STARTING POINT. Mr. O’Sullivan states that the story arose primarily
from his foreseeing, in 1915, that one result of the War would be a
revived interest in the supernatural. This foreknowledge illustrates
that the author must be a little ahead of his time, rather than a
little behind it.
The clearness of his prevision is illustrated in such stories as Gordon
Arthur Smith’s “Jeanne the Maid” (1915), Edith Wharton’s “Kerfol”
(1916), Alice Brown’s “The Flying Teuton” (1917), and Frances Wood’s
“The White Battalion” (1918). It would be safe to hazard that these
authors foresaw a similar demand.
TITLE. Meaning of “The Interval”? Is it apt?
SETTING. Why did the author choose London, rather than an American
city? Is it clear from the story alone that Mr. O’Sullivan is
thoroughly familiar with English locale and character?
In the first paragraph occurs the sentence, “A dense haze, gray and
tinged ruddy, lay between the houses, sometimes blowing with a little
wet kiss against the face.” What color effects are in harmony with the
atmosphere of the story?
PLOT. The _struggle_ is in the mind of Mrs. Wilton. She wishes to be
assured that “it was not all over, that he was somewhere, not too far
away,” etc., page 385. The _situation_ is here disclosed, suspense
having been used as to Mrs. Wilton’s purpose in the previous pages.
“This must be the tenth seer she had consulted since Hugh had been
killed,” page 384 is the most revelatory sentence.
Is the struggle successful?
The _initial incident_ is this visit to the clairvoyant who “sees” Hugh.
Which of the incidents constitutes the _dramatic climax_?
“She slipped out of bed hastily ...” (page 390) is the _climax of
action_, or as much as is expressed. The reader must finish it for
himself.
(The final sentence, with seeming carelessness dropping the information
that “after her death the slippers could never be found,” is an
incentive to the reader’s fancy. It has no plot value, except by
_suggestion_.)
Did Hugh really return, or did Mrs. Wilton see him as a logical result
of her brooding? If the former choice is made, the inference is that
the reader accepts Hugh as a bona fide ghost; if the latter, then he
is only existent through the sick-woman’s mind and the mind of the
clairvoyant. (See article, “Representative Ghosts,” _Bookman_, August,
1917.)
DETAILS. Does the author believe the clairvoyant was genuine? If so,
why does he say (page 384), “A look of complicity, of cunning, perhaps
of irony, passed through the dealer’s cynical and sad eyes”?
Are the visitations of Hugh arranged in climactic order?
Is Mrs. Wilton’s illness adequately motivated? What is the double
explanation of it? Do you accept the natural or the supernatural
reason?