1) The general character of style

Graham Greene's The End of the Party is the unsettling drama. It can be also described as a tragedy or a
horror fiction, but still the general character of style is gloomy, anxious, and sometimes scary.

2)The genre of the story

It’s a short story.

3)The form of the story

The story is a narration with bits of monologue and dialog and inner represented speech.

4)The type of narration

Taken from his Complete Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an
unnamed narrator. Nevertheless, we also learn what happens through the characters' thoughts and dialogs.

5)The setting of the story

It’s probably the beginning of 1900’s, the fifth of January, the Mortons’ and Henne Falcon’s home.

6)The plot

This story is narrated by a young boy who is observing his twin brother, Francis, as he expresses his
extreme fear of the dark. Francis tries hard to avoid attending a children's party because he knows the plan is to
play hide-and-seek in the dark. He pretends to have a cold, tells his parents and his nanny that he does not want
to go, but is forced to attend anyway. When the lights are turned out for this game, Francis is literally scared to
death. His brother tries to comfort Francis by touching his arm, only to find that was the final unendurable
anguish for his petrified sibling. When the lights are turned back on, the adults find Francis dead.

Introduction: the twins are waking up in their rooms, discussing the dream of Francis

Rising actions: Francis tries not to go to the party

Climax: the game of hide-and-seek in the dark

Falling actions: Peter is looking for his brother to reassure him

Denouement: Francis dies

7)Characterization

Francis Morton and Peter Morton: twins. The first one is afraid of dark, while the second brother
protects him and inspire to struggle his fears. Peter is an elder brother. (main characters, indirect method (Peter
through his deeds, Francis through his thoughts, complex, dynamic characters)

Nurse: takes care of twins, a careless woman. (minor character, direct (The tall starched woman) and
indirect method, simple, static)

Henne Falcon: an elegant woman, who speaks friendly to Francis. She is the mother of Joyce and
Mabel. (minor character, indirect method, simple, static)
 Joyce Warren and Mabel Warren: sisters. Mabel is thirteen years old, and Joyce is eleven years old.
They liked making cruel jokes to Francis and that was one of the reasons why the boy didn’t want to go to the
party. (minor characters, indirect method, simple, static)

8)The Conflict

Francis fears the children at Mrs Henne-Falcon’s party which would play on the idea of an external
conflict and he fears the dark which would suggest an internal conflict. 

The forces in the conflict are usually embodied by characters − the protagonist and the antagonist. The
protagonist is Francis.

9)The theme and the subject

In The End of the Party by Graham Greene we have the theme of fear (phobia), connection (It is also
noticeable that Peter and Francis have a deep connection with one another with Peter being able to sense how
afraid Francis might be. This connection might be helped by the fact that Peter and Francis are twins. It is as
though their connection is innate. Peter throughout the story has an ability to sense what is wrong with Francis )
and innocence (Francis also appears to be somewhat innocent. He tries everything he can to firstly not go to
Mrs Henne-Falcon’s party and secondly when he tries to avoid playing the game of hide and seek. He uses an
excuse that he naively thinks will work. Also, Francis is a religious child ). After reading the story the reader
realizes that Greene may be exploring the theme of fear. Francis is not only afraid of going to Mrs Henne-
Falcon’s children’s party but he is also afraid of the dark.

The bulling and indifference, unawareness of adults can be subjects of this story.

The relationship between genders (Joyce’s and Mabel’s sex humiliated Francis, as they watched him
fumble with his egg, from under lowered scornful lids)

10)Symbolism

Starting the story with mentioning the rain and what it did to the twin brother’s room helps the reader to
understand that the story will be more depressing than happy and exciting.

Foreshadowing: “I dreamed I was dead”, “It’ll be a bad cold if I go to the party, perhaps I shall die”.

11)Stylistic devices and expressive means

Simile: “the children were a flock of chickens”, “he was like an old withered man”, “darkness came
down like the wings of a bat and settled on the landing”

There is also a sense of irony when Peter touches Francis’ face after he finds him. Rather than
reassuring Francis that everything will be alright as Peter had intended. Peter manages to scare Francis to
death. 

Repetition/polysyndeton: “the same hair, the same eyes, the same lips and line of cheek”, “he knew the
cause was only fear, fear of the party, fear of being made to hide by himself in the dark”

Metaphor: “the touch of rain on the windows”, “the minutes flew”, “the yellow circle of her torch wheel
from tree to shrub”, “an island of dark surrounded by the gentle lappings of strange footsteps”, “their shrill
voices pecking at her with questions and suggestions”, “the cascade of whispers”
 Rhetorical questions: “did I?”, "Where, if I were Francis, should I hide?"

Parcellation: “Egg-and-spoon races, spearing apples in basins of water, blind man's buff”, “I looked over
Mrs Henne-Falcon's shoulder. Five o'clock tea. A quarter to six to half past, hide and seek in the dark.”

Anaphor: “God would not allow him to break so solemn an oath… God would manage somehow.”, “ But
they couldn't make him go… But they couldn't make him go to the party”, “Only Joyce, only Mabel Warren.”

Parallel construction: "I'm afraid of going. I won't go. I daren't go. They'll make me hide in the dark, and
I'm afraid of the dark. I'll scream and scream and scream."

Epithet: “the cold confidence”, “scornful gaze”, “a burning panic”

12)The general atmosphere

The atmosphere is despairing in the beginning, dramatic, somehow ironical and tragic in the end.