Explication texte : Skeleton in the cupboard (part 3) 6659

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Skeleton in the cupboard (Part 3)

Introduction

This document is an extract from a short story entitled ?Skeleton in the cupboard? written by Tony Wilmot.

At this point in the sory, we have been introduced with the 2 main characters (a young girl and a middled-age man named Robert Smythe). These 2 people have just met. The girl is leading an investigation about something which happened 20 years ago and as for Robert, we know that he lived a tragic event 20 years ago as well (aussi) (he killed a little girl with his car). As the girl pieces together the differents elements she gets from her investigation, Robert starts thinking he has something to do with the girl’s past and that his secret story is about to be revealed. He feels trapped and decides to go to the girl’s flat to kill her.

In a first part, i’m going to describe the murder scene in the girl’s flat and in a second part, I’m going to comment on the final revelations and I’m going to explain the outcome (dénouement).

I ? The murder scene (l.240 to 261)

a) The unfolding (le déroulement) : The scene takes place in the girl’s flat. She has been washing her hair when Robert knocked on the door. She offers him a drink and she tells him she has just found the name of the car’s owner, which is Robert Smythe. Shes sounds excited, thrilled, pleased and enthusiastic.

Robert apologizes for intruding on her unannounced. He pretends he knows the man she’s been looking for and that his name is Robert Smythe.

While the girl is getting him a drink, he kills her with a cord.

He kills her because she was tracking him down. The line 255 is the climax (dénouement) in the story, ?was? is written in italics and it shows that Robert’s doubts are confirmed. He feels trapped because his secret will be revealed.

b) The atmosphere : This is an atmoshpere of suspense and tension. The rythm is fast. Everything goes fast. Robert has only been in the girl’s flat for a short time when he kills her. The dialogues are very short. He had planned his act because the cord was is his pocket. It was a willful (prémédité) murder.

II ? The revelations (l.261 to the end)

a) Margaret’s secret : Margaret had a baby before she get married and had the baby adopted. She gets a letter which informs her that her daughter has been looking for her.