The opening paragraph creates an idyllic tableau of country life that is interrupted when one of the berry pickers traveling past Wing Biddlebaum’s house, “a boy clad in a blue shirt,” suddenly “attempt[s] to drag after him one of the maidens, who scream[s] and protest[s] shrilly” (3). This potential assault, which is only briefly mentioned as the sun sets over the picturesque landscape, foreshadows the story’s commentary on consent, sexual impropriety, and scandal, as well as the ambiguity of external interpretations of events.

The story’s narrative structure is nonlinear and complex. As Wing Biddlebaum anxiously awaits a visit from George Willard, little else happens in the present-day storyline. The majority of events occur in the past, with flashbacks depicting Wing Biddlebaum’s conversations with George Willard and his earlier life in Pennsylvania, when he went by the name Adolph Myers. If the story can be said to have a climax, it is the scene where the townspeople prepared to lynch Adolph Myers. This incident explains the protagonist’s present social isolation and anxious behavior.

Anderson carefully structures the narrative to portray the protagonist in a sympathetic light before readers learn of the alleged molestation case.