Review of Jack Finney's Content of a Dead Man's Pockets

I liked the story as the author uses a very ordinary person, placed in an extraordinary setting, to build up a very believable high suspense short story. One keeps on expecting Tom to fall to his death, eleven stories down, while trying to recover his research paper thus creating a lot of empathy for him and his position. The suspense is enhanced by the tittle of the story. I liked the character, Tom Benecke, as he is a hard working person that put his future success ahead of short term pleasures. In fact, he is even prepared to risk his life to pursue his dream of being the "Boy Wizard of Wholesale Groceries." As the story unfolds it is clear that Tom is ambitious, self-centred, and impatient.

These three traits change significantly throughout the story. Towards the end of the story Tom realizes that his priorities are unbalanced once faced with the reality of death. He realizes how important his wife is to him. This forces him to be strong and stay alive, for her sake. The only reason he made it back into the apartment was because of how much he cared for her. In the end he concluded that he needs to spend more time with his wife if he does not want and empty and wasted life. This is when the author allows the old Tom to die on the ledge and a new Tom is born. The new Tom is prepared to change and grow over time, given the dramatic experience he had in retrieving the yellow piece of paper. The round and dynamic character of Tom is believably portrayed and makes me like him even more.

The author utilized setting expertly as he casually introduces the fact that the apartment is on the eleventh floor of a New York apartment building during the first few paragraphs of the story. The scene is further set when the contrast between the warmth in the apartment and the coldness of the ledge is portrayed when his wife leaves for the movies. An additional contrast in setting is created as he will be working, and later be stuck on the cold ledge, fighting for his life, while his wife is relaxing in the comfort of the theatre.

Once on the ledge the author portrays the new setting cleverly by initially stating that Tom was "balanced easily and firmly" on the ledge, giving the reader the initial impression that retrieving the yellow paper could be done quite easily, despite the height. With his singular purpose to retrieve the paper, the author utilizes the characteristics of Tom to create a mental setting in his mind that height is no problem. This is then skilfully reversed when reality struck Tom and setting plays a primary role in the suspense again. Once Tom again becomes aware of the dangers of the external world and his precarious position some eleven stories above the busy street, stuck without the potential for help, alone on the ledge the setting plays a major part in creating suspense. The clever use of setting by the author in building the suspense includes the use of the contrast between the setting inside the apartment and that on the ledge.

The author utilizes a narrator with an omniscient point of view. This allows the reader to get an insight into the thoughts and feelings of Tom. The use of this type of narrator also allows the author to control what and how much is revealed to the reader in building suspense. The point of view used influences the effectiveness of suspense as the narrator reveals the various thoughts and feelings of Tom at the correct point in the development of the story to keep the reader absorbed by the developments. The narrator's perspective affects your understanding of the story. The tone in this story is seemingly neutral and factual, but on closer assessment it becomes clear that the author, Jack Finney, portrays a sympathetic view towards the character Tom Benecke.

The way the narrator is telling the story results in a lot of suspense. Will Tom go out on the ledge? Will he be able to retrieve the yellow paper? Will he be able to stay on to the ledge? Will he be able to get anybodies attention to help him and will he be able to get back in the apartment? All these questions are gradually introduces and answered by the narrator as the rising action builds up to the climax in the story when Tom resolves the conflict by striking the glass with his last grain of strength.

By utilizing a narrator with an omniscient point of view Jack Finney is able to use various complications such as the setting, the mindset of Tom Benecke, and also Tom's rescue efforts help expand the amount of suspense. He also uses key aspects in the setting such as the weather and Tom's location to create complications, which help lead to a lot of suspense.

© 2009 Carl Marx