Коломийцева Ю.

The short story under analysis “Then in Triumph” was written by the
American writer of the 20th Frank L. Parke.

The short story shows the events of one day which occur in the house of one
married couple. The husband, Clifford, unwillingly returns home full of reporters.
His wife, Julia, gives numerous interviews. All the situation makes Clifford feels
uncomfortable. The situation becomes even worse when one of the reporters asks
Clifford’s opinion about his wife’s book. But, Clifford hasn’t read it yet. He grabs
the book ad goes to his study to do it. After a while, he understands that this book
belongs to him. Now being confident, he goes downstairs and makes his wife feel
uncomfortable in front of the reporters.

The short story belongs to the emotive prose and as such represents the
belles-lettres functional style, the main aim of which is to give reader aesthetic
pleasure, to make them think and to entertain by appealing to their emotions. It is
worth mentioning that this story belongs to the mixed type.

One of the peculiarities of the analyzed text is that it starts with the
implication of precedence. The mentioning of the proper noun Clifford Oslow,
personal pronoun she can be suggestive of it. Such beginning is aimed to excite the
readers’ interest, to urge them to read on. The next component of the structure is
complication. The following abstract presents it: “She smiled at him affectionately
but, it seemed to him, a little distantly. He'd noticed that breach in her glance
many times lately. He hoped that it wasn't superiority, but he was afraid that it
was.” In the given abstract we can observe the conflict between the married couple.
The SDs of detachment “a little distantly”, the abstract noun “superiority” add to
this idea. Then, there occurs the development of actions which leads to the climax
of the story. The following abstract is considered as the culmination: “Clifford
came across the room to her, smiling. He put his arm around her and pressed her
shoulder firmly but gently. "Now, now, Julia," he protested. "Let's tell the young
man at once.” Here we understand the changes in Clifford’s behavior and inner
state. He understands that he is not a looser at all, but a good writer. His actions are
confident; he is confident in himself. Then, there appears the denouement of the
story. As the denouement is present we can conclude that the analyzed short story
has a closed plot structure.

In the given short-story we can observe three temporal planes. The

simultaneous plane, which is predominant in this text, is represented both by
lexical and grammatical markers. The grammatical markers are the use of the Past
Simple (cut, headed, was, reached), the Present Perfect (have been trying), the Past
Simple (she was, he came, the door opened), Past Continuous (was he going). The
lexical markers are immediately, now, for a long time, in ten minutes. The
retrospective temporal plane is also presented by lexical and grammatical
markers. The grammatical markers are the use of the Past Perfect (he had sought),
the Past Simple (was a writer, were first married). The lexical marker of the
retrospective temporal plane many times lately, for over eighteen years, before,
before a year ago. The prospective temporal plane is also presented with the
help of lexical and grammatical markers. The grammatical marker is the usage of
the Future Simple (will be). The lexical markers are (next book, in another month).

In the given short story, we deal both with the closed space and with the open
space. First of all, the actions described take place in America. The mentioning of
direct lexical marker such as American and indirect marker mailbox which is
peculiar for American English can be suggestive of it. As for the lexical markers of
the open space they are in front of the house, the lawn. The closed space is
presented to due to the following lexical markers the living room, the wall, the
sandwich, the beer, the hall door, from the carpet, from the room, the fireplace,
manuscripts, table, bookcase.

In the analyzed story we deal with two Clifford and Julia. There are secondary
characters such the woman asking for the autograph and the reporters.

Clifford is described by the author as “white, 43, a native ,of this city”. He is
described as a small man “she was a little person, smaller even than Clifford
himself”. From the very beginning of the short story the reader feels the tension
between the married couple. He doesn’t want to return home. The author shows it
with the SDs of detachment “But not soon enough”. When he entered home he
even “didn’t get a chance to over and kiss” his wife. Then the reporters began
torturing Clifford asking him unpleasant questions about his wife’s book. Clifford
didn’t want to stay in that room. The author shows it using such SDs as parallel
constructions with epiphoric repetition “he wanted to say and then run. But they
wouldn't let him run”. Also, the author implies attachments “. And ask him more
questions. Which he couldn't answer”. Later, the reader understands his condition.
We get to know that Clifford is a writer. One day, he even used to call himself
“Large W”, but recently he gave up. But, nevertheless, we can describe him as a
persistent person while he was struggling for his writing career “for over eighteen
years”. He feels angry because of the fact that his wife had never had writing
abilities or any talent wrote a best-selling book during one year. But still, he
behaves like a real man “Well, his failure wouldn’t be permitted to steal any part
of his wife’s pleasure in her own accomplishment.” He doesn’t want to spoil
anything because of his personal failures. At the end of the story, Clifford finds out
that his wife’s best-seller is actually his own fist manuscript. This founding
changes Clifford. First of all, it makes him believe in his own writing abilities
again. His failure becomes a triumph. It is also shown by his behavior. For
example, the author uses the SD of detachment “Clifford came across the room to
her, smiling”. His actions become confident and persistent “His put his arm
around her and pressed her shoulder firmly but gently”.

