4. Speak on the twist-in-the-tale.

A Lamp in a Window

A Retrieved Reformation

Summary of the story:

The story is written by Truman Capote and tells us about the adventure of a young man who had to find a shelter in a house of a kind old woman who surprised him in the end by her actions.

The story is written by O. Henry and tells us about the life of a man with 2 personalities at the same time: Jimmy Valentine, who used to crack saves and Mr. Ralph Spencer, the phoenix that arose from Jimmy Valentine’s ashes, who wanted to start a new life with a beloved woman.

Narration:

The story is told in the 1^st person which creates a sense of intimacy, makes the story more realistic and allows us access to the inner world of the protagonist.

The story is 3^rd person narration and the main form of presentation is narration with elements of dialogue. The story told from this point of view is more confiding and sounds true to life. Though told from the 3^rd point of view it nevertheless helps us to feel an emotional connection with all characters. The author tries to reveal Jimmy’s personality both with the help of his thoughts, words and actions and the author’s description of the events, to show us his hard way of gaining a better life.

Development (body):

Twist-in-the-tale, which means surprising change or development at the end of the story, is well-employed as a literary device in both stories.

In this story the climax comes at the end of the story. As since the very beginning Mrs. Kelly makes a good impression on us due to her verbal and nonverbal behavior. She talks very politely to a young man, she expresses concern about his situation and tries to do everything for him to feel in her house like at home. We see she is an educated person as she reads a lot and has a good and varied mind. Though she lives isolated her house looks neat.

Nevertheless the fact she leaves isolated is suspicious. She lost her husband in a car crash and now suffers a lot. She would suffer even more if it wasn’t for her cats.

I suppose this moment arouses the reader’s curiosity. On the whole the atmosphere of an isolated house and a very polite woman intrigues and even mesmerizes us.

The ending comes out as a complete surprise. It’s unpredictable and even shocking when we come to know that she is preserving all her cats in the fridge. This is the event at the point of highest tension and drama. As we see her solitude is so high, she needs so much to care of someone and is so afraid of new losses in her life that she tries to preserve her memories of those who she had in her life before. I think such an ending is supposed not only to surprise us but to make us sympathetic with this lady as well.

Since the very beginning of the story the author raises certain expectations in the reader. Jimmy Valentine, who appears in front of us is a man with a good sense of humor, never giving way to despair and ready to changings.

The story develops as the confrontation of 2 persons: Jimmy and Ben Price. Jimmy becomes Ralph, starts a new life, makes many friends, wins the respect of the community, his business is flourising and he and Annabel are engaged to be married. But nevertheless we don’t forget about the mystery we’re trusted to.

In the meantime Ben Price tries to catch Jimmy during the whole story. Such events allow us anticipate significant events and holds our interest during the whole story.

The tension increases as the plot moves on. The plot thickens. And as a result the ending comes out as a complete surprise. Unexpectedly to us Ralph wins in the conflict between him and Ben, to both his and our surprise he is not arrested in the end. Also it comes at the end of the story when Ralph reveals his secret and everyone watches him cracking the safe to save the girl. Ralph makes up his mind that his secret isn’t worth the girl’s life. So he rescues the life he has been creating during a long time because Annabel asks him to try and do something. As to a woman nothing seems quite impossible to the powers of the man she worships.

Conclusion (summing up and personal impression):

I have a neutral impression of this story. For me it has a feeling of some doom, as if loneliness has only such a tragic end. Nevertheless the author draws out attention to the problems of human nature, particularly the relationships between people and allows us look deeper into our inner world. The author comes up to create a realistic portrayal of a lonely woman. The author skillfully uses the techniques of surprise ending in the story.

The story made a favourable impression on me because it discloses the main idea of the story: human nature and inner conflicts. The author skillfully creates the picture of Jimmy Valentine, showing in the end that he is really a good fellow at heart. The author doesn’t disappoint us in our expectations and we are really startled by the unexpected turn of events. As well as in the previous story the author skillfully uses the techniques of surprise ending in the story.