Thursday 3 October 2013

What news does the constable bring to the Fosters?

I initially thought that this question was an easy question to answer, but that's because I mixed up the constable and the man in the yellow suit.  Both characters bring news to the Foster family.  The man in the yellow suit brought the news that he knew where Winnie was.  That's what I initially thought that the question was asking about.  

It took me awhile to track down exactly when and where the constable actually spoke to the Foster family.  I believe that the question is asking about the news that the constable brought to the Fosters in chapter 21.  The reader hears the constable's news, because the reader is eavesdropping with Winnie on his conversation.  



She heard him saying, "So that's that, Mr. Foster. We can't press no kidnapping charges, since your little girl claims there wasn't no kidnapping. But it don't matter now, anyway. The doc just got back a few minutes ago. That feller—the one you sold your land to? He's dead." There was a pause, and the murmur of other voices; then a match striking, the acrid smell of fresh cigar smoke. "Yep, she got him a good one, all right. He never even come to. So it's an open-and-shut case, since I seen her do it. Eyewitness. No question about it. They'll hang her for sure."



Based on the above lines of text, the constable has brought three pieces of information to the Foster family.  The first piece of information is that the Foster family can't press kidnapping charges against the Tuck family, because Winnie claims that she was not kidnapped.  Winnie claims that she went on her own free will with the Tucks, because they are her friends.  



Winnie let go of Tuck's waist and turned around. Her trembling had stopped. "They didn't kidnap me," she said. "I came because I wanted to."


Behind her, Tuck drew his breath in sharply.


"You wanted to?" echoed the constable, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You wanted to?"


"That's right," said Winnie unflinchingly. "They're my friends."



The second piece of news is that the man in the yellow suit is dead.  That's good news to Mr. and Mrs. Foster, because the man in the yellow suit had blackmailed them into selling their land in the first place.  



"I've got what you want, and you've got what I want. Of course, you might find that child without me, but . . . you might not find her in time. So: I want the wood and you want the child. It's a trade. A simple, clear-cut trade."



Now they get to keep their woods.  The third piece of news is that the constable is certain that Mae Tuck will hang for killing the man in the yellow suit.  

No comments:

Post a Comment

Is there any personification in "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

Personification is a literary device in which the author attributes human characteristics and features to inanimate objects, ideas, or anima...