The Epic of the Wheat
novel by Frank Norris
The Epic of the Wheat was a planned trilogy by American author Frank Norris. Two of the three works were published, but the third was not written at the time of Norris' death.
Following his 1899 success McTeague, Norris formulated his idea for a trilogy of novels on the topic of wheat, his Epic of the Wheat, from its growth in California in The Octopus, to its distribution via Chicago in his posthumously published 1903 work The Pit, to its consumption in a famished region of Europe in The Wolf. He had not begun writing The Wolf before his death.
Works
The Octopus: A Story of California
The Octopus depicts the conflict between wheat farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and the fictional Pacific and Southwestern Railroad (P. & S. W.). The railroad attempts to take possession of the land the farmers have been improving for many years, forcing them to defend themselves. The wheat farmers are represented by Magnus Derrick, the reluctant leader of the ad hoc farmer's League designed to fight for retention of their land and low cost freight rates. S. Behrman serves as the local representative of P. & S. W. In his attempt at writing his great epic poem, Presley witnesses the disintegration of Annixter, Derrick, Hooven, and their families.
The Pit: A Story of Chicago
The plot revolves around Laura Dearborn, a young woman being courted by three men: Curtis Jadwin, Sheldon Corthell, and Landry Court. She married Jadwin, who over time loses interest in her as he gets more involved in wheat speculation at the Chicago Board of Trade.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Epic of the Wheat” is novel by Frank Norris. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Epic, Wheat and novel, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “novel by Frank Norris” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7732336. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1899 and 1903.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Epic of the Wheat” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.