''The Morning Watch'' is a short autobiographical

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

which author

James Agee James Rufus Agee ( ; November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was an American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, writing for ''Time Magazine'', he was one of the most influential film critics in the United States. ...

began writing in 1947. Completing the text in 1950, Agee wrote to

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

that the protagonist was a "12-year-old boy (roughly myself) at edge of puberty, peak of certain kinds of hypersensitive introversion, isolation, and a certain priggishness."

Plot

''The Morning Watch'' explores the thoughts and feelings of 12-year-old Richard, a student at an unnamed Episcopal boarding school (based on Agee's schooling at

St. Andrew's-Sewanee School St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School is a private, coeducational, Episcopal, boarding and day college preparatory school serving 216 students in grades six through twelve. It is located in Sewanee, Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau between Nashville a ...

in Sewanee, Tennessee), over the course of a few hours in the early morning of Good Friday in 1923. Part I opens with Richard waking up to participate in the 4 AM shift of a nightlong prayer vigil in the school's chapel; in Part II he goes to the chapel, prays, and decides to attend the 4:30 shift as well; in Part III he leaves the chapel at 5 AM with two other boys, and they all run off to swim in the lake rather than go straight back to their dormitory, knowing they will be punished for this infraction. On their way to the lake, Richard discovers the intact shed skin of a locust, clinging to a tree; at the lake, the boys swim and then kill a snake; as they head back to school, Richard takes the locust shell with him.

Editions

The text of ''The Morning Watch'' first appeared in the Rome-based literary journal ''

Botteghe Oscure ''Botteghe Oscure'' was a literary journal that was published and edited in Rome by Marguerite Caetani (Princess di Bassiano) from 1948 to 1960. History and profile ''Botteghe Oscure'' was established in 1948. The magazine was named after via d ...

'' in 1950 and was published by Houghton Mifflin the following year.Sragow, Michael, ed., p. 811 Subsequent editions include

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

(1966),

Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reach ...

(1980), and

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published over 300 volumes by authors rangi ...

(2005).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morning Watch 1951 American novels American autobiographical novels Culture of Knoxville, Tennessee American novellas Houghton Mifflin books