Week 16
3.4 D.H. Lawrence: example 2
At the beginning of Odour of Chrysanthemums, Lawrence's way of starting the story is quite like how
Conrad begins The Secret Sharer. He starts by describing the surroundings with more and more detail
until the scene is very clear, and then he shifts focus to the situation of the people living in that place. In
both stories, even though the characters are different — like a lonely sea captain or a woman coming
“stooping out of the... fowl-house” — they all seem small and overpowered by the world around them.
Still, in many other ways, the descriptions by the two writers are very different.
From D.H. Lawrence, Odour of Chrysanthemums:
“The small locomotive engine, Number 4, came clanking, stumbling down from Selston with seven full
waggons (1). It appeared round the corner with loud threats of speed, but the colt that it startled from
among the gorse, which still flickered indistinctly in the raw afternoon, outdistanced it at a canter (2). A
woman, walking up the railway line to Underwood, drew back into the hedge, held her basket aside, and
watched the foot-plate of the engine advancing (3). The trucks thumped heavily past, one by one, with
slow inevitable movement, as she stood insignificantly trapped between the jolting black waggons and the
hedge; then they curved away towards the coppice where the withered oak leaves dropped noiselessly,
while the birds, pulling at the scarlet hips beside the track, made off into the dusk that had already crept
into the spinney (4). In the open, the smoke from the engine sank and cleaved to the rough grass (5). The
fields were dreary and forsaken, and in the marshy strip that led to the whimsey, a reedy pit-pond, the
fowls had already abandoned their run among the alders, to roost in the tarred fowl-house (6). The pit-
bank loomed up beyond the pond, flames like red sores licking its ashy sides, in the afternoon's stagnant
light (7). Just beyond rose the tapering chimneys and the clumsy black headstocks of Brinsley Colliery
(8). The two wheels were spinning fast up against the sky, and the winding-engine rapped out its little
spasms (9). The miners were being turned up (10). The engine whistled as it came into the wide bay of
railway lines beside the colliery, where rows of trucks stood in harbour (11).
Miners, single, trailing and in groups, passed like shadows diverging home (12). At the edge of the ribbed
level of sidings squat a low cottage, three steps down from the cinder track (13). A large bony vine
clutched at the house, as if to claw down the tiled roof (14). Round the bricked yard grew a few wintry
primroses (15). Beyond, the long garden sloped down to a bush-covered brook course (16). There were
some twiggy apple trees, winter-crack trees, and ragged cabbages (17). Beside the path hung dishevelled
pink chrysanthemums, like pink cloths hung on bushes (18). A woman came stooping out of the felt-
covered fowl-house, half-way down the garden (19).”
A: Lexical features
Nouns
Compared to Conrad’s writing, Lawrence uses more concrete and everyday nouns like engine, wagons,
colt, gorse, railway, hedge, basket, etc. These kinds of nouns make the description feel more real and
physical rather than distant and thoughtful. When Lawrence does use abstract nouns, they often show
action or movement, like threats, speed, canter, movement, winding, and spasms.
Verbs
There are more verbs in this passage, and most of them are action verbs. Many show motion, like came,
clanking, flickered, licking, trailing, claw, and grew. Even still parts of the setting seem to be moving,
like the pit-bank that looms up, chimneys that taper, or the vine that clutches. Verbs that describe stillness
still have a sense of movement, such as held, stood, cleaved, squat, and hung. Verbs that describe sound
also help create an industrial feel, like clanking, thumped, rapped, and whistled. There are many
intransitive verbs (verbs without direct objects), which gives the sense that the motion we see in the scene
doesn’t have a clear goal — it feels like the industrial activity is happening on its own without any
control.
