High Destiny

by Richard Bransten

High Destiny

Sketch for a Novel

By Richard Bransten

IN those days San Francisco had just developed from a frontier city into a commercial center. The older Jews were still very proud of the pioneering they had done, and of their part in the building of the city. In those days every Jew of social prominence knew every other worthwhile Jew: about his parents and his bringing up, whether his people were of German stock or merely Poles, cultured or just moneyed, how often he went to Temple and how much he gave to charity. Every Jew in society esteemed Philip Selznick's parents and admired their fine house on Van Ness Avenue.

When Philip graduated from the Harvard Law School his prospects of building up a practice were assured. His father bought him an interest in a prominent firm and Philip had an ingratiating personality. He was friendly and anxious to please and not afraid of work. Tall and athletic, with light hair and a winning smile, he made friends easily. His eastern manners distinguished him. When he had been home a few months Philip became interested in Madeleine Birnbaum. Philip's parents told each other proudly that their son wasn't one of those wasters, and didn't have any of the ideas most college fellows have. He knew what was what! For Madeleine's father had founded the Oriental Steamship Company and owned the controlling interest. Madeleine was the youngest of three children, the apple of her father's eye, and Mr. Birnbaum must be worth well over eight million dollars. Philip's parents told each other proudly that their son wasn't one of those wasters.

Philip courted Madeleine for a year while she made up her mind. Madeleine had many suitors though she wasn't very good-looking. She was slight and dark, with a thin mouth and deep-set eyes, and she had a sharp wit. When she felt certain that Philip was as good a catch as any other young man in San Francisco she gave in and married Philip. After their honeymoon in Del Monte and Santa Barbara they moved into a handsome house, and entertained and associated with just the right other Jews, Sometimes, because of their nice income and because Mr. Birnbaum was President of the Oriental Steamship Company, they had Gentiles for dinner or went to Gentile houses.

With the backing of his father-in-law, Philip became a factor in the community. Everyone knew that he must be honest since his people were of fine German stock who went to Temple on Saturdays and fast days, and Philip and his wife went with them, for they loved God and knew He could help them prosper. Besides, Philip didn't depend on his practice for money. So he prospered. He voted the Republican ticket and believed city officials should be honest, and became influential as a liberal because he insisted that San Quentin, the great prison on the other side of the Bay, should not be too grim. He said that prisoners should not be treated like animals, reminding his fellow-citizens that cruel and unnatural punishments were not legal. Twice a year or so he visited San Quentin with the rabbi to see that the prisoners were not treated like animals. On these visits Philip and the rabbi found things were no so bad, and they reported to the Chamber of Commerce and to the Better Citizens League and to many worthwhile clubs that everything was all right over at San Quentin. That gratified the business men because they wanted their prisons to be a credit to the State, and particularly San Quentin which was so near to San Francisco where everything was nice and progressive. The business men gave Philip a vote of thanks and he became known as a leading humanitarian.

Because Philip did so well in his legal practice and because Mr. Birnbaum was President of the Steamship Company, Madeleine dominated the Jewish society of San Francisco. Even though Madeleine had a malicious tongue, she managed to hold her position and people looked up to her. Everyone said, "Isn't Madeleine lucky to have married such a representative citizen as Philip!" They didn't say that to Madeleine, but it reached Philip and it pleased him. He wanted more than anything to be a man that everyone admired and about whom everyone said, "What a fine man Madeleine married!" He wanted the old Jews to respect him and the young Jews to like and admire him, and the Gentiles to say. "That's a fine Jew!" Philip wanted to be the Jewish friend of the Gentiles, and sometimes he felt that perhaps they treated him like one of themselves.

TWO years after her marriage Madeleine gave birth to a daughter. Philip had hoped for a son whom he wanted to name Junior. Two years later Madeleine again had a child, and this time it was a boy. Madeleine primped the babies up in pink so that they looked like dolls. She had two nurses for them, one for Adele and one for Lawrence. Philip wanted Madeleine to name the boy after him, and he felt hurt that she had not even discussed the name with him. Madeleine had only said, "We will name him Lawrence." Philip resented Madeleine's highhanded manner, but he didn't say anything.

The nurses took good care of the children and dressed them up and did not let them play much with other little children. Madeleine warned the nurses to be careful not to let Adele and Lawrence play even with Gentile children whose parents were not in accepted society. Madeleine didn't want Adele and Lawrence to grow up crude like other boys and girls who spring from backgrounds lacking wealth and culture.

Madeleine thought her children very nice, but she didn't want any more. A boy and a girl were plenty. Both Adele and Lawrence had been hard for Madeleine to have; and if she continued having babies, then after she and Philip died their money would be divided into too many parts. So Madeleine was very careful and Philip was very careful and they had no more children.

When the earthquake came in 1906 Madeleine and Philip Selznick were lucky to have nothing broken except a very fine Dresden vase. And when the fire ate through the city, the Selznicks realized that they were really good Jews and God was with them because the fire stopped one block from their home. They felt thankful that they had gone to Temple every Saturday and fast day, and knew it hadn't been a waste. While the city smouldered in ruins and famine settled over the refugees in the Presidio and when it was hard for others to get sufficient food, the Selznicks were able to get just about the same as always.

