The man risks his life as he crawls out onto the ledge to grab the piece of paper and gets stuck outside. The writing was superb, freely like I was out there on the ledge with him. . The second date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. Then Tom catches is balance. Chicago Bibliography Course Hero.
Insisting that he must finish the work that he has spent a month compiling, Benecke allows his wife to leave alone. The emergence of pulp magazines coincided with rising literacy rates in the United States and Britain beginning in the 1900s. He goes to join his wife at the movies: he has learned his lesson. Other American writers, such as Arthur Miller, developed similar themes. He panics when the paper flies out the window. It was easy for people to quickly identify publications such as Amazing Stories , Jungle Stories , New Love Magazine , Saucy Stories , Weird Tales , and Mammoth Mystery as pulp magazines because of their colorful and often lurid cover art. The paper is out on the ledge, and Tom has to decide whether or not to go out on the ledge to retrieve it.
Their marriage emerges in the story as an important part of his life that he neglects in the interest of advancing his position at work. Tom must literally balance on a ledge to come to understand the importance of balancing his own priorities in life. The paper's content has assumed such importance for Tom that when it floats out his living room window, he feels unable to imagine working without it. While he has on some level sensed all along that he has misplaced his values, his precarious situation places that realization front and center. Half-squatting now, he dropped his left hand to the next indentation and then slowly reached with his right hand toward the paper between his feet. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates.
His observations of others in their apartments enjoying the security he has trivialized—until now, as he ponders his own death— highlight further what his ambition has put in jeopardy. Tom Benecke burst into laughter and then closed the door behind him. It catches nobody's attention. At the beginning of the story, work dominates Tom's life. The letters he burns come presumably from people of little significance to his life. Half-squatting now, he dropped his left hand to the next indentation and then slowly reached with his right hand toward the paper between his feet. In the end, though, I thanked him.
Next Tom shuffles along the ledge 11 stories above the street toward the paper. He is to far up for anyone to see him and a fall would mean instant death. It wasn't just the hackneyed, though true, "treasure-the-moment" injunction; there was something in it, as there is in all high places, about eternity. The sheet of paper symbolizes for him the misplaced values with which he has lived his life. An acrophobe myself, this story had me shaking; I determined that I would drown the author in ink if he did what I thought he would. She frames her objections lovingly; rather than complain about his lack of attentiveness to her, she points out Tom's self-denial of simple pleasures, such as going to the movies.
What a marvelous short story! He neglects his wife Clare and his life around him, focusing on his job at Wholesale Groceries. Narrator Tom realizes that if he falls to his death, the only thing in his pockets will be the unreadable notes for his plan to advance at work. These publications were the "poor cousins" of more respectable periodicals such as Collier's , Good Housekeeping , McCall's , and Family Circle. Along with those moments, there are more provoking objects that stay longer and plant themselves deeper than a memory ever could. A gripping suspense story about a man who gets trapped on the ledge of a 11-story building. If he lost, not even his wife would understand. He begins to make his perilous way back along the ledge, only then realizing that the paper is actually in his hand; he puts it between his teeth and continues toward his apartment window, nearly falling several times.
I never forgot this story. Instead, he lets his drive for material gain override all else, placing himself in peril by going out onto the ledge to retrieve his "valuable" notes. Narrator This is another instance in which Finney abruptly startles both Tom and the reader. All that he has with him is the yellow sheet of paper with its incomprehensible writing. See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. Testing the window glass first with a coin and then the heel of his shoe, Tom realizes the window will not break easily.
Pulp authors who built respected literary careers include Americans Jack Finney, Edgar Rice Burroughs 1875—1950 , Raymond Chandler 1888—1959 , H. The second is the date of publication online or last modification online. This shows a real dilemma, lose two months of work and the potential for grand career advancement with a moderate? Calmer but unable to move, Tom shouts for help, but no one will hear, he knows. The photocopy machine did not appear in offices until the 1960s. Movies based on Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan series, which was first published in a pulp magazine in 1912, have graced the silver screen at least 65 times since 1918. He feels that all this extra work will help him rise to the top level at his company, which is where he wants to be.