Adjectives
The adjectives in the passage often help us imagine colors and sights, especially when paired with the
sounds from the verbs. Words like red, scarlet, and pink stand out against dark and gloomy ones like
black, tarred, and ashy. These differences show little bits of life or hope in an otherwise sad and worn-out
setting. There is a noticeable use of adjectives that end in -y like marshy, reedy, ashy, dreary, clumsy,
wintry, and twiggy. These kinds of adjectives are more emotional and tend to sound more informal or
everyday. They often suggest ugliness or lifelessness. Words like raw, rough, ragged, forsaken, stagnant,
and dishevelled show how dead and worn the environment feels. Words like wintry, bony, ashy, and
stagnant make us think about death.
Adverbs
Most of the adverbs tell us where something is happening, especially in relation to direction — like down,
back, aside, away, up, behind. These often work with the verbs to highlight movement, like stumbling
down, walking up, drew back. There are a few adverbs that describe how something is done, like
indistinctly, heavily, insignificantly, and noiselessly. Others like still and already talk about time and help
us feel the early arrival of night, adding to the sad mood of the passage.
General
Compared to Conrad, Lawrence uses much simpler and more familiar vocabulary that feels like everyday
spoken English. Some unusual words like whimsey and winter-crack appear, but they seem like they
might come from a local dialect. This matches other local words like coppice and spinney. Lawrence also
uses emotional language, not just through individual words, but by how he puts them together. In
combinations like large bony vine, clumsy black headstocks, and dishevelled pink chrysanthemums, the
meanings of the words affect each other. For instance, the word pink feels less cheerful when paired with
dishevelled.
B: Grammatical features
Sentence complexity
Lawrence’s sentences are shorter and simpler than Conrad’s. Conrad’s average sentence is 57 words long,
while Lawrence’s average is just 20 words. In Conrad’s writing, each main idea has almost three
supporting ideas, while in Lawrence’s, it’s nearly one to one. Lawrence's sentences, especially in the third
paragraph, are easier to follow. The difficult parts mostly come in the sections that describe place or
direction and in the noun phrases with many describing words in front. For example: “Round the bricked
yard grew a few wintry primroses.... Beyond, the long garden sloped down to a bush-covered brook
course. There were some twiggy apple trees, winter-crack trees, and ragged cabbages.” The short sentence
“The miners were being turned up” at the end of the first paragraph is especially powerful. Like Conrad’s
final sentence, it gives meaning to the setting. This time, it does it using the everyday language of the
local people. It helps the reader feel more involved in the world of the story — like one of the people
there.
Word classes
A large number of the words used are "content words" — like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs —
which carry the main meaning. These make up 58% of the words in Lawrence’s passage, compared to
52% in Conrad’s and 47% in James’s. Lawrence uses fewer pronouns, linking words, and helping verbs.
For example, while Conrad uses the preposition of 29 times in his 397-word passage, Lawrence uses it
only 7 times in his 377-word one. This might show how Lawrence focuses more on physical things than
on abstract relationships. Where Conrad might say “a clump of trees,” Lawrence would just say
“coppices” or “spinneys.” Where Conrad says “a tribe of fishermen,” Lawrence just says “miners.” This
makes Lawrence’s writing easier to read and more straightforward.
C: Figures of speech etc.
Schemes
Lawrence uses sound effects to show how harsh and noisy the industrial world is. He uses onomatopoeic
verbs like clanking, thumped, and rapped, and other sound-based words like stumbling, clumsy, clutch,
and claw, where the sounds reflect the meanings. The description of the train includes both smooth
rhythm (“clánking, stúmbling down from Sélston”, “one by one, with slów inévitáble móvement”) and
harsh, heavy sounds from words with strong stresses (“loud threats of speed”, “The trúcks thúmped
heavily pásť”). Harsh consonant clusters also add to the strong, noisy feeling — like /brets/, /spi:d/,
/traks/, /0ampt/, /pa:st/. Short vowel sounds and hard consonants help describe a harsh, unfriendly
environment: “jolting black waggons,” “black headstocks,” “rapped out its spasms,” “twiggy apple trees,”
“ragged cabbages.”
