“Mabel” is a short story by one of the best known English writers of the 20 th century.

The
story is written in 1924 and depicts history of the couple.

Mabel is a main character of the story, she does not appear as an active one, but the whole
plot is about her. She is a round character as she changes though the story. She is described as
a strong, independent and stubborn woman who knows what she wants and does everything
to reach the goal. George seems to be one of the main characters, because the story is about
him as well, he appears as an active character for a while but his personality is not visible. He
is a round character. George is described as a weak person, who is not able to tell his lover
the truth and the only thing he does is running away.

Secretary is another main character of the story because he is a narrator of couple’s

adventure. He is a flat character and does not change through the story.

The story has a nonlinear structure. The plot does not follow the chronological order.
Secretary who is a narrator of George’s adventure tells the story that refers to the past events.

The exposition of the story lies in the opening paragraph. The initial action takes place in
Pagan, in Burma. The narrator of the story is travelling to Mandalay. He meets George and
the secretary in the club.

Rising action of the story reveals when George and Mabel decides to get married and they
meet each other seven years later. George realizes that seven-year-separation is a long time,
he seems afraid of meeting his lover again, because he does not remember Mabel anymore. In
this case George faces the inner conflict. He is indecisive and wants to escape from upcoming
marriage: “Then, suddenly, without warning, he was afraid. He had not seen Mabel for seven
years. He felt a terrible sinking in his stomach, and his knees began to shake. He couldn’t do
it. But how could a man tell a girl a thing like that when she had been expecting to marry
him for seven years and had come 6,000 miles to do it?”

George’s internal conflict becomes more visible when he arrives Singapore and realizes that
Mabel was following him. It is a preceding event of the climax. The climax of the story is
Mabel’s appearance in one of the Chinese cities: “Mabel stepped out. She was neat and calm
and fresh. George was turned to stone. He was as pale as death. “

The resolution of the story reveals at the end of the story, when Mabel wants to get married
as soon as possible: “I’m ready to marry him as soon as I’ve had a bath.” At the end, Mabel
meets her aim, for which she used all her energy and power.

As far as I am concerned, the couple has external conflict as well, as the circumstances and
era are working against them. When they decided to get married, one difficulty came after
another: “Mabel’s father died, the war came, George was sent to an area unsuitable for a
white woman — so that in the end it was seven years before she was able to start.” The
separation and alienation were caused by the events progressing independently, without
their interference that finally had a great influence on their life.

The tone of the story is dramatic as well as cheerful, because story has a happy ending. The
author uses following literary devices: simile: “I’m like a lost dog without her”. “as pale as
death.” Metaphor: “he was turned into stone.” “Tall man, browned by the sun”.
“The Barber’s Uncle” is a short story by great American dramatist and author William
Saroyan.

The main character and the protagonist of the story is a little boy who is a narrator as well.
The boy is described as open-minded who has great creativity and is thinking about the
events and world around him. He seems to be round character as his attitude towards the
events changes though the story.

Another main character of the story is Aram, the barber. He is an Armenian man with a
great talent of storytelling. Despite the fact that Aram is not a professional barber, he is
described as a good man, for whom money does not matter and the only thing he loves is
speaking with people and telling them interesting stories. Aram is a static character because
he is not changing though the story but plays an important role because he tells the
adventure of his uncle.

Other main character of the story is Misak, the barber’s uncle. He is not an active character,
he is dead, but the majority of story is about his life. He was a wild man, who loved
adventures and had traveled to many countries. He is a dynamic character as he changes
though the story. There are other characters in the story brother Krikor and Miss Gamma,
who seem to be stock characters.

The story has a nonlinear structure. Exposition of the story reveals when the boy decides to
have a haircut. Rising action comes when he goes to the barber. When Aram starts telling
the story of his poor uncle all the tension escalate and reach the climax of the plot. When
barber finishes his work as well as telling the story is the falling action. Finally, after hearing
the poor life of this miserable man, the boy’s distinguished attitude towards the surrounding
events is the resolution of the story.

There is the external conflict in the story. Conflict between man and society seems to be the
main idea of the story. The little boy with the unusual appearance was told to get a haircut
for many times. Despite the fact that the boy was satisfied with his looks, he was criticized by
the society: “Miss Gamma said I needed a haircut, my mother said I needed a haircut, my
brother Krikor said I needed a haircut: the whole world wanted me to get a haircut”. The boy
was mocked and criticized after the haircut as well: “My brother Krikor said he had never
seen such a bad haircut before”.

The tone of the story is dramatic as it depicts the sad story of the poor man. The mood seems
to be partly humorous as well as sentimental.