The Mayor of Troy

In Short

Solomon Hymen is the pompous, self-important Mayor of the small Cornish town of Troy. On the eve of a mock-military operation against a neighboring town, a series of absurd mishaps—beginning with a tumble into a fishpond—leads to his accidental disappearance and subsequent decade-long incarceration in French prisons. During his absence, the town forgets him, his associates move on, and his memory is eventually preserved as a sanitized, heroic myth. It is a sharp, witty exploration of how little one individual truly matters to the world they inhabit.

The Story

Solomon Hymen serves as the Mayor of Troy, a man so convinced of his own indispensability that he manages every detail of town life with rigid, often comical authority. He oversees the town’s "Gallants," a volunteer corps he leads with military precision, and involves himself in the trivial domestic disputes of his neighbors. As May Day approaches, he organizes a mock assault on the neighboring town of Looe. However, his dignity collapses when he accidentally falls into a fishpond in the dark, loses his house keys, and is rebuffed by a theater doorkeeper while trying to seek help. This humiliation sets off a chain of events that leads to his capture and forced departure from England.

The Mayor vanishes, and his disappearance is treated as a deep mystery. Back in Troy, life continues without him. His kinswoman, Martha, and the local doctor, Hansombody, grow close, eventually becoming betrothed. As the years pass, the Major is presumed dead, and the townspeople begin to construct a legendary, idealized version of him, eventually turning him into a local relic whose "memory" is celebrated with kitsch and ceremony.

In reality, Hymen has endured ten years of brutal imprisonment in France. He suffers immensely, losing a leg in a failed escape attempt, and spends years wandering through French prisons as a nameless captive. He is hardened by his experiences, his pride replaced by a bitter, quiet resilience. When he finally returns to Troy, he is a broken, unrecognizable figure. He arrives during a festival celebrating his own "legendary" status. Disgusted to find his life story being reduced to a shallow, commercialized fable, he encounters his old acquaintance, Ben Jope, at a fair. Finding no room for his authentic self in a town that prefers its comfortable myth, he chooses not to reveal his identity to the public. Instead, he quietly packs his bags and leaves Troy forever, accepting a humble position as a cook on a ship, finally free from the burden of his own reputation.

How It Unfolds

The pomp of office Solomon Hymen asserts his authority over Troy by arbitrating petty local squabbles and commanding his volunteer militia. He moves through the town with a self-important air, convinced that his guidance is the glue holding the community together.

The tumble into darkness A simple, humiliating accident in a garden fishpond strips the Mayor of his house keys and his dignity. This minor domestic failure serves as the catalyst for his rapid, chaotic descent from town leader to missing person.

The legend begins With Hymen gone, the residents of Troy fill the vacuum with their own inventions. They turn his life into a sacred, romanticized history, complete with statues and souvenir tales, while the real man suffers in French captivity.

The return of the ghost After years of deprivation and physical loss, Hymen returns to his home, only to find himself a stranger to his own legacy. He watches the townspeople worship a version of him that never existed, realizing his presence would only ruin their sentimentality.

The final departure Refusing to reclaim a life that no longer has a place for him, Hymen rejects his former identity. He embraces a life of anonymity, finding peace in the simple, practical work of a ship’s cook.

The People

Solomon Hymen begins as a man obsessed with order, authority, and his own perceived greatness. His journey through war and prison strips away his vanity, but leaves him with a profound sense of isolation. By the end, he gains the wisdom to see the absurdity of his former self, choosing quiet anonymity over the false praise of his peers.

Martha Hymen, the Major’s kinswoman, is a figure of steady, quiet endurance. While she maintains a sense of duty toward her cousin, she gradually moves past his shadow. Her marriage to Dr. Hansombody signifies the town’s collective ability to recover and find new happiness in the absence of the man they once thought indispensable.

Dr. Hansombody acts as the grounded, practical foil to Hymen’s theatricality. He steps into the roles left behind by the Mayor, proving that the town’s machinery functions just as well—or better—without Hymen’s interference.

Ben Jope, a rough-hewn sailor, serves as the bridge between the Major’s past and his future. His disbelief at seeing the "dead" man alive highlights the sheer absurdity of Hymen’s fate, and his offer of a simple, honest job provides the Major with his only path toward genuine peace.

In Its Own Voice

"It is bound to affect his practice."

Miss Marty expresses concern for the doctor's reputation after a public secret begins to spread through the town.

"The Major went into Mr. Basket's fish-pond souse!--on all fours, precipitately, with hands wildly clawing the water amid the astonished goldfish."

The narrator describes the precise, undignified moment that triggers the Mayor's long decline from grace.

"He had lost a shoe. Worse than this, as he stood up, shook the water out of his breeches and turned to escape back to the house, it dawned on him that he had lost the latchkey!"

The loss of a simple key proves to be the ultimate undoing of a man who thought he held the keys to the town.

What It's Really About

The book is a meditation on the vanity of self-importance and the ruthless efficiency of time. It argues that no individual—no matter how vital they believe themselves to be—is necessary to the continuation of a community. The author illustrates how societies create myths to comfort themselves, often smoothing over the messy, uncomfortable realities of the people they claim to honor. Hymen’s tragedy is not his imprisonment, but his realization that he has become a relic of his own creation. The story asks a biting question: what happens when a man discovers he is not the protagonist of his own world, but merely a temporary, replaceable figure in a much larger, indifferent history?

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate dry, understated humor and the slow, deliberate pacing of early 20th-century prose will find much to admire here. The book feels like a long, reflective stroll through a quiet corner of England, punctuated by moments of sharp, sudden irony. It is a gentle but firm rebuke to anyone who takes themselves too seriously.

The writing is rich with the flavor of its period, though contemporary readers should be prepared for the occasional archaic turn of phrase and the dense, atmospheric description of Cornish life. While the book contains some period attitudes toward hierarchy and social standing, these serve largely to satirize the Major’s own rigid worldview. The most rewarding aspect of the work is its emotional honesty; the ending, where the Mayor chooses to walk away from his own funeral-in-effigy, is both melancholic and strangely liberating. It remains a deeply human story about the necessity of letting go of the past. If you are looking for a book that treats the absurdity of existence with warmth and a bit of a sharp wit, this will stay with you long after the final page is turned.