As the story unfolds, we are made aware of the fact that a strange woman is following Mr. Blake. At this point the author has given us little about the man and his personality. With this in mind, the reader is positioned to take a defensive approach to Blake. He is the victim. Why is this woman following him? What does she want with him? He is scared for his life. It is amazing to think that she can harm him in such a way that he would regret it for the rest of his life. Not until later do we discover that he took advantage of this woman and her defenselessness. Or so he thought.

It is apparent by now that she wasn't the only one that he took advantage of. The following sentence suggests that there were many others before her. "Most of the many women he had known had been picked for their lack of sel

Louise Blake was an unexpected surprise and a twist in the story as well. There was definitely something wrong with Mr. Blake. He was a married man - an unhappy married man, but nevertheless, married. Obviously, family life was not a priority in his daily schedule and his wife was more of a burden than a responsibility. The true hatred of his personality finally showed its ugly head. The man was filth. Not only for his treatment of Louise, but for all the things he stood for. A real mid-life crisis had enveloped Mr. Blake. Could he have seen it coming? Would he have cared? Was he not aware of the terrible life he was leading and the hardship he brought his family? Something had to give.

He deserves what it is coming to him. He has been aware from the beginning that he was praying on these helpless women. What gave him the right to reduce their self-respect to dirt? Now, it was time for him to feel the shame that he delivered to these women. Should he have been killed because of the repugnancy he stood for? Well, the reader is prepared to think so. He was very close to make it happen for himself. All he had to do is hear Miss Dent's feelings for him and his life would be spared. We are made aware that she's not all together in her head throughout the whole story, but we also realize that she was human. She had feelings for him, mainly because he shared that moment with her. Aside from that, she wanted to let him know that she felt sorry for him.

Aside from the colorful characters we are introduced to and to the way the story is being told, we must take a deeper look into this man's inner self and try to understand how does his behavior apply to all men. It is my belief that he was lying to himself the whole time. What I mean to say is that he knew deep down inside that he was

Some common words found in the essay are:
John Cheever, Miss Dent, Louise Blake, Miss Dent's, Shaddy Hill, , throughout story, miss dent, john cheever,
Approximate Word count = 1225
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)