Much of Finney’s body of work addresses the thematic concern of time. Indeed, The Third Level, the volume that includes ‘‘Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket,’’ has many stories about time and time travel. The opening story, ‘‘The Third Level,’’ for example, concerns a man who finds a third level at Grand Central Station, one…
Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket – Setting
The Cold War The explosions of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, brought World War II to an end, and the rapid growth of the Soviet Union’s military power and ambition cast a pall over the Western world, including the United States, in the post-war years. The Cold War is a term used…
Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket – Literary Devices
Plot ‘‘Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket’’ offers an excellent example of plotting in a short story. Ross Murfin and Supryia M. Ray in The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms define plot as the ‘‘arrangement and interrelation of events in a narrative work, chosen and designed to engage the reader’s attention . ….
Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket – Themes
Values (Philosophy) In ‘‘Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket,’’ Finney explores modern values. The main character, Tom, is a young, hard-working, conscientious advertising executive. He wants to distinguish himself in his field and rise to the top of all the young men who are working in his company. Tom thinks about the project he is…
Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket – Characters
Clare Benecke Clare is Tom Benecke’s wife. She appears only briefly in the story as she is preparing to go out to watch a movie for the evening. Clare is pretty and thin with light brown hair. Finney makes her almost a blonde, but stops just short, suggesting perhaps that although she is as beautiful…
Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket – Summary
‘‘Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket’’ is the story of Tom Benecke, a young advertising executive in New York City who risks his life to retrieve a scrap of paper that has flown out the window. This action results in a change in Tom’s attitude toward work and his values in life. As the story…
The Censors by Luisa Valenzuela – Analysis – Essay
In an interview with Magnarelli in Reflections/Refractions: Reading Luisa Valenzuela, Luisa Valenzuela discusses her views on censorship, describing the different ways censorship can affect individuals. In particular, Valenzuela points out that one type of censorship occurs when an individual ‘‘will often refuse to read what he fears might hurt him, what might raise his consciousness…
The Censors by Luisa Valenzuela – Setting
Government Oppression in Argentina in the 1970s and 1980s Valenzuela’s ‘‘The Censors’’ was written in the aftermath of a period of great turmoil in Argentina’s history. Juan Pero´n was a popular president in Argentina when he was first elected and during the early years of this administration (1946–1952). A supporter of unions and the working…
The Censors by Luisa Valenzuela – Literary Devices
Irony Valenzuela uses irony throughout ‘‘The Censors.’’ Irony is a literary technique in which an author conveys to the reader that there is a discrepancy between what appears to be true in the story and what is actually true. Often the characters in the story are not aware of this discrepancy. In ‘‘The Censors,’’ Juan…
The Censors by Luisa Valenzuela – Themes
Paranoia Without knowing the context within which ‘‘The Censors’’ was written, it would be easy to view Juan’s actions and perceptions in the story as paranoid. However, many of his fears, when considered within the framework of the repressive Argentine government that Valenzuela lived through in the 1970s and into the 1980s, may have been…