Mrs Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru

“Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat”

I am going to analyse the story entitled “Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's coat”. It was written by the British writer whose name is Roald Dahl. 

Roald Dahl born in Wales, to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence officer, rising to the rank of wing commander. Dahl rose to prominence in the 1940s, with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's best-selling authors. He has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". In 2008 The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". His short stories are known for their unexpected endings, and his children's books for their unsentimental, often very dark humour.

The title of the story is rather clear, we could understand that it will be story about Mrs. Bixby and the colonel's coat. But we don't know exactly how they are related. And we can't predict what will happen.

In general, the work is written in the neutral style with an accent on descriptions.

The functional style of the story can be description as matter-of-fact.

The genre, the author wrote in, is an ironical short story.

The story combines the elements of both: narration and dialogue. The author makes ample use of dialogue in this story.

The author doesn't participate in this story, but he knows all the events.

We cannot date this story exactly, but there are several place and time markers in the story. We can surely detect that the story takes place in New York: “Mr. and Mrs. Bixby lived in a smallish apartment somewhere in New York City”. The period of time is winter: “It was just before Christmas, and Mrs. Bixby was standing on the station in Baltimore …”.

Mr. and Mrs. Bixby are leading a boring life in New York. Mr. Bixby is a dentist. Mrs. Bixby keeps a secret life: she has had a lover in Baltimore for eight years. Mr. Bixby doesn't know that his wife is having an affair. She goes to her lover once in a month. She tells her husband that she goes to visit her aunt. One day Mrs. Bixby gets a packet from her lover, the Colonel. It contains a beautiful mink coat. What must she tell her husband, she doesn't have any rich friends. She goes to a pawnbroker and says that she has lost her purse and that the banks are all closed until Monday. So she asks him if she can borrow fifty dollars for the weekend. She leaves her coat behind and promises that she will give him his fifty dollars back on Monday. If she does that she will get her coat back. He gives her a ticket without name, address and discription because she doesn't want to. It's all part of her plan. Done deal! She makes up a story that she has found a pawnticket on the seat of her taxi. Mr. Bixby explains that it could be anything. He will pick it up. He said that it could be worth more than five hundred dollars. He is very exciting to find out what it is and Mrs. Bixby plays along. When he gets back from the pawnbreaker, he calls her to come to his office and see what it is. He doesn't have the mink coat, but a little fur neckpiece. Mrs. Bixby is very angry with the pawnbroker; she wants her coat back, her plan has failed. She goes out and slams the door behind her. At that precise moment, Miss Pulteney, the secretary-assistant is coming in sailing past her down the corridor on her way to lunch. She is looking like a queen, just exactly like a queen in the beautiful black mink coat that the Colonel had given to Mrs. Bixby.

Speaking about the characters, it's important to state that Mrs. Bixby is the protagonist character; Mr. Bixby and the colonel are the minor characters.

At the very beginning, Mr. Bixby is described like a simple and naive hard working dentist who lives to satisfy his duplicitous wife.

Initially, Roald Dahl offers an introduction, characterizing women in the actual society, which necessarily imply an analogy with Mrs. Bixby. It seems that Mrs. Bixby is not as well considered, as she should be by her husband. Several times in the story, we get a hint that Mrs. Bixby thinks that her husband, Mr. Bixby, is incredible boring and tedious. Many elements of the texts refer to the fact that Mrs. Bixby does not love her husband. Moreover, she does not hesitate to lie to him. She believes that Mr. Bixby responsible for the failure of their relationship. It seems that she married him only for his stable financial situation. There is no way that Mrs. Bixby could be in love with her husband. She does not even feel an ounce of guilt. Despite of all the illusory affection that the colonel is giving to Mrs. Bixby, she does not love him. Indeed, if we look a tiny bit closer to Mrs. Bixby's reactions, we can notice that she actually acts selfishly. Her first reaction after receiving the mink coat is to think about the price and money. This is showing us the theme of money and cupidity which are impregnate of this character. Besides, the Colonel let a note that they can't see each other anymore but Mrs. Bixby does not really care about this “insignificant details”. Moreover, she didn't consider the mink coat as a gift but like a poisoning apple that could cause her failure. There is no way that she could be in love with him or with her husband either. All these elements and devilish thoughts to cheat on her husband. shows that she is a horrible liar and dishonest person that believes in nothing else than herself.

The author draw our attention to external conflicts:

Character vs. Character - we could see that Mrs. Bixby doesn't love her husband, she has a relationship with the colonel. She believes that Mr. Bixby responsible for the failure of their relationship because he is incredible boring and tedious. But on the other hand we see the same situation. Mr. Bixby gives his mistress a wonderful mink coat.

Character vs. Narrator - author show us the situation with marriages prevailing in those years. And show us how foolishly it looks from the outside and how many problems there are in relationships without love.

According to the plot and the conflicts, reflected in the story, it is possible to state the theme. The theme “Love or money, the marriage or the good deal?”.

The reader can notice a symbol in the story. The mink coat is a symbol of luxury which so wished Mrs. Bixby but on the other hand it is a symbol of death love like death animal.

The choice of words, syntactical patterns, expressive means and stylistic devises helps the author to create the general atmosphere of the story. At the beginning it is exciting in the middle it is tense, finally, it becomes emotional and ironical.

Of course the plot is very funny and surprising. It teaches you a lesson that you must never play adultery or lie to someone about something important, because lie doesn't go unpunished. It also shows that almost no plan is perfect.

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru