“I Spy” by Graham Green
Phylologikal analys
“I spy” by Graham Green
The short story under analysis “I spy” is written by Graham Green. He was an English author, playwrite and literary critic. His works explore different permutations of morality and amorality in modern society, and often feature exotic settings in different parts of the world.
The main theme of the story is how the main character Charlie Stowe was trying to steal cigarettes from his father’s shop to prove his classmates that he was not a little boy.
We may distinguish the genre of the text as fiction. The story has not really had place, though it may be based on a true story. The text is presented mostly as a description of Charlie’s feelings and thoughts. There is a dialogue between Charlie’s father and two policemen, which Charlie happened to overhear. This dialogue is rather polite: “Mind if…; if you don’t mind; Don’t you want…”
In the beginning of the story we have an exposition, where we get to know about the main character Charlie Stowe; the time of the scene is night. Charlie Stowe waited in his bedroom until he heard his mother snore.
Then we got to know that it was the time of war, as “searchlight passed across the sky,… seeking enemy airship”. Then Charlie draught the thought the cracks in the window frame.
It is a third person omniscient narration, though the story is told from Charlie’s point of view. The story of the text may be told this way: “A boy was mocked at school – one night he got into his father’s tobacconist’s shop – he saw two men taking his father away”, while the plot of the story may be presented this way: “Charlie was mocked at school, that’s why one night he got into his father’s tobacconist’s shop to steal some cigarettes. Thus he wanted to prove that he was not a little boy. In the shop he saw strangers talking to his father. For some reason they took him away. Most likely he was imprisoned”. The events are presented in chronological order. The composition of the text is complex,
“I spy” by Graham Green
The short story under analysis “I spy” is written by Graham Green. He was an English author, playwrite and literary critic. His works explore different permutations of morality and amorality in modern society, and often feature exotic settings in different parts of the world.
The main theme of the story is how the main character Charlie Stowe was trying to steal cigarettes from his father’s shop to prove his classmates that he was not a little boy.
We may distinguish the genre of the text as fiction. The story has not really had place, though it may be based on a true story. The text is presented mostly as a description of Charlie’s feelings and thoughts. There is a dialogue between Charlie’s father and two policemen, which Charlie happened to overhear. This dialogue is rather polite: “Mind if…; if you don’t mind; Don’t you want…”
In the beginning of the story we have an exposition, where we get to know about the main character Charlie Stowe; the time of the scene is night. Charlie Stowe waited in his bedroom until he heard his mother snore.
Then we got to know that it was the time of war, as “searchlight passed across the sky,… seeking enemy airship”. Then Charlie draught the thought the cracks in the window frame.
It is a third person omniscient narration, though the story is told from Charlie’s point of view. The story of the text may be told this way: “A boy was mocked at school – one night he got into his father’s tobacconist’s shop – he saw two men taking his father away”, while the plot of the story may be presented this way: “Charlie was mocked at school, that’s why one night he got into his father’s tobacconist’s shop to steal some cigarettes. Thus he wanted to prove that he was not a little boy. In the shop he saw strangers talking to his father. For some reason they took him away. Most likely he was imprisoned”. The events are presented in chronological order. The composition of the text is complex,