Suddenly A Knock On The Door Analysis

“Tell me a story”. It is not that often to come across a commanding and, at the same time, demanding story that motivates the reader to really dig deep and go in-depth to truly understand the piece. Such is the nature of Etgar Keret’s “Suddenly, a Knock on the Door”. Right off the bat, the reader is plunged into the point of view of a writer named Keret who is being held at gunpoint by a Swede eager for a story from the writer. After quite some time, the Swede is joined by a pollster and a pizza delivery guy who are both armed as well and who share his desire for a story to be told. As the story progresses and unfolds in this particular point of view, the reader is then enlightened as to why the protagonist was really caught up in the peculiar situation that he was in. All three assailants merely demand a story from the writer. They want a story that does not “dump reality” on them since that is “exactly what” they “are trying to run away from”. Some form of escape from the current
The story that he told the three assailants could may very well be a direct representation of himself. A seemingly depressed writer who misses being able to write but who cannot get any inspiration. He is unable to draw an idea for a story. However, this is where the assailants come into play. The three assailants could also be seen as some sort of motivation for the writer rather than just some men who are desperate for a story and are absurdly willing to threaten a writer just for that story. Notice how both the pollster and the pizza delivery guy entered the story with “Suddenly there’s a knock on the door” and how Keret, toward the end of the story, insisted that “Without a knock on the door there’s no story”. Therefore, it would be safe to say that, although the three men were sort of antagonists, they urged the writer to imagine and invent once more allowing him to be able to create and write