But technique is still very important; and Peter Maurin, as we shall see, was aware of its importance. nt the outset it is necessary to define — to set limits to ~ the scope of this essay. Our basic concern will be with Peter Maurin's propaganda technique. Now, in few other instances is it as obvious that "the style is the man himself"; hence, we shall first identiy the man. Next, we shall review his public activities as an agitator, indoctrina- tor, and propagandist. Finally, we shall analyze in detail the style em­ bodied in his writings. Chapter I contains a biographical sketch of Peter Kaurin, stress­ ing especially those events in his life which bear directly on his work as an apologist. Material for this chapter has been gleaned from many sources (as noted), no one of which is complete in itself. A full-length biography, the complete preliminary manuscript of which has been examined in preparing this essay, may some day be published by Dorothy Day; in the meantime, Chapter I of this thesis offers the most complete biographical sketch of Peter Maurin to date: on this ground the inclusion of much of the first chapter that appears irrelevant to this particular thesis may be justified. Much of the biographical sketch itself is speculative be­ cause strictly factual details on Peter Maurin's life are at a premium. The sketch as a whole, however, meets with the approval of the person who is the leading authority on the subject, Dorothy Day. The first chapter, however, is not the essence of this thesis. The attention of the specialist and the reader particularly interested viil in the propaganda techniques, rather than the background, of Peter Maurin is directed especially to Chapters II and III. Chapter II discusses specifically Peter Maurin's career as an "agitator" and propagandist, and co-founder of the Catholic Worker move­ ment. This section attempts to cover the necessary background and details of his Easy Essay approach, his public speaking, and his round-table tech­ niques. Material for this chapter, too, has been gleaned from several lit­ erary sources, none of wuich deals completely and exclusively with this par­ ticular aspect of his work. Much information here, furthermore, has come from a series of personal interviews with several intimate associates of Peter Maurin, among them Dorothy Day, Edward hillock, Arthur Sheehan, and Thomas Sullivan. Chapter III attempts a detailed analysis of the literary technique — the style — of that collection of Peter fcaurin's written essays entitled Catholic Radicalism. This chapter contains ten sub-divisions. Though many helpful suggestions and useful statements Lay be found elsewhere (as noted), this section is largely original work. The final ^ages contain a Sucaaary and Conclusion; an Annotated Bib­ liography; and several Appendices revealing significant, hitherto-unpublished material on the life and work of Peter Maurin. Chapter I THE MAN Peter Maurin was preeminently a man of ideas. It is especially noteworthy that he very seldom permitted his own subjective story to in­ trude upon objective truth. As he did not volunteer many facts about his personal life, such information had to be pried from him piecemeal, giving us, at best, a series of scattered snapshots (more often mere fragments) which can hardly be combined to produce a fully satisfactory montage. Even with the limited material at hand, however, we are cib^e to establish a number of certainties and several fairly safe theories. First of all, Peter Maurin was a peasant. (1) His birthplace, the small village of Oultet, in the commune of St. Julien du Tournel, Lozere, France, was a setting not of bourgeois ugliness but of peasant practicality. Born May 9, 1877, the following day he was christened Pierre Joseph ^ristide Maurin, and took his place in a rural family which numbered over the years twenty-four children. (2) his mother, Marie Pages, to whom five children were born, died in 1885. Two years later his father, Jean-Baptiste tourin, married Rosalie Bousquet, and from this second union came the other nineteen children. Some of Liaurin's brothers and sisters joined gieliglewti ajfdere, others became teachers, craftsmen and farmhantis, «sMl« he hteseif stsent forth eventually to co-found a movement in America that has profoundly influenced the lives of many thousands.