Short Story Analysis: Woolf's Mirror and Greene's Absurdity

The Lady in the Looking-Glass

A short story by Virginia Woolf published in 1929, focusing on the life of Isabella Tyson through a mirror's reflection.

Isabella Tyson

A wealthy, solitary woman in her 50s or 60s, elegant and mysterious, representing the unknowability of other people's inner selves.

Appearance vs. Reality

A major theme in the story where the mirror reflects physical truth but hides emotional truth.

The Illusion of Knowledge

A theme illustrating how the narrator's imagination fills the gaps about Isabella's life, showing our limited understanding of others.

Isolation and Loneliness

A theme where Isabella appears connected yet is ultimately revealed to be empty.

Perception and Truth/Reality

A theme challenging whether observation can lead to understanding, especially when filtered through imagination.

Description of the room and mirror

An event where the narrator observes Isabella's home and reflection, establishing a dual world of reality versus illusion.

Speculation about Isabella's life

An event where the narrator imagines Isabella's past, including travels and friendships, especially when she is absent.

Arrival of the mail

An event where letters symbolize the mystery of Isabella's private life.

Isabella appears in the mirror

An event where the narrator's fantasies collapse, revealing Isabella as lifeless and empty.

Final revelation

The conclusion that Isabella has no real depth and that appearances can be deceiving.

Narrator

An anonymous third-person observer, likely omniscient but limited by imagination, who is both detached and opinionated.

Overall Takeaway

Woolf uses the mirror as a device to question reality and our knowledge of others' inner worlds, exposing the emptiness behind social appearances.

A Shocking Accident

A short story by Graham Greene published in 1980, following Jerome, a boy whose father dies in a bizarre accident.

Jerome

A sensitive and intelligent boy haunted by the absurdity of his father's death, who ultimately becomes an accountant and gets engaged to Sally.

Bizarre accident

The unusual event where a pig falls on Jerome's father from a fifth-floor balcony in Naples.

Grief and discomfort

Jerome's struggle with the absurdity of his father's death, leading to embarrassment when others laugh about it.

Sally

Jerome's fiancée, who reacts with genuine sympathy to the story of his father's death, proving her love.

Ending of anxiety

The moment when Sally's sympathy helps Jerome overcome his long-standing discomfort about his father's death.

Mr. Wordsworth

Jerome's housemaster, the first to tell him about the accident; his struggle to deliver the news sets the story's ironic tone (shaking with emotion i.e. laughter).

Jerome's Aunt

Well-meaning but tactless (straightforward, bit clueless); repeatedly tells the story of the 'shocking accident' with unintentional humor.

Jerome's Father

A romanticized figure in Jerome's imagination (he believed him to be a spy or adventurer), later revealed to be an ordinary travel writer.

Absurdity of Life and Death

Greene highlights how death can be random and ridiculous, undermining human dignity.

Public vs. Private Grief

Jerome's pain is mocked by others' laughter, showing how society mishandles tragedy.

Love and Acceptance

True love is shown when Sally responds with empathy, not humor.

Coming of Age

Jerome's maturity is marked by his ability to accept his father's death and others' reactions.

Jerome learns of his father's death

Delivered awkwardly by his teacher.

The absurd cause is revealed

A pig fell from a balcony in Naples.

Jerome's struggle at school

He becomes the butt of jokes ('Pig').

His aunt retells the story socially

Reinforces the theme of public insensitivity.

Jerome's fear of Sally's reaction

He worries she will laugh.

Sally's compassionate response

She reacts seriously, proving her emotional depth.

Ending

Jerome is finally at peace; the comic absurdity transforms into tenderness.

Tone

Ironically humorous yet sympathetic.

Simile

A comparison between two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'. Example: Her smile was as bright as the sun.

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two unlike things, without using 'like' or 'as'. Example: Time is a thief.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words. Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Allusion

A reference to a well-known person, place, event, or literary work. Example: He has the strength of Hercules.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents. Example: Boom, crash, hiss, buzz.

Foreshadowing

A hint or clue about what will happen later in the story. Example: The dark clouds gathered as she stepped outside.

Dialogue

A written or spoken exchange between two or more characters. Example: 'I can't believe you did that!' she shouted. 'I had no choice,' he replied.

Hyperbole

An intentional and extreme exaggeration for emphasis or effect. Example: I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences or clauses. Example: We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds...

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things or ideas. Example: The wind whispered through the trees.

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste). Example: The scent of fresh pine mingled with the crisp mountain air.