The earthquake helped Philip Selznick in his law business. There were many claims against the insurance companies, and the Jews and many of the Gentiles realized that Selznick was honest because he didn't need the money. They gave him their claims to collect. Mr. Birnbaum made him the lawyer for the Oriental Steamship Company, and a director. Selznick became more important and his interest in the prisoners of San Quentin grew, and once, on Thanksgiving Day, he sent ice-cream to the prisoners and paid for it all himself. Selznick was asked by his friends to take charge of a great many calls for charity, even Gentile charities. He directed many civic projects and he made hosts of friends, and the name of Selznick headed numerous committees.

THE more important Selznick became in civic affairs, the more Madeleine Selznick entertained and the greater the part she played in society. She spent huge sums of money when she gave parties. All the right Jews and some of the right Gentiles came to her home and reciprocated by inviting her to their houses. She was proud and happy and glad that Selznick was honest and respected and that her power increased with the years.

Ever since Madeleine Selznick had married, her father had been making fortunes. So when Mr. Birnbaum died, Madeleine inherited over five million dollars. Besides this amount, Mr. Birnbaum bequeathed a nice sum to charity, almost five hundred thousand dollars, some of which went to the fund for prisoners at San Quentin. Adele and Lawrence each inherited half a million dollars from their grandpa. Selznick said, "What a nice gesture of Grandpa Birnbaum to leave half a million to each of the children." And he said to Adele and Lawrence, "Your grandpa was a very fine man, and you should keep his memory dear, for he founded a great business and made a lot of money and was a leading citizen!"

Adele and Lawrence grew old enough to have two governesses instead of two nurses, and the governesses spoke German to them. Adele and Lawrence went to very fine private schools where they were treated as the children of the wealthy and socially prominent are treated. In addition to the school and the German talked at home, they had private French and Italian lessons. Madeleine wanted Adele and Lawrence to be exceptionally well educated because she loved them and because of their high destiny.

At school the other girls envied Adele's golden curls that reached to her shoulders, but they sometimes made fun of her flat face with the big eyes that stuck out of her head. Adele was tall for her twelve years, and extremely careful of her appearance, never spotting her dresses. She always remained somewhat aloof from the other children, for she knew that her grandpa had left her five hundred thousand dollars and that her father was rich, and so she did not care to play with those children whose families were not very wealthy. Adele also liked to hurt the children whose parents were not very rich, pinching their arms when the teachers weren't looking, or pulling their hair viciously. Everyone praised her beautiful eyes with the little red veins running through them, and Adele learned to use her eyes in a way that pleased some boys and some girls, but Adele liked the girls better.

Lawrence too had a flat face and light hair. His fat body was soft as a cushion, but he knew his parent's position was very high in society. He remembered his lessons easily and could repeat things without hesitation and his teachers said he was very bright. His eyes were blue and liquid and soft, and his body was fat, and when he undressed for gymnasium his large breasts looked like those of a young girl. Then the other boys would point at him and jeer and hoot, "Sissy! Sissy!" He was always catching colds and suffered from severe asthma, so severe that sometimes he had great difficulty drawing in his breath and letting it out, and his body would feel weak all over and drops of perspiration would stand out on his forehead. At these times violent headaches would nauseate him and red blotches would break out on his clear white skin as he tried to sniffle air into himself. He received regular treatments from a famous doctor who tried diets and injections and every other method he could think of to cure Lawrence. There would be times when Lawrence could breathe quite easily, but when the fog rolled into San Francisco from the Bay the difficulty of sniffling air into himself would begin. But even with his illness Lawrence was glad that he was Lawrence Selznick, for he knew that his father was respected and prominent in civic affairs, and that his mother dominated high society. Lawrence knew he was better than other boys and though his flesh was soft as blubber he kept his head high.

The children grew and Madeleine Selznick's circle of power widened and Selznick increased his wealth. Adele went to high school in a large car, and she would talk to the chauffeur as if he were dirt, because he had no money and no social position and he had to be polite if he wanted to keep his job. Adele got good marks in school and learned to use her great big eyes with the little veins running through them.

WHEN Adele finished high school, and Lawrence had but one year more to go, Mr. and Mrs. Selznick took them to Europe where they could see real culture. Everywhere they had the best rooms and the best food and the best services. Gentiles spoke to them because they were cultured and had wealth, and they were very happy and carried their social position with them. Adele and Lawrence were important too and only met young people of very rich parents. They broadened their minds a great deal in Europe, and brought back fine manners and trunks of clothes. After what they had seen in Europe, they realized that San Francisco was small and raw and uncultured.

On his return from Europe Mr. Selznick was asked to take charge of San Francisco's Community Chest, and he sacrificed his time and energy to the good work of urging others to give. The Better Citizens League unanimously elected Mr. Selznick president, and the Merchants' Improvement Association wanted him as honorary member, and the Rotary Club and many others begged him to join their organizations. Mr. Selznick became President of the Temple, and a director of the Symphony, for though he did not understand music or even enjoy it he often gave his legal advice free. He was asked to join the Boards of the Art School and the Music School and such organizations as the right people agreed were worthwhile.

