The story is not homogeneous: the narration is interrupted by the elements of description; inner thoughts and feelings of the main character are imperceptibly interwoven with the narration. The type of the narration is author’s narrative. Also we can observe non-personal direct speech.
The very structure of the story adds to the effect of implication but the actual meaning of what is going on is not clear at the beginning of the story as he feelings suggested by the writer are not precisely determined. The reader however feels that something had happened and the character is strained and full of hidden and suppressed emotions.
What strikes one’s eye at the first glance is that the tension of the atmosphere in this story is gradually increasing and gets its top at the end of it. The text can be logically divided into only one part: the story itself.
The text actually is garish with stylistic devices. A frequient usage of metaphor (such as lingered in his mind; as a handshake; a faint stirring of curiosity; the words came haultingly; yielding to an irresistible compulsion etc) epithets (commercial, unself-conscious, unrecociled and opposing) show us that the main character is a writer and he knows the power of words and know how to use them. Metaphors and epithets are well thought-out and polished.
The style of the post card is worth our notice. Chiasmus (YOU have always been so interested in scotland, and that is one reason why I am interested in YOU), pun (what do you think of Berwick-on-Tweed? Like you, it’s on the border; Have you ever been sent to Coventry; We shall come to grisp after all) colloqual expressions (you should plump for one world or the other) tell us very clearly about postcards’ author. All these stylistic devices are used to show the sarcasm and arrogance of a person. He has a burning desire to puzzle Walter and bring him on a nervous breakdown.
The inner speach of Walter is full of rythorical questions and impersonalisation of his subconscious mind prove that the aim is gained: he is nervous and and a wave of panic surged up in Walter. ( But how could W.S. have known that? And was it really a sign of megalomania? And who was W.S. anyhow? Should he show the postcards to an alienist? But what could an alienist tell him?Then his subconscious mind, searching for something to torment him with, and assuming the authority of logic, said: Supposing those postcards are a lunatic's, and you are writing them to yourself, doesn't it follow that you must be a lunatic too?)
Different types of parrarel constructions such as anaphora (are you busy writing or are you looking for ideas; perhaps they didn’t have their feet firm on the ground. perhaps he was too ready to escape...), epithora (the First postcard came from Forfar. I thought you might like a picrute of Forfar,» it said), antithesis pararallism (they were friendly...they were critical ), chiasmus (for the first time it sruck him that the initials were his own. No, not for the frist time) show us that he is analysing the situation, trying not to loose temper and to think logically. But he is frighten and the thought of these post cards lingered in his mind.
As we see the language of the writer is very rich and full of various kinds of stylistic devices and that makes his story more vivid and picturesque. The usage of stylistic devices is aimed to keep the reader in suspence to keep some riddle. Summing up the analysis it can be said that the text seems like a detective story with a victim – the writer Walter Streeter.
