Dreaded Darkness

“The End of the Party” by Graham Greene is a short story about fear. A young boy named Francis Morton has an extreme phobia of darkness. Although his twin brother Peter continuously tries to comfort his brother’s fear, there is little he can do. Francis reminds his mother, nanny, and peers of his terrible fear throughout the story, but they all excuse it and believe it to be silly. Tragically, undermining his terrible fear has a price. The first example of fear in the story is when Francis tries to excuse himself from the party he is supposed to attend later that afternoon. He knows that if he goes he will be forced to play hide-and-seek in the dark and he is afraid. Francis fakes an illness and although he does not have an illness, he still feels sick from fear. Greene writes, “It was true he felt ill, a sick empty sensation in his stomach and a rapidly beating heart, but he knew the cause was only fear” (183). The extent of Francis’s fear is beginning to be revealed. Both his nanny and his mother encourage him to go to the party. They do not realize the seriousness of his fear, nor do they question his resistance to his attendance at the party. His fear is beyond himself and it affects his physical being as well. Francis’s fear of the dark is not an ordinary fear, but something very serious and almost unbearable. The next example of fear in the story is when Francis is at the party and again tries to come up with excuses to leave and avoid playing hide-and-seek in the dark. His attempts fail and he eventually must play the game he dreads the most. Francis tries to be strong and battle his fear, but loses hope and does not think he can do it. The author writes, “Francis, he knew, had feared this moment from the beginning of the party, had tried to meet it with courage and had abandoned the attempt” (Greene 186). Both Peter and