The Babysitter Literary Elements

Short story, sexual fantasy

The whole incident takes place in between 7:40pm to 10:30pm one day in the suburbs in America. The time period is not specified but the lifestyle of the characters is that of the 1970s.

The story is narrated by an anonymous third person narrator who is omniscient. A very unconventional method of narration is used in the story. Multiple points of view have been employed to show different incidents and possibilities in the lives of the characters.

The tone and mood of the story is not constant. It keeps changing after every paragraph in which a possibility of an incident is presented. For example, the tone of horror when the baby swallows the diaper pin is suddenly interrupted by the embarrassment of Mr. Tucker walking in on the babysitter who is bathing in the tub. There is no singular effect of the tone or mood that the reader feels. The story that begins in an unsuspectingly normal way turns out to be that of horror and raw sexual desire. With the advancement of the story, the moods keep getting darker and the tone becomes faster.

The babysitter who is babysitting at the Tuckers is the protagonist of the story. Characters including Mr. Tucker, Jack, Mark, Jimmy, Mrs. Tucker and Bitsy are pitted against the babysitter in one or the other possibility of events and can be called the antagonists depending on which line of events the reader believes to be true. The conflict is caused by lust and the ‘male gaze’ in general.

There are 108 scenarios presented of which many contradict each other so that there is no single way to end the story. The reader is free to believe in one of the many outcomes that are presented. This means there is no single conflict but a variety of them. The story revolves around a girl who is babysitting for the Tuckers and what actually happens in that house is the conflict of the story.

There are contradicting alternative climaxes that occur. In one alternative, the night passes normally without any harm while on the extreme to that, all the children get murdered and Mr Tucker runs away probably after raping the babysitter.

Dolly foreshadows the fateful events of one of the alternative endings where the baby dies. She says, “I’m not sure I trust her completely, that’s all. With the baby, I mean. She seems a little careless.”

The stereotypical portrayal of a happy American home is an understatement to the horrors that unfold that evening.

References are made to popular songs of the 1970s including “That’s My Desire”, “I’ll be Around”, “What’s the Reason”, and “Who’s Sorry Now”.

The image of the babysitter taking a bath in the Tuckers’ home ignited different feelings for different characters. Jimmy gets curious by that vision and wants to explore more. Dolly gets disgusted by it. Harry gets aroused by that image playing in his head and then it prompts him to go home and check on her. For Jack and Mark, it creates a sexual desire.

In the beginning of the story, Dolly is portrayed as a selfless and giving mother who continually worries about her children. In the end, Dolly’s children are murdered, her husband is gone probably after raping and murdering the babysitter, and all her children are dead. At such a time, Dolly says, “Let’s see what’s on the late late movie.” which shows complete disregard for reality and is paradoxical to her character.

Parallel narratives have been employed which lead to contradictory outcomes, thus creating an array of possibilities that are left to the reader to be interpreted.

The term ‘wheels’ is used by the narrator for ‘car’.

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