The Selznicks decided that Adele should go to an exclusive school in the East instead of college like other girls. Adele was almost nineteen and her body was very slim and very boyish with firm small breasts and lean loins and hard thin legs. She was almost beautiful, with a flat face and great big eyes. Her mouth was thin and she smiled volumes of condescension, but most often her lips were set and then they were very hard.

By using his influence Mr. Selznick persuaded a fashionable school in the East, which usually did not take Jewish girls, to admit Adele. Here Adele learned to like Gentile girls of rich parents, and to like one girl more than any other. When she came back to San Francisco many young men visited her and wanted to marry her because she was so rich and so prominent in society and her father was such a respected citizen. Adele became engaged to several Jewish boys and even to several Gentile boys but after a little each would suddenly not come round to see Adele. But she didn't care, for no one was really good enough for her and no one was as rich and socially prominent as she, or had a father so honest. Adele knew a Danish girl who became a very close friend, and the two would frequently spend days together. Sometimes Adele would ask the girl up to her house and sometimes this very good friend would spend the night. The Danish girl loved to stay overnight at the Selznick house because it was so beautiful and so luxurious, and because she was such a good friend of Adele.

MR SELZNICK felt proud of his daughter and he was also proud of Lawrence. For Lawrence did excellently in high school and now was ready for college. Mr. and Mrs. Selznick told him he could go to any college he wished, and Lawrence chose Stanford University since it was nearby. Lawrence enrolled in Stanford where he did excellent work because he had a good memory and because Mr. Selznick was a trustee of the University. He decided to major in philosophy as he remembered theories with great ease, and the professors said, "He will be a scholar and also a big man like his father!" But he still had soft flesh and when the attacks of asthma came his clear white skin would be blotched with red and he had great difficulty sniffling air into himself. His skin became soft and flaccid, and sometimes he felt weak all over, and then he would lie in bed all day. Sometimes at night he would drive into town by himself and furtively hunt out a place where he knew a girl. But each time the headaches and the great difficulty of sniffling air into himself would seize him, and he never got much fun out of the visits. His body grew more mushy like a ripe tomato, but his father was so rich and so high in society that everyone said that Lawrence was a representative boy.

After Lawrence received his B.A. degree he remained at Stanford for post-graduate work in philosophy. Lawrence did not want to go into the steamship business, so he decided to continue studying philosophy for a while to see where it would lead him. He spent many hours reading about a little known ancient philosopher who had long ceased to be of importance, and he read all this philosopher's works and absorbed his theories. Lawrence felt very proud of his authoritative knowledge and was convinced he was a real scholar and that philosophy should be his career.

At the end of his second year of post-graduate work Lawrence decided to go to the Sorbonne because he felt he needed a culture not to be found in America. Madeleine also thought her son should go to Paris for there Lawrence could improve his social position. Mr. Selznick agreed, and Adele believed that her brother could get much from a foreign environment.

SO Lawrence went away with three trunks and hand luggage and a letter of credit that would enable him to live in a manner befitting a gentleman and a scholar.

On the train Lawrence suffered from a severe headache and the red blotches came and the struggle to breathe never ceased. At Chicago he stopped for several days, and remained in bed too weak to move his flabby body. He did not let his people know of his sickness, but telegraphed that he had decided to enjoy Chicago. After a week he went on to New York, but here again he had to go to bed and the struggle to breathe racked his body. Then one day he telephoned his parents and in a strangling voice confessed that he was very sick. Mr. and Mrs. Selznick and Adele dropped everything and rushed with all speed to New York.

They found Lawrence in a hospital. The headaches blinded him with pain, though the doctors gave him elaborate treatments. When the fearful effort to breathe seized him, they pumped oxygen into his lungs and tried in every way to hold life in him. But after three days Lawrence's fat body collapsed and he lay in the room there with a green-grey color on his rich flabby body, and he was dead.

And Mrs. Selznick went in to look at the soft hulk of death, green and grey and decaying, and rich tears fell down her face. And she thought, "My child is taken from me. My son who was to have had everything is taken from me. And now I can only bring him back to San Francisco."

And Mr. Selznick went in to look at the soft hulk of flabby death, green and grey and decaying, and he thought, "I am robbed of my son who was to bear my name and carry my work. I have loved God and I am a respectable citizen, and now this happens." And tears of sorrow filled his eyes.

And Adele went in to look at the soft hulk of decaying death, green and grey and vile, and she thought, "How horrible it is and everyone will pity me who had experienced such sorrow while still so young. Now I shall wear black and my face will be saddened by this great unhappiness." Tears came to her great big eyes with the little red veins running through them, and they were tears of grief and social position.

They brought Lawrence back to San Francisco where they buried him with ceremony in the huge family vault. To all sides were the graves of prominent and wealthy men, and Lawrence had social position in his death. Sorrowfully the Selznicks resumed their place in society, and now they were even more important and respected because of their great grief.