The End of the Party (short story)
"The End of the Party" is a
Plot summary
The two principal protagonists of "The End of the Party"[2] are nine-year-olds, Peter Morton and Francis Morton. The story makes clear that although they are identical twins, they possess profound psychological differences – Peter, the elder by several minutes, is presented as a healthy child with an intensively protective attitude towards his impaired brother, while Francis is depicted as being challenged by an intense anxiety disorder. The unnamed narrator speculates that Francis suffered psychological trauma when he was briefly separated from Peter during the birth process.
Peter and Francis will be separated again during a game of
As the climactic hide-and-seek game begins, the adults present turn out the lights, and the children designated to hide, including Peter and Francis, are required to scatter. Peter senses his brother's terror and, aided by his instinctive grasp of his brother's psychological fears and needs, is able to guess where Francis has hidden. A gesture of Peter's hand in the dark, as he reaches out, tells him that his guess has been successful: he touches his younger brother and then grasps his hand and crouches close to him, attempting to provide a continuing presence of reassurance. Faint noises, described meticulously by Greene, show that the game is continuing, and darkness continues to enshroud the place of safety where the two brothers are hiding.
Finally, the game is over, a
Critical response
Greene published "The End of the Party" near the start of a writing career that would extend over more than six decades; this short story helped to develop his reputation as a significant force in English letters. The favorable response to his story may be connected to ongoing concerns in Britain due to the significant headcount of World War I veterans afflicted with "shell shock". The story was anthologized in the Greene collection, Twenty-One Stories, published in 1954.
Greene himself considered this story to be among his best, and assisted in its selection among the texts reprinted in the Greene edition of the Viking Portable Library, originally published in 1973 and reprinted since in revised editions.[1]
Later commentary on "The End of the Party" tends to look at protagonist Francis Morton's impairments from the standpoint of a society that tries to help
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-0140233599.
- ^ New York University School of Medicine. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
External links
The End of The Party public domain audiobook at LibriVox