INDEX

1
INDEX

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................3
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND....................................................................................................4
SUMMARY.....................................................................................................................................5
CHACTERS....................................................................................................................................7
REVIEW.........................................................................................................................................8
PERSONAL ASSESMENT............................................................................................................9
CONCLUSIONS...........................................................................................................................10

2
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

He was an English writer and journalist considered by many to be one of the

leading English novelists of the 20th century. (Born October 2, 1904,

Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, Died April 3, 1991, Vevey, Switzerland).

Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene established a

reputation early in his life as a major writer of both serious Catholic novels and

suspense novels (or "entertainment" as he called them). He was shortlisted, in 1966

and 1967, for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Through 67 years of writing, which

included more than 25 novels, he explored the moral and political conflicts of the

modern world. He was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981

Jerusalem Prize.

He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivien Dayrell-

Browning. Later in life he called himself a "Catholic agnostic." He died in 1991,

aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in the Corseaux Cemetery.

3
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
We can say exactly that all the events described take place in England, in

particular, they happen in the eastern part of England. The events take place at

night in the house where Charlie Stowe's family lives, specifically in the

tobacconist that his father ran. It is said in the second paragraph of the text. It was

the time of the First World War. Because in the text it says exactly “enemy

airships”, “Zeppelin”, which was a type of airship pioneered in Germany in the

20th century and used extensively to bomb England during the period of the First

World War, characteristic tales of the fashion of the times such as “bowler hats”

and “belted raincoats”, cigarette brands Charlie's father sold (Gold Flake, Players,

Woodbines were very popular at the time). In addition, the text mentioned the

"Huns". It is offensive slang used as a derogatory term for a German, especially a

German soldier in World War I.

4
SUMMARY
The main theme of the story is how the main character Charlie Stowe was trying to

steal cigarettes from his father’s shop to prove his classmates that he was not a

little boy.

We may distinguish the genre of the text as fiction. The story has not really had

place, though it may be based on a true story. The text is presented mostly as a

description of Charlie’s feelings and thoughts. There is a dialogue between

Charlie’s father and two policemen, which Charlie happened to overhear. This

dialogue is rather polite: “Mind if…; if you don’t mind; Don’t you want…”

In the beginning of the story we have an exposition, where we get to know about

the main character Charlie Stowe; the time of the scene is night. Charlie Stowe

waited in his bedroom until he heard his mother snore.

Then we got to know that it was the time of war, as “searchlight passed across the

sky,… seeking enemy airship”. Then Charlie draught the thought the cracks in the

window frame. 

It is a third person omniscient narration, though the story is told from Charlie’s

point of view. The story of the text may be told this way: “A boy was mocked at

school – one night he got into his father’s tobacconist’s shop – he saw two men

5
taking his father away”, while the plot of the story may be presented this way:

“Charlie was mocked at school, that’s why one night he got into his father’s

tobacconist’s shop to steal some cigarettes. The type of narration is entrusted

narrative. The story is told from the point of view of Charlie who uses the 3d

person. It is an omniscient point of view. The tone of the story is very tense,

serious, suspenseful and sometimes in characters’ words sarcasm slips. Tension

and fear are seen in the description of boy’s actions “sat in despair”, “cowered in

darkness”, “held his breath”, “clutched his nightshirt tight and prayed”. In some

phrases of the one stranger we can find sympathy. Also we feel sympathy both to

the boy who is mocked at school and his father who seems to be arrested. In the

detailed description of Charlie’s father we can notice that the boy is offended by

him (“…left even punishment to his mother”). The mood of the story is hopeless

and tense. We feel it throughout the story, the setting “helps” us to feel it deeply as

well. But in the end we feel a kind of relief for a moment when the boy

understands he loves his father. We say “for a moment” because we will never

know if the father and the boy ever meet again.

6
CHACTERS
Charlie Stowe – The main character, he is teased by his peers at the county school,

because he has never tried a cigarette at age 12 in his life. One night he decides to

smoke and sneaks into his father's tobacconist, whom he doesn't want. His mother

is sleeping and his father is not supposed to be home. But when Charlie is in the

store, he hears footsteps on the street. He is his father and two strangers.

Mr. Stowe: His father was (according to Charlie) unreal, a ghost, pale, thin, and

indefinite, noticing him only spasmodically and even leaving the punishment to his

mother.

Charlie was hiding from his father because he said that smoking a cigarette was a

''crime''. His unusual behavior tells us this fact: his voice has a note unknown to

Charlie and he holds his neck stiff. He indicates that he is very nervous and also his

voice is “dry as a cookie”. When Mr. Stowe wants to get his coat, one of the

strangers wants to go with him so he won't be left alone. Looks like Charlie's dad is

under arrest. We can do this guess work and find one more similarity between

Charlie and his father: committing a crime. The resolution occurs when the father

7
and two strangers leave the store, a scared Charlie goes upstairs and realizes how

much he loves his father.

REVIEW
This short story abounds with conflicts. At the beginning we know that Charlie has

never tried a cigarette in his life and gets mocked by boys at school. It is the first

conflict: the boy versus schoolmates, his peers, and it can be considered as the

conflict of a man and society. The second one happens between Charlie and his

father which he doesn’t like at the beginning. That’s why we can call Charlie

protagonist, and his father antagonist. We see the third direct conflict between

Charlie’s father and two men. The mystery is hidden in their talk. And finally there

is the forth conflict the inner conflict of the boy who at his 12 wants to be an adult

trying to have a smoke.

The author entrusts the main character telling us the story. That’s why we can

consider this story as an interior monologue. In the text we also encounter with

protagonist’s inner dialog and the dialog between the antagonist and two strangers.

It is a kind of blend of dialogs and monologue speech. It makes us imagine more

vivid the situation and keeps us in tension. On the whole the structure of the text is

chronological. Only the second paragraph is a little bit detached telling about

8
Charlie’s family and his conflicts with boys from County school and his father.

The story starts at the beginning and moves through time.

PERSONAL ASSESMENT
The main idea of the story is a generation gap, the relations of Fathers and Sons. It

is still relevant nowdays, parents should pay attention to the way of upbringing of

their children. Lie, mistakes, carelessness and insufficiency of attention of parents

would reflect on the behavior and personality of their children. The other idea is

found in the conflict of Charlie and his peers. Sometimes to be respected in society

we try to do what it dictates us. Children are exposed to the society influence

easier, because they haven’t enough experience in life and their world outlook isn’t

finally formed. The minor idea of this story is to show how our attitude can be

wrong judging people around us, even our closest people, our relatives, and it may

happen that it would be too late to say the warmest words to the dearest people and

even living with our family we cannot notice the likeness or common things that

connect us. We should be more attentive, more sensitive and sympathetic and keep

in mind that our children would somehow look like us.

9
CONCLUSIONS

The title (‘I Spy’), is significant because it shows the similarities between Charlie

Stowe and his father. Also because without it we would never come to assume that

Charlie Stowe’s father is in fact a spy, who is being arrested for spying for the

Germans or the ‘Huns’ as his wife calls them. This creates the effect of dramatic

irony as Charlie, who has observed exactly what we see, does not relise why his

father has been taken away by two strangers.

10