Old Mr Marblehall
...Then a twist appears when we find out about Mr Marblehall’s double life. The conflict of the story is introduced here, though with somewhat less emphasis than we would have expected. The narrator simply didn’t seem to want to shock or surprise us. Instead, as if on cue and in continuity with the previous pattern of descriptions, he goes on to tell us about Mr ‘Bird’s’ other house, Mrs Bird and Mrs Bird’s son, and the story arc continues in a gentle upward slope. Then suddenly, the story picks up speed and launches into the climax where the narrator describes an imaginary scene where Mr Marblehall’s other son finds out about his duplicity and the truth is finally out. Here the narrator speaks from Mr Marblehall’s point of view—he speculates with relish about the possible consequences and reactions the truth can elicit. Even then, the climax is hardly a startling one. In fact it seems a little vague and distant, perhaps because it hasn’t yet happened and is still a fiction of Mr Marblehall’s own imagination. Finally, the conclusion comes as an anticlimax of the story. Mr Marblehall’s fervent anticipation of the sensational and melodramatic revelation of his secret manifests itself in his thoughts and pinings we hear through the voice of the narrator. But Mr Marblehall may die without ever having the satisfaction of astounding the world with his secret, and the story ends with the recognition of this irony. In a sense the structure of the story reflects the content of Mr Marblehall’s life. Initially, it proceeds without an immediate purpose, revealing more and more information which seems irrelevant to the development of the plot. This is paralleled to Mr Marblehall living out his two lives in a seemingly aimless manner, by merely killing time. But in fact, like the information in the story serves a purpose and that is to eventually lead to a sort of imaginery climax, Mr Marblehall too is purposeful in the passing of his time. He is like a child saving money in a piggy bank hoping to one day buy himself a big present with the accumulated lump sum. The sole purpose of his existence, which is revealed only at the end, is to eventually have his secret exposed. The longer it is kept the greater the satisfaction he will reap from its revelation. Welty makes the story more intimate and interesting by his intermittent use of direct speech....