Frank Norris' "A Deal in Wheat"

There was a day when the price of wheat got so high that bakeries had to cut back on handouts. They were spending hundreds of percent more annually for this wheat.

The late 19th century.

Wrong, well, partially right.

The early 21st century.

I heard the other day that the price of wheat had gone up nearly 1000 percent from last year, and that as a result, buying flour has been incredibly difficult for small businesses. I guess it just goes to show you, "What goes around comes back around." The only other thing that came to mind at the moment was Frank Norris' story about the wheat market, "A Deal in Wheat."

In listening to the report on the television, I reflected back on the story of Sam Lewiston, a man who sold when wheat was too low and lost his new job when it was too high because of swindling big businessmen who liked to play the market. I also remember when we related this to the oil crisis now, but guess what, this comes along, and I feel like I can relate to Sam even better.

I guess that is what I like about Norris. I can relate to his protagonist, Sam, in more ways than one. Yet there are also things I do not like about this story.

Even though I am a Romantic at heart, I was rather disappointed at the end of "A Deal in Wheat," because Sam ends up in a somewhat happier state. We discussed how this is one things that critics often critique him for. Nevertheless, "A Deal in Wheat" can teach us some valuable lessons regarding today's economy, and how we have not really "grown" at all.