I read a short story called A Shocking Accident by Graham Greene. It tells a story about Jerome whose father dies in an accident. Jerome’s father has been travelling all around the world for a while and therefore Jerome doesn’t really know him but still worships him and thinks that he is some kind of a hero, a member of the British Secret Service or something like that (while he really is a widowed author). One day Jerome’s headmaster asks him to come to his room and tells Jerome that his father is dead. Mr Wordsworth is not used to a situation like this and doesn’t know how to tell about the horrible accident, and he is quite nervous. The dialogue shows that Jerome appreciates the tough and strict headmaster Mr Wordsworth and reacts quite peacefully to the news in front of the head of the school.
The death of Jerome’s father wasn’t normal at all. First Jerome thought he was shot through the heart by some criminals, but the truth is that Jerome’s father was hit by a pig, which fell from a balcony right on him. Jerome is afraid that people would laugh when they hear the unusual way his father died, and that’s why he doesn’t want to tell about it to anyone. He has two telling methods that he rehearses: the first is to go straight to the thing and another trick is to start boringly enough. He thinks these are the ways to reduse the comic of the situation.
When Jerome grows up, he gets married to Sally. And that’s where the problems begin. Jerome doesn’t know how to tell about his father’s death to Sally so that she wouldn’t laugh. He has told her just that his father died in a street accident, and nothing else. Sally hasn’t yet met Jerome’s aunt and Jerome is very afraid of meeting her, because he knows she would tell Sally the truth about the death of his father. And that’s exctly what happens. Sally asks Jerome’s aunt, what really happened and, of course, she tells the truth. What’s surprising, is that Sally doesn’t get angry to Jerome even though he hasn’t told Sally the whole story. In fact, Sally’s reaction to the aunt’s story is exactly the same as Jerome’s: she asks, what happened to the pig. This shows that Jerome and Sally are quite alike and think the same way about the things. There was no need for Jerome to be concerned about Sally’s reaction because he obviously means a lot to Sally and she would never laugh at his sorrow. Sally’s compassion and way to react to Jerome’s aunt’s story brings the young couple closer together and I think their relationship reaches a new level.
What happened to the pig then? I think it didn’t survive from falling down from the fifth floor. I think it died also. And wouldn’t that be just fair given the fact that it actually killed a man itself?
Written by: ki279