Metaphor and simile
Lawrence uses metaphor and simile to give life to non-living things. The engine stumbles, the headstocks
are clumsy, the winding engine has spasms, and the cottage squats — these human-like qualities make
man-made things seem alive, but also awkward and unnatural. They seem threatening, like the pit-bank
that looms or the flames that are like red sores licking its ashy sides. Nature itself seems infected by this
same unnatural energy: the “bony vine” claws and clutches at the house, and things like “ragged
cabbages” and “dishevelled chrysanthemums” are described in unusual ways, as if they’ve been affected
by the lifelessness of the industrial world. The verbs used make it feel like objects are acting on their own.
Industry seems to be a wild, driving force. Against this background, people like the miners are reduced to
mere shadows. The strong effect comes from how lifeless things seem alive and how people seem almost
lifeless. This adds to the symbolism of the woman “insignificantly trapped” by the train and the woman
“stooping out of the fowl house.”
D: Cohesion and context
Lexical repetition
One important feature that helps hold the passage together is word repetition. Lawrence uses repetition to
strengthen meaning, such as in “pink chrysanthemums like pink cloths.”
Definite article
Lawrence hardly uses pronouns, so he often uses the to point back to earlier things mentioned, in a clear
way. For example, the engine is mentioned again in (3), (5), and (11), after being introduced in (1). The
house in (14) refers to the cottage in (13). But Lawrence doesn’t only use the to refer back — even things
mentioned for the first time often have the in front, like “the small locomotive engine.” This makes it feel
like the reader already knows these places — like they are familiar with the setting. This style makes it
feel like we are already part of this world. It’s a technique called in medias res (starting in the middle of
things), and though Conrad uses it a little, Lawrence uses it much more — even calling a random detail
like the colt or the marshy strip that led to the whimsey. Interestingly, when Lawrence does talk about
people, he uses indefinite articles — “a woman” (3), “miners” (12), and “a woman” (19) — which makes
them feel new or out of place in the setting.
Other contextual features
This use of the fits into Lawrence’s larger plan to involve the reader emotionally. He also uses local-
sounding words like whimsey and informal phrases like being turned up. He includes numbers and place
names — the engine is Number 4, it’s from Selston, and it pulls seven full waggons. These are the kind of
details only someone who lives there would care about. Through this, Lawrence invites the reader to feel
like they belong to the mining community and to relate to the quiet miners and the bent-over housewife.
Even though Lawrence writes in the third person, his narration feels more personal and emotionally close
than Conrad’s first-person style. In The Secret Sharer, the narrator separates us from the story by saying I,
but in Lawrence’s story, we’re pulled right into the world without any middleman.
3.5 Henry James: example 3
The beginning of The Pupil by Henry James is similar to the earlier passage in that it starts in the middle
of things—in medias res—but in almost every other way, it is very different. Here, James begins his story
in the middle of a conversation, or more accurately, during a rather awkward meeting between two
strangers. The differences in the way language is used here compared to the earlier passages can be
explained by the difference in subject matter: James focuses on human relationships and values, and
nature doesn’t play a role in this scene. Still, we can see some stylistic elements that aren't just because of
the topic but are actually part of James’s unique writing style.
From Henry James, The Pupil:
"The poor young man hesitated and procrastinated: it cost him such an effort to broach the subject of
terms, to speak of money to a person who spoke only of feelings and, as it were, of the aristocracy (1).
Yet he was unwilling to take leave, treating his engagement as settled, with-out some more conventional
glance in that direction than he could find an opening for in the manner of the large, affable lady who sat
there drawing a pair of soiled gants de Suède through a fat, jewelled hand and, at once pressing and
gliding, repeated over and over everything but the thing he would have liked to hear (2). He would have
liked to hear the figure of his salary; but just as he was nervously about to sound that note the little boy
came back the little boy Mrs Moreen had sent out of the room to fetch her fan (3). He came back without
the fan, only with the casual observation that he couldn't find it (4). As he dropped this cynical confession
he looked straight and hard at the candidate for the honour of taking his education in hand (5). This
personage reflected, somewhat grimly, that the first thing he should have to teach his little charge would
be to appear to address himself to his mother when he spoke to her especially not to make her such an
improper answer as that (6).
