Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision” is the biblical phrase that Tom Keefer chooses as the title of his unfinished novel. In a conversation with Willie Keith, Keefer identifies its source as the Book of Joel; the phrase therefore arrives both as a literary title and as a scriptural allusion. Its wording evokes a multitude facing a decisive moment, but the exchange does not explain how the novel uses that image or what decisions its characters confront. What it establishes is the title’s source, Keefer’s literary ambition, and the striking scale of the project he describes.

Keefer’s Novel and Its Scale

Keefer says he is working on a novel and estimates that he has written about forty thousand words out of a projected four hundred thousand. The comparison he offers places the intended work between two famous literary landmarks: longer than Ulysses, but shorter than War and Peace. Those figures make the manuscript’s ambition conspicuous even as they underline how little of it is complete. The biblical title belongs, at this point in the conversation, to a project whose promised scale far exceeds its progress.

Asked whether the novel is a war novel, Keefer answers that it takes place on a carrier. That detail supplies the setting he is willing to name, without describing the plot or explaining the title’s relation to the action. The phrase’s “valley of decision” can suggest a weighty choice, but the evidence does not identify a particular character, conflict, or decision in Keefer’s manuscript. The title’s resonance remains suggestive rather than fully explained.

Biblical Source and Naming

When Willie asks for the title, Keefer pauses before saying it slowly: “Multitudes, Multitudes.” The hesitation and deliberate delivery give the naming a small ceremonial quality within an otherwise casual exchange. Willie likes the title, then asks whether he recognizes it; he guesses that it comes from the Bible. Keefer specifies the Book of Joel and supplies the fuller wording, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision.” The dialogue thus distinguishes Keefer’s capitalized title from the biblical phrase he cites as its source.

The allusion gives the title a collective scale: its central image is not an isolated person but multitudes gathered at a point of decision. Beyond that implication, the exchange leaves the novel’s meaning open. It does not say whether Keefer intends a religious, historical, or purely literary use of Joel’s words, and it offers no passage from the manuscript to settle the question. The supported connection is precise but limited: Keefer has chosen the phrase, and he identifies the biblical source.

The Conversation’s Effect

Willie responds to Keefer’s title with enthusiasm, saying that he likes it and joking that he will apply for the millionth copy, autographed. Keefer answers with a broad, pleased smile and admits that he is still a long way from such success. The joke briefly imagines the novel as a celebrated publication, while Keefer’s reply returns the exchange to its unfinished state: the work is still far from complete, let alone available in a million copies.

The episode makes the phrase memorable by placing it between literary aspiration and friendly encouragement. Keefer supplies the title and its source; Willie recognizes the biblical association and treats the manuscript as a future success. Their exchange reveals Keefer not merely as a writer in the abstract, but as someone with a vast project, a chosen title, and an audience willing to indulge its imagined future. It does not establish that the novel is completed or published.