Chapter Five: A World of Knowledge

Understanding A Shocking Accident

2008

A Shocking Accident
The short story A Shocking Accident was written by Graham Greene, one of the most famous British writers of the twentieth century. Greene wrote scores of short stories, many of them with the aim of amusing his readers. He called these entertainments. The following is such a short story. It might be termed black humour because it deals with death in a humorous way.

2008

Black humour
The premise of this short story is that it is possible to die is such an absurd way that it is actually funny to be killed by a falling pig. A further premise is that finding this manner of death amusing is not socially acceptable. Therefore the title A Shocking Accident has two meanings: It is shocking that Jeromes father has been killed by accident It is shocking that his manner of death causes people to laugh

2008

Jerome as victim
As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Jerome is a victim of the absurdity of this fathers death. His question, What happened to the pig is interpreted as callousness by his teachers. He is given the nickname Pig at school after he tells the story to his best friend. To avoid ridicule, he decides to hide the way his father died, although his aunt misunderstands this because she has no sense of humour.

2008

Jerome as survivor
Jerome practices ways to tell of his fathers death that do not cause laughter:

He tries to make the story boring by giving extreme detail. He tries to infer that his father was killed while hunting a pig.
The reader, aware of Jeromes problem, finds his efforts amusing

2008

Jerome in love
When Jerome falls in love with Sally, he continues to hide the manner of his fathers death from her (It was very sudden. A street accident). This adds a new element of tension to an absurd situation hiding the truth from his love could destroy their relationship. No need to worry! When she finds out, she is truly shocked that such a thing could happen Out of a clear sky. Her statement I was wondering what happened to the poor pig? makes it clear that Jerome has found the perfect soul mate for life (and death).

2008

The Human Comedy

Many serious things in life nonetheless also have their amusing sides. Greene is a keen observer of such things. His object here not to make fun of Jerome, for whom he clearly feels sympathy. His aim is to make us laugh at the funny, often grotesque, situations life can place us in. And he succeeds!

2008