When Mrs Moreen bethought herself of this pretext for getting rid of their companion, Pemberton
supposed it was precisely to approach the delicate subject of his remuneration (7). But it had been only to
say some things about her son which it was better that a boy of eleven shouldn't catch (8). They were
extravagantly to his advantage, save when she lowered her voice to sigh, tapping her left side familiarly:
'And all over-clouded by this, you know all at the mercy of a weakness!' (9) Pemberton gathered that the
weakness was in the region of the heart (10). He had known the poor child was not robust: this was the
basis on which he had been invited to treat, through an English lady, an Oxford acquaintance, then at
Nice, who happened to know both his needs and those of the amiable American family looking out for
something really superior in the way of a resident tutor (11)."
Lexical features
Nouns:
Compared to the other two passages, this one has fewer nouns (Figure 4). More than half of these nouns
are abstract (Figure 20), meaning they refer to social or mental ideas rather than physical things. For
example, in just the first sentence we see nouns like effort, subject, terms, money, feelings, and
aristocracy.
Adjectives:
In the same way, James doesn’t use many adjectives (Figure 6). And many of the ones he does use aren’t
about physical things either. Words like unwilling, conventional, affable, casual, and cynical describe
feelings or attitudes instead of appearances.
Verbs:
On the other hand, verbs are used a lot in this passage (Figure 5). But this doesn’t mean there’s a lot of
action happening. The verb to be (copula) is used twelve times out of the sixty-five main verbs. Other
verbs describe attitudes (hesitated, liked, treating), thoughts (known, supposed, reflected), speech (speak,
repeated, address, invited), and senses (hear, looked, appear).
Adverbs:
The most noticeable types of adverbs are those that describe how something is done (like straight,
nervously, familiarly) and those that describe how much (like somewhat, precisely, extravagantly), along
with words that focus attention like only and even (Figure 34–36).
General:
While D.H. Lawrence uses simpler and more down-to-earth vocabulary, James prefers more formal,
Latin-based words such as procrastinated, reflected, remuneration, observation, and confession. These
words could have been said in simpler ways (e.g., delay instead of procrastinate, pay instead of
remuneration), but James chooses more elevated language, which gives the text a certain sophistication.
This formal tone is matched with a tendency toward pretentiousness (as seen in the use of French words
like gants de Suède) and to use mild words to talk about serious things (for example, calling payment
terms or remuneration, or calling the boy’s sickness a weakness or saying he is not robust). James also
tends to use longer ways to say things, such as using a verb with an abstract noun (e.g., take leave, sound
that note, dropped the cynical confession). Still, some casual expressions like getting rid of and shouldn’t
catch do appear.
James uses words for their social meanings differently than Lawrence. Words like aristocracy, cynical,
honour, improper, and acquaintance carry social significance. For instance, affable and amiable, used to
describe Mrs Moreen and her family, suggest that they are superficially nice, but not deeply good-hearted.
A word like friendly or kind-hearted would suggest a deeper warmth, but James avoids those.
Grammatical features
Sentence structure:
Although James’s sentences here are shorter on average than those of Conrad (35 words per sentence),
they still feel more complicated. This may partly be because the vocabulary is more abstract, but also
because James prefers more complex sentence structures.
(i) James tends to delay giving key information. He often tells you what happened before he tells you who
was involved or why it happened. For example, in sentence (2), we start with "He was unwilling to take
leave...", but we don’t know who the other person is or what kind of meeting it is until later. Even then,
the woman is only described in terms of how she looks and acts, not in detail. We don’t fully understand
how this meeting came about until sentence (11), but even that explanation is delayed. That sentence ends
with a clause explaining how Pemberton was invited, which itself contains another clause about the
acquaintance who knew both parties. This is when we finally learn that the Moreens are American, that
they need a live-in tutor for their sick child, and that Pemberton is hoping to get this job—but all of this is
implied rather than directly stated.
