Concetti Chiave
- The story begins with a man feeling alone and bored while waiting for a taxi, prompting him to whistle and check his wallet out of fear of theft.
- The narrative reaches a climax when the man, during his taxi ride, fears the driver might attack him, especially noticing the driver’s hand on an iron tool.
- The beginning of the story is in medias res, introducing the man through his feelings and actions, with a traditional setting description.
- The story uses a restricted third-person narrator, focusing entirely on the man's perspective and thoughts.
- The ending isn’t surprising but prompts readers to reconsider their assumptions about the driver's intentions, encouraging empathy and perspective-taking.
1.
The Beginning of the Story
At the beginning of the story the man feels alone and, as the time is passing, he gets bored of waiting for a taxi, so he starts to whistle. He is also frightened than someone could steal him, so he checks to have his wallet with him and begins to walk up and down.
2. The man is afraid that the driver could attack him during the trip, especially when he notices that he has a hand on an iron tool. We have a climax in the lines 39-43, when we don’t know whether the driver is going to stop.
3.
Analysis of the Narrative
In my opinion, even though the beginning is in medias res because it starts with a ‘he’ and we don’t know who the man is, we have a quite traditional description of the setting, while the man is presented only from his feelings and his movements. The point of the story when the man is in the car is similar to the ‘complication’ because it’s the events that starts the story. Then we have a climax in the lines 39-43, when we don’t know whether the driver is going to stop. At the end we have the resolution of the story, whose conclusion is closed. Story and plot coincide and we have a restricted third-person narrator, since he enters the consciousness of one character, the man and everything that happens in the story comes to us from his perspective.
4.
Reflections on the Ending
This story hasn’t got a really surprising ending. However we are induced to think that the driver might be a criminal. Maybe the author wanted us to start to think from another point of view and to get in other people’s shoes.
5. If I were a driver I don’t think I would stop for a passenger at night because I would be afraid to meet an ill-intentioned man. Maybe if he stepped in the middle of the street and held up his hand, like in this story, I would stop because there could be an emergency. In fact, on the other hand, you have to think that walking alone in the dark can be even more frightening than driving.
Domande da interrogazione
- What is the initial setting and mood of the story?
At the beginning of the story, the man feels alone and bored while waiting for a taxi. He is also frightened about the possibility of being robbed, which leads him to check his wallet and pace nervously.
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