Genre
Black comedy
Setting and Context
Pre- WWII, Britian, Earl's Court
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is a third-person omniscient who shows the thoughts of several main characters, but mainly focuses on George.
Tone and Mood
Melancholic, absurd, ambivalent
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist: George Harvey Bone; Antagonist: Netta Longdon
Major Conflict
George Bone is madly in love with Netta Longdon, who never shows him anything except mockery and treats him like a fool. In his other state of mind, where he is a different person, he decides to kill Netta. George tries to win her love and prove to her and himself that he is a worthy man not a fool.
Climax
The climax of the story is when Netta agrees to go with George to Maidenhead, but when he gets there, he finds out that she fooled him for the second time and went to Brighton. He is especially affected when he discovered proof that his friend Johnny was involved in fooling him.
Foreshadowing
"Then he remembered, without any difficulty, what it was he had to do: he had to kill Netta Longdon." This sentence in the beginning of the story foreshadows what the end will be.
Understatement
"He was going to be a man." George thought that becoming a man lies in getting Netta to go with him, and that's an understatement.
"The thing was so incredibly, absurdly easy." This is an understatement because killing Netta, or anyone was never easy.
Allusions
George throughout the story kept saying that he was a fool. He knew that his love for Netta and what he is doing is foolish and is affecting his life negatively. In fact, it was what made him kill her and Peter, and kill himself. He knew he was a fool because no one should make himself weak in front of other people and keep begging them to stay with them.
Imagery
"His eyes were big and blue and sad and slightly bloodshot with beer and smoke. He looked as though he had been to an inferior public school and would be pleased to sell you a second-hand car. Just as certain people look unmistakably ‘horsey’, bear the stamp of Newmarket, he bore the stamp of Great Portland Street. He made you think of road houses, and there are thousands of his sort frequenting the saloon bars of public-houses all over England. His full mouth was weak, however, rather than cruel."
Paradox
"It was a noise inside his head, and yet it was not a noise. It was the sound which a noise makes when it abruptly ceases..."
"He was netted in hate just as he was netted in love."
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
"He had exhausted his nervous system..."