(ii) Another unusual thing about James’s sentence style is the way he arranges information. Important
background facts are often hidden inside subordinate clauses. Sentence (11) is a good example of this
kind of layering. The way these clauses are nested reflects Pemberton’s own process of mentally retracing
how he got into this situation.
(iii) James also makes his syntax harder by using anticipatory structures—phrases that prepare for the
main part of the sentence but delay it. For instance, in sentence (2), there is a string of participial phrases
("and, at once pressing and gliding...") before we get to the main verb. He also uses parenthetical phrases
such as somewhat grimly (6), tapping her left side familiarly (9), and then at Nice (11). These structures
make the reader wait longer for the main point of the sentence, which increases the mental effort needed
to follow the syntax (as discussed in sections 7.5.3–7.5.4). There are also relative clauses and comparative
clauses that are hard to follow because the word that starts the clause (which, who, than, etc.) serves a
grammatical function that only becomes clear later. For example, in sentence (8), the phrase "some things
about her son [which it was better that a boy of eleven shouldn’t catch]" starts with which, but we only
understand what which is doing (it's the object of catch) at the very end of the sentence.
James’s unusual sentence structures make more sense when we understand that he is deeply focused on
psychological realism. He constantly tries to capture the psychological moment "in the full complexity of
its circumambient conditions." The story hardly moves forward in terms of plot—it actually starts near
the end of the conversation. We meet Pemberton just as he is trying to gather courage to talk about
money, and all that happens in the next two paragraphs is that the boy returns and stops him from
bringing it up. But during this short time, James gives us a complete picture of Pemberton’s mental state:
his worry about money, his disappointment that the woman hasn’t told him anything, what he thinks of
her based on her looks and behavior, his judgment of her son, his misunderstanding of why the boy left
the room, and his memory of how this meeting started. In the final vague phrase about “his needs,” we
even get a sense of why money matters so much to him. James moves the story forward not by following
a timeline, but through connections between thoughts and feelings. He faces a major challenge: while
people can experience many thoughts at once, writing must follow one thought after another. James can’t
escape this rule of language (see sections 7.2 and 7.5.3), but he does the next best thing—he grabs our
attention with Pemberton’s confusion and gradually leads us deeper into his situation. By the time we
finish reading two paragraphs, we fully understand the complex and ironic nature of what Pemberton is
facing. So, the story moves not from one moment to the next, but from what is closest and most obvious
to what is further away but still connected to the character’s thoughts.
Expository Style and Delayed Clarity
Because of this, James’s style here is more focused on explanation than on telling a simple story. A big
part of his method is delaying clear answers, because giving immediate clarity would make the situation
too simple. For example, when James begins with “The poor young man hesitated and procrastinated,” it
makes us wonder: Who is this man? Why is he hesitating? Where is he? As we keep reading, we get more
information, but each new answer leads to more questions (see sections 5.2 and 5.5.2). To understand
James’s world, readers have to stay open-minded, knowing that many things are still hidden. His sentence
structure supports this by not letting us understand one part until we’ve read another part—everything
only makes sense when seen as a whole.
Subordinate Clauses (Figure)
James’s sentences are more complex than Conrad’s, based on the number of subordinate (or dependent)
clauses compared to main ones: he uses more than three dependent clauses for every independent clause.
Many of these are noun clauses that complete the meaning of verbs (as shown in examples 49 and 53),
and these are not found at all in the Conrad and Lawrence examples. These clauses are either finite (with
or without the word "that")—like “He had known [that] the poor child was not robust”—or they are
infinitive clauses—like “He would have liked to hear the figure of his salary.” This makes sense, because
James is more interested in what people think or feel than in describing interactions between people or
objects. These sentence forms show how characters think, feel, or imagine possibilities. Infinitive clauses,
in particular, are interesting: James uses thirteen, while Conrad and Lawrence together only use three.
Since infinitive clauses usually express possibilities rather than facts, this shows how James builds his
story around thoughts and guesses instead of certainties.
