Charles Purty’s Courtship of Hank’s Mother and His Acceptance That It Is Hopeless

Charles Purty’s Courtship of Hank’s Mother and His Acceptance That It Is Hopeless is a modest romantic pursuit told through practical gestures, comic misstatements, and an eventual act of clear-eyed generosity. Purty tries to impress Hank’s Mother with a bright red pickup truck, but when William Henry Devereaux, Sr. returns, seeing the couple together makes Purty understand that the long courtship he had continued to hope for was unlikely to succeed.

An Earnest Courtship in a Pickup

Purty’s courtship takes material form in the truck he has bought to impress Hank’s Mother. William Henry Devereaux, Jr. finds himself in the cab, running a hand over the dashboard and complimenting its interior in the hope that another bit of praise will get him out. Purty eagerly points out its features, including what he calls the antibrakes and the extra cab, and explains that he persuaded the salesperson to include a tarp at no additional charge. The comic misnaming of the tarp as a tark turns the vehicle into more than a display of new equipment: it captures Purty’s endearing mixture of pride, effort, and verbal confusion.

The truck is part of a deliberately assembled appeal. Purty has chosen a bright red pickup and a Patsy Cline tape, and his efforts are threaded with malapropisms. He asks whether Hank’s Mother will like the truck, treating the question as though its attractions ought to make the answer self-evident. The scene presents his pursuit as sincere rather than sophisticated; he is trying to make himself and his intentions visible through what he can offer.

Their conversation moves toward breakfast at The Circle, which William Henry Devereaux, Jr. had not realized served food. He tells Purty he ate four hours earlier, then remembers that he later lost his meal and is hungry again. More importantly, he recognizes that Purty has cheered him up. Purty’s chosen task—courting his mother with a truck, music, and a string of mistaken words—offers a reason to resist taking the world too seriously despite its recurring heartbreak. The courtship’s comedy thus matters to the relationship beyond the prospect of romance: Purty’s persistence gives the son a moment of relief.

The Return of William Henry Devereaux, Sr.

When William Henry Devereaux, Jr. encounters Purty again, Purty explains that Hank’s Mother is back at her place with William Henry Devereaux, Sr. He punctuates the news with a complaint about the price of a hotel room in New York City. Over scrapple and eggs, he then tells William Henry Devereaux, Jr. how his understanding changed. He had suspected for a long time that his courtship was futile, but even after Hank’s Mother announced William Henry Devereaux, Sr.’s return, Purty retained some hope. Seeing the two together finally made the situation plain to him: in his assessment, they belonged together.

Purty’s realization is sharpened by the contrast between the couple’s apparent ease and the strain of the family’s recent circumstances. William Henry Devereaux, Sr. had returned after a collapse and had been hospitalized and heavily sedated when his son and Hank’s Mother visited him. Purty says that William Henry Devereaux, Sr. was no help with the practical work, and describes him as looking unwell and crying. He also recalls that Hank’s Mother advised him to let the crying run its course rather than intervene. Her instruction, Purty says, proved right: William Henry Devereaux, Sr. eventually stopped and grinned. Hearing this account makes William Henry Devereaux, Jr. consider that his mother may be right that he is not prepared for his father’s return.

Disappointment and Generosity

Purty’s acceptance is not presented as the absence of hurt. When William Henry Devereaux, Jr. learns that Hank’s Mother had arranged to give over much of the garage to William Henry Devereaux, Sr.’s private library, he suddenly becomes furious with her—not simply for the presumption about the space, but also because he wonders whether she thanked Purty. Purty has not yet received thanks, but he answers that the job is not finished and suggests that she may be waiting so she will not have to thank him twice. The response makes room for a possibility that William Henry Devereaux, Jr. cannot comfortably accept: Purty’s good nature may be taken for granted, yet Purty continues to interpret Hank’s Mother charitably.

William Henry Devereaux, Jr. asks whether it bothers Purty when people take advantage of him. Purty does not deny that the outcome has disappointed him. He says he is glad if Hank’s Mother is happy, while acknowledging that the whole arrangement did not turn out as he had hoped. His answer defines the courtship’s ending: he recognizes that his own wishes have not prevailed, but does not turn that recognition into an accusation against her. When William Henry Devereaux, Jr. wonders whether she is happy, Purty points to the way she and William Henry Devereaux, Sr. talk alike. He then adds that William Henry Devereaux, Jr. does too, without intending to wound him.

The Relationship’s Narrative Role

The courtship is conveyed through small, concrete exchanges rather than a declaration or dramatic break: a truck’s features, a breakfast invitation, an unfinished job, and a plate of eggs passed across the table. These ordinary details allow Purty’s disappointment to remain understated and recognizable. Even William Henry Devereaux, Jr.’s angry concern over the missing thank-you cannot erase Purty’s own judgment that Hank’s Mother’s happiness matters to him.

Purty’s eventual acceptance also gives William Henry Devereaux, Jr. an indirect way to confront his parents’ reunion. The son reacts with anger and unease to what his mother has decided, while Purty, who has more reason to feel displaced, can acknowledge that the two Devereauxes seem fitted to each other. His courtship does not win Hank’s Mother, but its conclusion reveals the generosity and limits of his hope: he can see that the relationship he wanted is not the one taking shape, and still wish her well.