Martin declines the Railway Mail appointment

Martin declines the Railway Mail appointment at the moment when poverty makes it seem like his safest escape. Having passed the civil-service examination first, he nevertheless turns down the position when called, betting instead on the writing career whose uncertain promise has kept him from surrendering to ordinary employment.

The Examination as a Last Resort

By the time Martin takes the examination, the strain of trying to live by writing has brought him close to giving up. He is behind on a month’s room rent and two months’ payments on his typewriter; the agency is pressing him either to pay or return the machine. A job would satisfy his creditors and the people around him, including his sister and Ruth. In this desperation, he takes the Railway Mail examination as a temporary truce with necessity, hoping to make a fresh start later. Passing first surprises him. The position is assured, although he does not yet know when he will be summoned to begin.

Refusing the Position

When the call eventually comes, Martin declines it. The choice reverses the practical logic that led him to sit the examination: the position offered a dependable answer to immediate financial pressure, but accepting would mean leaving his uncertain literary pursuit. His decision is not presented as confidence grounded in financial success; rather, he stakes his future on the conviction that he can make a living through writing. The refusal therefore marks a recommitment made while his circumstances remain precarious, not after they have become secure.

Ruth Learns of His Decision

The refusal becomes explicit in a conversation with Ruth. She has read that local appointments to the Railway Mail have been made and asks whether Martin passed first. He has to admit both that the call came and that he declined it. He tells her he is sure that within a year he will earn more than a dozen Railway Mail employees. His certainty contrasts with the disappointment and reproach visible in Ruth’s eyes, and his reassurance does not resolve their tension. She soon says that she must leave because Arthur Morse is waiting. Martin kisses her, but she remains passive: she does not put her arms around him, and her lips do not meet his with their usual pressure. The scene makes the personal cost of Martin’s wager visible even as he continues to defend it.