Literary Analysis of: I Spy by Graham Greene
The short story takes place during the First World War, because words like “the Zeppelins” and the English word for Germans, namely “Huns” appears (page 93, line 2). There is from the text not giving any location, but Charlie could hear the blew of the wind and the beating of the waves (page 92, line 8), also the fact that the father had said he would be in Norwich (page 93, line 4) gives me the idea that the setting is somewhere by the eastern seashore maybe in East Anglia.
The fact that the story takes place during the war gives us the condition of a hardy environment, where everything shall be achieved by fighting for it. Our main character is a fine example of this, Charlie gets mocked from other kids at school because he has never smoked a cigarette (page 92, line 13). So late one night driven by his desire he gets out of bed. His father runs a tobacconist shop which he is keeping under some wooden stairs in the house and from there he will be getting the cigarette. By doing so he does not only defy his parents he is also in fact stealing. This obviously makes him feel uncomfortable and throughout the story he is bouncing between being afraid and being brave (page 94).
As already mentioned he is very anxious in the beginning both as to the situation itself but also as to his father. Therefore I see that there are two sides of Charlie, a side which is courageous, the adult side, that is to say the one telling him to go down the stairs and into the shop and also the one saying: “if he were caught now there was nothing to be done about it, and he might as well have his smoke”. Opposite there is the other part of him, the child side, assuring him that he will be caught in his criminal act and get judged as criminal (page 92, line 16) Despite all this he ends up succeeding in his misdeed which could suggest that he has now crossed the border of being the young insecure child into becoming a more secure person who is now one step closer to being an adult. This statement is moreover supported by Charlie identifying himself with his father in the end (page 95, line 37-42). Moreover is it to mention that the stairs could symbolize this development. When going down the stairs he is going away from the childhood and the security. When going up the stairs to his mother, he has gone through a personal development in the direction of being more self-confident and bold.
When we as readers jump straight into the action, it is my opinion that this particular technique gives the text a special touch of mystery, which supports the circumstances in the house between the son and his attempt to steal the cigarette and the fathers’ mysterious actions in the dark therefore is it my overall decision that this is a good short story.
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