Jan Stewart Alviar

9 - Pearl
Leisure Reading Report No. 1
I. Title: Sorry Wrong Number
II. Author: Lucille Fletcher
III. Reference: Inspired by an incident from someone else's life
IV. Characters:
1. Sergeant Duffy - the disinterested and apathetic Sergeant.
2. George - a contract killer who harbors no remorse for his victims.
3. Hospital Receptionist Seeking medical assistance and company for the night,
Mrs. Stevenson gets in touch with the hospital receptionist at Henchley Hospital.
4. Elbridge Stevenson - the husband of Mrs. Stevenson and the suspected
mastermind behind the murder.
5. Mrs. Stevenson - is an invalid who is bed-ridden due to an unspecified illness
or condition. She referred to as a querulous, self-centered neurotic. She is also
agitated, demanding, and panicked.
6. Chief Operator - is the manager of the plane service. Delivery boy- appears
when Mrs. Stevenon telephones
7. First Operator - that Mrs. Stevenson talks to attempts to help Mrs Stevenson
get through to Mr Stevenson's office.
8. Second Operator- this second operator attempts to call Mr Stevenson's office,
but the line is busy.
9. Third Operator- is described as young and sweet.
10. Fourth Operator- takes Mrs Stevenson's call responds by honoring her
request to call Mr Stevenson's business office.
11. Fifth Operator - the fifth and last operator is described as being legorthic
12. Western Union operator - calls Mrs. Stevenson to read the telegram that her
husband has sent.
13. Miss Philips - is the nurse who the hospital receptionist Hospital receptionist-
she is under orders not to send out any nurse to private homes.
V. Vocabulary:
1. Nervous - worried or slightly frightened
Original sentence: My health is very poor and I’ve been feeling so nervous all
day.
Own sentence: Maria is nervous about her job interview.
2. Awful - very bad or unpleasant
Original sentence: Oh! How awful!
Own sentence: They heard the most awful sounds at the forest.
3. Dreadful - behaving strangely
Original sentence: I was cut into a wrong number and I've just heard the most
dreadful thing.
Own sentence: Alfred told me a dreadful story.
4. Apprehend - to catch and arrest someone
Original sentence: Now, I want to trace that call it's my civic duty and it's your
civic duty to trace that call and apprehend those dangerous killers.
Own sentence: Although Bren tried to resist arrest, he was soon apprehended.
5. Idiotic - very stupid
Original sentence: You mean to tell me I can't report there's going to be a
murder, without getting tied up in all this red tape? Why it's perfectly idiotic!
Own sentence: Seah said some idiotic things.
6. Ridiculous - extremely silly or unreasonable
Original sentence: Ridiculous! Never heard of such nonsense!
Own sentence: Thalia looks ridiculous in that outfit.
7. Unnerved - upset
Original sentence: Well, it's unnerved me dreadfully and I'm not well.
Own sentence: I lie down on the bed feeling a little unnerved.
8. Invalid - disabled by illness or injury
Original sentence: I'm an invalid, you know and it's the maid's night off and I hate
to be alone even though he says.
 Own sentence: I hate being treated as an invalid.
9. Drastic - acting rapidly or violently
Original sentence: I feel you ought to do something more immediate and drastic
than just check the call.
Own sentence: She was so brokenhearted after the breakup that she considered
taking drastic measures to win him back.
10. Spiteful - to a desire to inflict a wrong or injury on someone
Original sentence: Oh, you’re being spiteful aren’t you!
Own sentence: It was very spiteful of her to do that.
VI. Setting:
New York, New York is the city in which the play is set. It is the location of the
Queensboro Bridge, Mrs. Stevenson's bedroom, Murray Hill, and Second Avenue.
VII. Summary:
Sorry, Wrong Number” tells the story of Mrs. Stevenson who had been invalid for
twelve years. Mr. Stevenson had always been at her bedside and served her. But that
was her maid’s night off and her husband had been working late in his office. She had
been trying to contact him herself for the last forty-five minutes. But she grew impatient
and asked the operator to try it for her. The telephone rang three times and the receiver
was picked up at the other end. Mrs. Stevenson heard two males speaking without
responding to her. The first man told the second man George to kill a woman with a
knife and take away the jewelry to look like a simple robbery. The woman lived on
Second Avenue near a bridge. Mrs. Stevenson was nervous and dialed the operator
again to find the call she heard by chance over the telephone. She asked him to find out
the wrong number which he could not find. She was highly nervous and sought the help
of the chief operator. He replied that it was possible to find out only the live call, not the
disconnected one. She then telephoned the police. She felt that it was her civic duty to
save the innocent woman. But the police took no interest in her. Sergeant Duffy said
that her clue was not enough to find out the murderer. He added that if she felt that her
life was in danger they could do something for her. She replied that she was safe. She
was growing restless. Just then she got the telegram message through the phone that
Mr. Stevenson had to go to Boston on an urgent job and that he would be back the
following afternoon. She was more afraid. She felt that she would be killed. She phoned
a hospital to send a trained nurse to be with her because her condition was extremely
bad. The hospital promised to send one. But she grew more terrified and phoned the
police. Just then a subway train crossed the bridge. George came in and killed her. The
phone rang. Sergeant Duffy was speaking. George replied to him that he was sorry
because it was the wrong number.
VIII. Moral of the Story:
It is a story of just how badly errors in communication can turn it out. Its main
literary device is dramatic irony, in which the audience knows more about the
protagonist's plight than she does. The story also includes the isolation and the
importance of politeness. In this lesson, I learned that you should never trust someone
strange and also never go communicate with other people you don't know because you
have no idea of what it might lead us to. Always remember what they say, "Don’t talk to
strangers".
IX. Conclusion:
The story ends when the police ask about the nature of the caller's emergency.
The killer picks up the phone, explains that he's fine, and says that he never meant to
dial the police. He apologizes for dialing a wrong number and hangs up.
X. Photocopy of the Story: