James Grew

James Grew is a young Latin teacher in the Massachusetts town where Cathy Ames grows up. He is described as a pale, intense young man who had failed in divinity school and yet had enough education to teach the inevitable grammar, Caesar, and Cicero. He is a quiet young man who warms his sense of failure to his bosom, and deep in himself he feels that he has been rejected by God, and for cause. His character is defined by a fragile, thwarted spirituality and a deep-seated vulnerability, making him an easy target for Cathy's predations.

Involvement with Cathy Ames

For a time, it is noticed that a flame leaps in James Grew and some force glows in his eyes. He is never seen with Cathy and no relationship is even suspected. He becomes a man: he walks on his toes and sings to himself, and he writes letters so persuasive that the directors of his divinity school look favorably on readmitting him. This transformation is directly linked to his secret, unspoken connection with Cathy, who, even as a fourteen-year-old, has learned that by the manipulation and use of sexuality she can gain and keep power over nearly everyone. Then the flame goes out. His shoulders, held so high and square, fold dejectedly. His eyes grow feverish and his hands twitch. He is seen in church at night, on his knees, moving his lips over prayers. He misses school and sends word that he is ill when it is known that he is walking all alone in the hills beyond the town. This abrupt collapse mirrors Cathy's cold, experimental use of him; once she has achieved her purpose, she discards him, leaving him shattered.

Suicide and Aftermath

One night, late, James Grew taps on the door of the Ames house. Mr. Ames complains his way out of bed, lights a candle, flings an overcoat over his nightgown, and goes to the door. It is a wild and crazy-looking James Grew who stands before him, his eyes shining and his body one big shudder. He insists he must talk to Mr. Ames, but Mr. Ames, thinking him drunk or sick, tells him to come down to the tannery in the morning and closes the door. Mr. Ames hears the wailing voice, "I can't wait. I can't wait," and then the feet drag slowly down the steps. The next morning, the sexton finds James Grew stretched on the floor in front of the altar of the church. The whole top of his head is blown off. Beside him lies a shotgun, and beside it the piece of stick with which he pushed the trigger. Near him on the floor is a candlestick from the altar. One of the three candles is still burning. The other two have not been lighted. On the floor are two books, the hymnal and the Book of Common Prayer, one on top of the other. The way the sexton figures it, James Grew had propped the gun barrel on the books to bring it in line with his temple. He leaves no letter, and no one can figure why he has done it. Mr. Ames, feeling guilty and miserable, suppresses his own story of the midnight call. Cathy, meanwhile, sits silent at dinner, eating with little dainty nips and wiping her mouth often on her napkin. Before the next day is out, everybody in town knows that James Grew had been in trouble in Boston, and no one can possibly imagine that Cathy planted the story. Even Mrs. Ames forgets where she heard it. Cathy's method is complete: she not only destroys a man but also controls the narrative of his destruction, erasing her own involvement entirely.

Thematic Significance

James Grew's fate is a crucial early illustration of the novel's exploration of innate evil and the nature of the "monster." The narrator explicitly states that Cathy was born with the tendencies which drove her, and that a monster is only a variation from the accepted normal. James Grew, a man of genuine spiritual yearning and weakness, is the first adult victim of Cathy's monstrous nature. His story establishes the pattern of her predatory behavior: she identifies a vulnerable person, uses her sexuality to gain power over him, and then discards him, leaving him destroyed. His suicide in the church, a place of supposed sanctuary, underscores the complete and utter devastation she leaves in her wake, and it foreshadows the greater tragedies she will cause later in the novel. His death is a quiet, horrifying prelude to the central drama of the Trask family.