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 . ….
Tag: The United States of America
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…
Aunty Misery as Folktale – Essay
Ortiz Cofer’s ‘‘Aunty Misery’’ is a retold Puerto Rican folktale that appears to explain the existence of misery in the world. The story also asserts the value of death. While the tale is Puerto Rican in origin, there is nothing in its content that indicates this. The themes in the story are universal, transcending not…
Aunty Misery – Setting
Puerto Rican Folktales Puerto Rican culture is a mixture of Taino (native inhabitants of the Caribbean Islands), Spanish, and African influences. As such, the folktales from this country reflect this mixed heritage. Few purely Taino myths have survived, as the islands (including Puerto Rico) were colonized by Spain in the fifteenth century. (Christopher Columbus ‘‘discovered’’…
Aunty Misery – Literary Devices
Personification Simply put, personification is a literary device that grants personality to inanimate objects or natural phenomena. This is also known as anthropomorphizing, or granting human qualities to nonhuman objects. Personification occurs in the story predominantly through Death’s appearance as a tired old man. Death, a natural phenomenon, is literally personified, transformed into a character…
Aunty Misery – Themes
Death The main theme in ‘‘Aunty Misery’’ is the importance of death in the world. This significance is shown not only in the consequences of Death’s entrapment in the pear tree but also textually. Indeed, death is personified and becomes a character that drives the climax and denouement (end) of the story. He is also…
Aunty Misery – Characters
Aunty Misery Aunty Misery is the main character of the story; the eponymous hero, or more accurately, antihero. Regardless of her lack of endearing charms, the story revolves around her. Notably, Aunty Misery is not an actual name, but a nickname, one that describes the character and her attributes. In fact, the nickname serves to…
Aunty Misery – Summary
‘‘Aunty Misery’’ begins with these words: ‘‘This is a story.’’ This self-conscious opening seems redundant; readers are aware they are reading a story and hardly need to be reminded of that. However, the statement is effective in that it serves to elevate the fictional quality of the tale that ensues. No claim as to the…