First-Person Narrator ‘‘Sweet Potato Pie’’ is told by Buddy, the first-person narrator. The reader is privy to all of Buddy’s thoughts and feelings. On the other hand, the other characters can only be seen though Buddy’s perceptions of them. The events in the story, past and present, can only be seen this way as well….
Sweet Potato Pie – Short Story – Themes
Poverty Buddy was raised in poverty. His eldest siblings acted as his parents because his actual parents were working in the fields. Buddy is able to go to school and complete his education not because he is the smartest in the family but because he is the youngest. His older siblings shoulder the burden of…
Sweet Potato Pie – Short Story – Characters
Alberta Alberta is one of Buddy’s older sisters. She is a middle child in the family, as Lil is the eldest daughter. Alberta leaves home at the age of sixteen and moves north in search of work. This was a fairly common phenomenon for poor African Americans living in the South, as the industrial centers…
Sweet Potato Pie – Short Story – Summary
‘‘Sweet Potato Pie’’ is set in both the present and the past, telling the story of the narrator’s day while he simultaneously recalls his childhood. The exact time in which the story is set is unclear, though it is likely the time in which it was written, that is, the 1960s or early 1970s. This…
Sorry Right Number – Analysis
Herron’s expectations came to pass. In 1996, King won the prestigious O. Henry Award for his short story ‘‘The Man in the Black Suit.’’ The 1999 car accident that severely curtailed his writing output made several critics look back on his career with appreciation. Sometime around the 2000 publication of King’s book about his literary…
Sorry Right Number – Setting
Gothic Roots By the time this story was published, King was well on his way to becoming the best-selling horror fiction writer of all time. Horror, as a genre, has had a long history, and like other popular genres, it has often been considered inferior writing. Its roots are usually traced back to British author…
Sorry Right Number – Literary Devices
Script King highlights Bill’s inability to write by contrasting it with Hank’s productivity. Hank has taken Bill’s place in the family and in the basement office, replacing Bill’s personal effects with his own. Hank is still productive and vital, in contrast to Bill, who died while he was experiencing writer’s block.2 The fact that King…
Sorry Right Number – Themes
Fear ‘‘Sorry, Right Number’’ is at heart a suspense story, and as such it relies on elevating the reader’s feelings of anxiety. The mysterious call Katie Weiderman receives at the beginning of the story is not just strange, it is terrifying. The sound of a woman crying would be disconcerting to anyone, and King makes…
Sorry Right Number – Characters
Dawn Katie Weiderman’s younger sister Dawn has an infant son, Justin. Dawn lives in an isolated farmhouse with her husband Jerry, who is out of town on business at the time of the story. Bill and Katie are worried when Dawn does not answer her phone, and they are even more worried to find that…
Sorry Right Number – Summary
Act 1 The first act of ‘‘Sorry, Right Number’’ begins in the Weiderman house. Katie Weiderman, the family’s mother, is on the telephone in the kitchen, talking with her sister Lois. In the living room, the three children are watching the television. An argument ensues among the children. Thirteen-year-old Dennis and ten-year-old Connie plan to…