Blog 16

Morris Markey's "The Drift"- a very literary piece

Blog 16

Morris Markey paints a bleak look at what happens to the unidentified dead in “Drift.” He takes the reader through the identification process, to the overcrowded morgue, a dark boat ride to the burial grounds and finally the sardine-cane burials that the lower class receives.

Word choice is very prevalent throughout the piece. For example when the detective and the superintendent are discussing the body almost being matched to a pickpocket by fingerprints, the superintendent responds, “Did you ever here of a pickpocket turning on the gas?” This gives the reader a little more visual than if the writer was to just come and say it was a suicide. Markey uses “Number 48,227” throughout the piece to refer to the unidentified body. This word choice accentuates the notion that he is simply just a number, an unidentified question mark, whose identity will soon be buried. “There was no marking stone over the grave where Number 48,227 lay now. But in the office was a long slip of paper. It bore the number of the grave, and the names of all its occupants. Except, of course, that in one space it bore a numeral instead of a name.” The word choice again implied that vague and non-personal burial in which the man received. He also described the trip to the burial plot with many words associated with death, describing the “shimmer on the water that hid the eternal filth of oil and refuse” and the “immortal and even a little more benign” building. 

Status detail functions in the piece to establish tone.  For example, “In the vast room, there were more than a hundred who lay beside him in long ranks. None other of these, however, were touched with the air of mystery that lay upon him.”  Markey describes that feeling associated with the unidentified body. Markey mentions the flag being flown at half-mast, which is typically associated with death. This sets the tone for the slow, dark death ride to the mass grave. “His motionless companions were lifted down to lie beside him, as close as the attendants could contrive, as soon men were working with shovels to cover them from the bright day.” He uses status detail to imply the close and impersonal burial setting of all of the dead which no one claims.

Markey uses scene-by-scene construction to move the story along in a linear fashion. He starts with a day-in-the-life of a detective assigned to the morgue, describing the building in detail. He then goes on tell the anecdote of the unidentified man, which he threads throughout the piece as it grows into a larger story telling the reader about the mass grave.

Morris Markey wrote for the New Yorker as a “reporter at large” and in this case is searching for the process of unidentified bodies, and also the concept of mass graves for the have-nots of society. His task at the New Yorker was to “roam the city and write down what you see” which caused him to stumble upon many published stories. His stories set the intellectual yet light tone of the New Yorker. He uses the “I am the camera technique” in his piece and other conventional reporting techniques such as personal presence. His pieced gave readers a look into New York society.
Story Ideas:
1.) I am thinking of documenting the personalities that inhabit Lillian's Bar, my place of employment. A few of the bartenders have worked there and had local customers for over 20 years. Lillian's prides itself with its history, live music and strong drinks, creating an atmosphere that attracts people from all walks of life, students, professionals, and long-time regulars. Many expressive personalities inhabit Lillian's, and since I have become friendly with many of them, I am sure they would let me interview them.
2.) Since I love animals, and volunteer at the Humane Society, I was considering a piece on the process a dog goes through from being rescued off the street an a bad situation, training and wellness, possible fostering and being placed in a better home.