The modernism of “A Sculptor's Funeral” In Willa Cahers' short story “A Sculptor's Funeral,” we see the doomsday of a world-famous artist through the eyes of his hometown. While the text of the story captivates its readers, the tale also follows the trends of modernism throughout the tale. The story begins with a trend towards modernism; opens with a scene in which men wait for the evening train: “The men on the siding stood first on one foot and then on the other, with their hands stuck in their trouser pockets, their overcoats open, their shoulders contracted with the Cold; and now and then they looked south-east, where the railway wound along the river bank. We have no background information on why the men are there or who they are, all we know is that they are at a train station. A trend among modernized literary works is to begin a scene in the middle of a situation. It draws readers in to read more to fully understand what is happening in the story. So let's move on to a very important part of both history and modernism, symbolism. Symbolism is the use of images to represent ideas. Symbols are used throughout modernism to give deeper meaning to basic tales. In this story, an example of symbolism is the golden palm leaf on the sculptor's coffin. The sculptor protected himself with the palm leaf. Throughout his life, the sculptor disappointed his community. “There was general laughter. The minister took out his handkerchief and blew his nose loudly. Banker Phelps closed the knife with a snap. “It is a pity that the old man's children have not become better,” he observed with thoughtful authority. “They were never together. He spent enough money on Harve to keep...half of paper...on most of the characters in the story. We learn that Jim does not attend the funeral and dies shortly after; “The next day Jim Laird was drunk and unable to attend the funeral services.” Unfortunately, we don't know what happened to Harvey's family or any of the men present at his visit. Mr. Steaven's actions after the funeral are also nonexistent: “Steavens called his office twice, but was forced to leave eastward without seeing him. He had a feeling that he would hear from him again and left his address on the lawyer's table; but if Laird found him, he never recognized him.” “The Sculptor's Funeral” is a story with many intense scenes. We focus less on the plot and more on the symbols, the rejection of small town values ​​and the individual's code of ethics. The story follows the trends of modernism very precisely and creates a very deep and memorable tale.