Verb Phrases
Another related feature is how often James uses complex verb phrases (examples 59–62). Unlike the
other two writers, James uses many modal and aspectual helping verbs like “would be,” “shouldn’t
catch,” “could find,” “would have liked,” “had been invited,” and “had been.” These verbs show not just
when something happens but also how it relates to past, future, or imagined events. This reflects how
Pemberton’s state of mind includes past memories, hopes for the future, and imagined situations—not just
what’s happening at the moment.
Negatives
When talking about James’s use of negatives, Watt makes a deep point: there are no natural negatives in
the world—only people think in negatives. A negative usually means someone expected the opposite to
be true. So, using a negative often shows irony or humor. James uses “not” four times (twice as “n’t”), but
more interesting are the implied negatives. Words like “only” (meaning “nothing more than”), “without,”
and prefixes like “unwilling” or “improper,” as well as exception words like “but” and “save,” all express
negativity. These are used to great effect. The passage seems to be about failed expectations. But it’s not
just Pemberton’s expectations—Mrs. Moreen and her son have their expectations too, and we mostly see
these through Pemberton’s thoughts. The negative expressions help us feel this tension.
C: Figures of Speech etc.
Irony
In James’s work, we won’t find many flashy or unusual language tricks. Instead, he uses slight
differences from what we expect to create multiple meanings. There are a few small metaphors and
repetitions, but they mostly help create irony, which is the main figure of speech in this passage (see 8.4–
8.5). For example, Mrs. Moreen’s line, “And all overclouded by this, you know all at the mercy of a
weakness,” repeats the word “all” at the start of clauses and includes two ordinary metaphors:
“overclouded” and “at the mercy of.” These expressions sound overly emotional and don’t match the rest
of the passage’s tone, so James likely wants us to hear something fake in her voice. This impression is
confirmed by the next sentence, which is short and direct:
“Pemberton gathered that the weakness was in the region of the heart.”
This sentence is likely meant to be ironic because it states something that was already obvious from the
earlier, dramatic sentence. Pemberton is just realizing something the reader already understood. The main
target of the irony is Mrs. Moreen, who wants to seem more elegant than she is. But Pemberton is also a
target, since we can laugh at his inability to get the information he wants. “Irony” might be too strong a
word; maybe it’s better to call it a gentle awareness that things aren’t what they seem. But the key idea is
that words in James’s work don’t just mean what they say on the surface—they hint at feelings, attitudes,
and tones. That’s a major part of his style.
Other ironic effects include:
i. Negation: For example, the phrase “unwilling...without...” uses two negatives to show a contrast
between what people expect from Pemberton and what his actual situation makes him feel.
ii. Word Combinations: Some phrases combine words that don’t fit well together, like “fat
jewelled hand” and “soiled gants de Suède.” Words like “fat” and “soiled” make even the nicer
words (“jewelled,” “gants de Suède”) sound showy and unpleasant. This mix of tones is a way of
creating irony and is also used by Lawrence.
iii. Mix of Formal and Casual Language: Sometimes James uses formal phrases where casual ones
would fit better. This creates a strange tone. For example, “bethought herself” (very formal)
sounds odd next to “getting rid of” (very informal), in the sentence: “When Mrs Moreen
bethought herself of this pretext for getting rid of their companion.” At the end, “looking out for
something really superior in the way of a resident tutor” also mixes everyday language with
polite, refined-sounding words, which makes the whole thing seem ironic.
D: Cohesion and Context
Elegant Variation
James often uses what is called elegant variation, where he changes how he refers to a person instead of
just using their name over and over (see 69). For instance, Pemberton is called “the poor young man,”
“the candidate for the honour of taking his education in hand,” “this personage,” as well as “Pemberton”
and “he.” Mrs. Moreen is described as “a person who spoke only of feeling and, as it were, of the
aristocracy,” “the large, affable lady,” and “his mother.” The boy is called “the little boy,” “his little
charge,” “their companion,” “her son,” and “the poor child.” These aren’t just fancy ways of avoiding
repetition—they show different aspects of each character. The boy, for instance, is described based on
how he relates to Pemberton, Mrs. Moreen, or both. These changes help us see the characters from
different angles, supporting James’s multi-layered style. Sometimes, elegant variation also adds irony.