Julia is Clifford’s wife who in a year becomes a best-selling author just out of the
blue. From the very beginning of the short story, the reader notices some tensions
between the married couple. First of all, it is understood from Julia’s behavior. The
author uses SD of detachment “a little distantly”. She shows her “superiority”. She
acts aloof. When her husband comes home, she only says “hello” and doesn’t
introduce his husband to the reporters. She sits in the “big chair”, her dress is
“green” symbolizing her success, her voice is “sure”, she is overconfident.
 One of the peculiarities of the analyzed text is the usage of author’s
narrative proper, which means that the narration is carried out from the 3rd
person singular, from the omniscient anonymous narrator. Dialogue as a type of
narration is also present in the text. It imitates the colloquial speech and helps to
characterize the characters. Also, there is example of represented-uttered speech
“How did it seem to go to bed a teller at the Gas Company and to wake up the
husband of a best-selling novelist? Excellent, he told them. Was he going to give
up his job? No, he wasn't. Had he heard the news that "Welcome Tomorrow" was
going to be translated into Turkish? No, he hadn't.” The represented inner speech
is also present in the text “Julia, Clifford sighed. Well, his failure wouldn’t be
permitted to steal any part of his wife’s pleasure in her own accomplishment.”

As for the narrative compositional forms narrative proper, description

portrait and interior are used in the text. Narrative proper presents the unfolding
of the text. As for the interior, we can observe it in the following abstract “The
table was the same. And the old typewriter was the one he had bought before Julia
and he were married. There hadn't been many changes. The fireplace had been re-
bricked. And the radio was a recent gift of Julia’s. And all along the bookcase
were the manuscripts of his novels.” The description of his study helps the reader
understand his character and to understand him as a writer. Due to the narrative
compositional form portrait the reader gets to know about Clifford’s appearance:
“He is of all people, Clifford Oslow, white, 43, a native , of this city and the
husband of...”

As for the stylistic devices all levels are foregrounded. The phono-graphical level
is exploited by an example of onomatopoeia “mumbled”. This case of
onomatopoeia shows an emotional state of one of the protagonists and helps to
characterize him. There are also cases of capitalization “Large W” that shows
Clifford’s attitude to his writing career and his own treatment of his abilities.
Another case of capitalization is the title of the book “Welcome tomorrow” which
becomes extremely important for this short story because it highlights the idea that
the main character Clifford will become successful and will be in triumph.

On the lexical level there are a few examples of SD of metaphor

(personification) such as (noise coming from the living room; his failure wouldn’t
be permitted to steal any part of his wife’s pleasure)

The SDs on the syntactical level are the most frequent. The SD devices such as
detachment and attachment are numerous. The following examples are
detachments: “it seemed to him”; “smiling”, “page against page”; “rising above
the noise”. The following examples are attachments: “Four of them”; “Not too
soon enough”. Also, there are a lot of examples of inversions: “And then she was
gone…”; “And then the women came over…”; “On the second floor…”, “Instead
he sat back…”; Finally, of course, his writing…”; “Rapidly he turned over.”;
“For a long time he sat quietly”. There are examples of polysyndeton “a little
book and a pencil and held them under his nose”; “clear and kindly and very
sure”.

The thematic vocabulary of the short story is book, novel, autograph, manuscript,
to go the round, put pen to paper. As for the key words they are defeat, failure,
accomplishment, triumph. These words reveal the author’s message. The author
says that any person can be successful or not in different periods of their lives. But,
still success isn’t the most important thing. It is important to save good relations
with your nearest and dearest people and to support each other in difficult times.