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Summary
Late Spring the following year. There is a gathering in the kitchen of farmers and their families. Eben is in his room, and in the other bedroom, a cradle has been added. Everyone in the kitchen is chattering, and there seems to be a joke between them. Cabot is drinking and serving drinks to all the men. Abbie sits in the corner in a rocking chair, looking pale and staring at the door. There is a musician getting ready to play his fiddle. Abbie asks people if they've seen Eben, but no one has. One man refers to a child and asks Abbie if it's a boy. Abbie confirms it is and that it was born two weeks before.
The fiddler begins making jokes about Eben, and people laugh. Cabot asks why people are laughing and tells them to dance. The fiddler continues making jokes about Eben. Cabot says he has a new son now but also defends Eben for being hardworking. He tells the fiddler to play, and he does. People begin to dance, and the rest clap in unison. Cabot becomes excited and starts dancing in the middle of the room, pushing others away. He dances vigorously and talks boastfully while dancing. The fiddler gets tired and stops playing. He and Cabot drink together.
Meanwhile, we see Eben go into the other bedroom and look down at the baby, looking confused but also tender. Abbie then gets up and tells Cabot she's going to check on the baby. Cabot is affectionate towards her, but she shrinks from him. A whisper goes around the room. Cabot goes outside for some air. The fiddler and townsfolk continue making jokes and whispering. Abbie enters the bedroom behind Eben. They kiss and then bend over the cradle together. Abbie says the baby looks like Eben. Eben is disturbed by not being able to say the baby is his; Abbie comforts him. Cabot begins talking outside about "somethin'" he feels in the air and the house. He goes to the barn. The music and dancing grow merrier.
Analysis
There is a contrast between the festivities in the kitchen that Cabot is joyfully part of and the attitude of Abbie and Eben. The party for the baby is only being genuinely celebrated by Cabot, which is ironic since everyone but him seems to know that the baby is not his but Eben's. Eben doesn't want to join in the festivities since he can't be open about the baby being his. Abbie's somberness and disinterest in the party are more mysterious, but much of it seems to stem from her disgust with Cabot and preoccupation with Eben. If she's aware of the knowing whispers and comments about her and Eben, she doesn’t seem bothered by them. She also doesn’t seem to have much attachment to the baby, except in its connection with and resemblance to Eben.
Throughout this party scene, O'Neil presents an idea of life during that time and what people did for fun and in celebration, in addition to the hard, lonely work on a farm. Cabot is full of life and cheer in this scene, proudly thinking he's a new father and showing off in front of the neighbors. The fiddler acts in the role of a truth-teller that Cabot is unable to understand, injecting his jokes with a kind of malice. During a back-and-forth between the fiddler and Cabot, Cabot genuinely praises his son as being better than anyone there, which he is only able to do in Eben's absence. Once again, Cabot's own narcissism blinds him from the similarities between him and his son. When Cabot takes over the dancing, his self-centeredness is apparent. He looks down on others' abilities and likes to take center stage. The other people express both awe and contempt for Cabot but allow him to hold forth. Even during a celebration for his son, Cabot makes the party about him and his physical and sexual prowess. His inability to see beyond himself and make connections with anyone else serve as insulation from mockery but also a mechanism for isolation.
While Cabot is outside, he declares he can feel "somethin'," suggesting an unconscious awareness of what's going on between his son and wife without knowing what it is. Even after appearing to enjoy the celebration and dancing, he retreats to the barn, weary and irritated by what he can't define. The scene ends with the fiddler declaring they can all have fun with Cabot gone, and people begin dancing with real merriment, further demonstrating Cabot's inability to participate meaningfully in the community. The scene exemplifies how Cabot, Eben, and Abbie are isolated from their neighbors. They don't seem to be friends with any of their neighbors or have any close connections. The people at the party are there for music and drinking, but no one is excited to interact with those who live there. Similarly, the people who live in the house are removed, both physically and personally, from those they've ostensibly invited for a celebration.
