The Big H Tells All
The short story "The Big H Tells All" is an account of how a man named Edgar rises to small town fame by becoming the host of a local talk show. This show is the most popular thing on television to the townsfolk, and the demanding viewing audience can be rather ruthless at times. The other characters in the story consist of the local talk show guests: a nine-year-old girl named Karla with a puppet act, a fire fighter/humorist named Danny, and the Ritters, a couple known around town for their weekend spent at a sex clinic. Other characters are only mentioned and are not all that important to the plot, except for the references to the past host of the show, Mrs. Donna Reeves. Though only referred to, she plays a larger part than the others, although that fact is not apparent until the last paragraph. Also on the show are community events, public service announcements, local talent, and the like. The setting is placed in the television studio itself, and all of the action takes place here as well.The tale is told from Edgar's point of view: how he became the host, how he feels about the guests, and how he plans to ensure the keeping of his job. The symbolism and imagery that Edgar perceives around him molds him into the
Edgar then moves from Danny to Betty and Mal Ritter, a couple he can depend on to waste any available time left on the show. Mal immediately begins to play his saxophone (a fine instrument indeed), lowering the volume of his playing so that Edgar may make a few public service announcements. Betty then takes the microphone from him and announces that time is up, tells the audience what to expect next week, and the show ends. As the ending credits roll, Edgar hands his guests the sponsor's gift pack which consists of a dust ruffle and a coupon for 10% off at the next Sheetworld Moonlight Madness Sale. Danny the firefighter acts both "surprised and pleased although he has often complained that the wage isn't worth his troubles." This fact is contradictory to what Edgar says about the job being small change, he does it for the attention. Once again, the reader is confronted with little Karla, who is bouncing Krinkle's rubber-ball head on the floor. Obviously, Krinkles the Clown is out of business and the audience can expect yet another replacement. Other characters, such as Danny Klang, a local firefighter, offer little to the story. However, the reader is offered a small amount of insight when Danny criticizes the show as being a dead episode. Edgar turns from the viewing audience to address the reading audience, telling how he welcomes the criticism as the viewers will no doubt side with him. This is due to the fact that Danny is the man they love to hate. This seems to contradict the pressures Edgar must feel as the host: he cannot afford a love-hate relationship with the audience, for he must always be the hero of the show in the eyes of the audience, as anything else would signal the end of his career. The rest of the characters are interesting only to the make-believe people in the make-believe town. These other characters, such as Karla, a nine-year-old girl with a puppet act, exist only to fill the time needed between the 'segments' of the show pertaining to Edgar. If the reader was to skip the sections of the story containing these characters' 'time slots,' the story of Edgar, how he came to be, how he is at present, and how he intends to stay would remain intact. However, the fact that Karla's normal puppet "slept too close to a frying pan and kind of melted" seems to forecast what m
Some common words found in the essay are:
Due Edgar's, Donna Sleeves, Love Dreams, Donna Reeves, Danny Klang, Mal Ritter, , Krinkles Clown, Sale Danny, Danny Ritters, local talk, karla's normal puppet, viewing audience, public service, requests recipes, telling reader, puppet act, krinkles clown, normal puppet, public service announcements, karla's normal, audience expect,
Approximate Word count = 1568
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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