For example, calling Pemberton “the candidate for the honour of taking his education in hand” sounds
like something the boy might think—but in words much too fancy for a child. This is really how
Pemberton sees himself through the child’s imagined thoughts. “This personage” is another ironic phrase
—it makes Pemberton sound important, but in reality, it emphasizes how powerless he feels.
General Co-reference
James is very careful about how he links sentences together. He repeats words or phrases to connect
ideas. For instance, sentence (3) repeats “he would have liked to hear” from sentence (2); sentence (10)
repeats “weakness” from (9); and in (5), “this cynical confession” refers back to the “casual observation”
in (4). James uses words like “this” and “that” often to make these links, and he also relies on pronouns
like “he,” “she,” and “his.” He also uses connecting words like “yet” and “but” to show how reality
differs from expectations. These techniques show James’s concern with how small moments fit into a
bigger mental and emotional picture. But even here, he uses delayed clarity. For example, sentence (2)
keeps us wondering what “the thing” is that Pemberton wants to hear; sentence (3) partly answers that;
sentence (10) tells us about a “weakness,” and only in (11) do we learn that the boy is not healthy—
suggesting that this is why the Moreens want a tutor. James also delays introducing names. This makes
sense because names don’t tell us much about how someone is feeling. If James had started with
“Pemberton hesitated,” we would only know his name, not how he felt. Instead, the boy is first just “the
little boy”—because that’s all Pemberton knows at that moment. Then the boy becomes “the little boy
Mrs Moreen had sent out of the room to fetch her fan”—which adds a bit of backstory. Later, he’s “his
little charge,” and finally, “her son.” Only at the very end do we understand that the boy is the “pupil” in
the story’s title. So, as readers, we’re putting pieces together slowly, like solving a puzzle. It may be hard
work, but it helps us appreciate the full meaning.
Context
The story is mostly told in third-person narration. There are a few direct quotes (like “And all
overclouded by this, you know...”) and some indirect speech (like “the casual observation that he couldn’t
find it”), but it generally feels like an outside narrator telling the story. Still, it’s clear that most of the
story is told from Pemberton’s point of view. This is shown by how many sentences reflect his inner
thoughts (with “that” or infinitive clauses), like “Pemberton gathered that the weakness was in the region
of the heart” or “he would have liked to hear the figure of his salary.” Pemberton is the “reflector” of the
story (see pp. 139–40), meaning we see events through his mind. Sometimes it’s not clear at first. For
example, the opening—“The poor young man hesitated and procrastinated”—could be someone else’s
observation. But as the story goes on, it becomes clear that we’re mainly seeing things from Pemberton’s
perspective. In (7), we seem to see inside Mrs. Moreen’s mind: “When Mrs Moreen bethought herself of
this pretext...”—but even that can be seen as Pemberton’s guess about what she’s doing. So, we end up
taking most of the story as his viewpoint. James’s writing often mixes perspectives: although Pemberton
is clearly the main consciousness, sometimes we seem to see him from the outside or get into another
character’s mind. But even these shifts can be understood as part of how Pemberton imagines what others
are thinking. These shifts in perspective are supported by changes in language style. For example, phrases
like “as it were” sound like Pemberton’s own thoughts; “that he couldn’t find it” reflects the boy’s way of
speaking; and “something really superior in the way of a resident tutor” sounds like the Moreens trying to
sound polite in an advertisement. Sometimes, the voice clearly belongs to the narrator, like in the opening
phrase “The poor young man,” which isn’t likely how Pemberton sees himself. This shows that the author
sympathizes with Pemberton, but also stays a bit distant. These shifts in tone and style help give a full,
multi-dimensional view of the story. We understand different characters, but it’s clear that Pemberton is
the main focus, even as the author maintains control over the storytelling.
