The Watcher

A detailed Summary of The Watcher

The story "The Watcher", written in 1982, is a short story set in 1959. The narrator, "the watcher" first starts off by summarising his childhood and by describing his family to give us a clear view of the whole situation, his surroundings. The narrator's characterizations about his family are critical. He explains how they are not the most honourable family. They seemed pretty ill mannered for they cursed a great deal. This short story illustrates how a family like this deals with their issues.

The narrator suffered from a bad chest and so this short story shows how a boy who cannot go out much lives his life. He first lived with his mother and father with no television and did not go to school for he was too sick to do so. As a result of this, he would busy himself at home by watching his family, starring at people outside the window and would analyze their every move. During these early paragraphs, the narrator did not seem to lead a life of his own yet revolved it around other people by always observing and analyzing them and this continued during the whole story. The boy did not seem to be an ordinary eleven year old that would perhaps play outside with friends or use his imagination to create his own fun. That

child did not appear to know how to go about doing so; however, he was talented in his own way. That youngster would make amazing examinations about the people surrounding him. My view about the narrator does not change much in the course of the story. He still gives the impression of being that "different" child who does not really live a life like an average boy.

As soon as the narrator and his crude grandmother met (at her farm), she made it clear from the start that she would take no nonsense from him, like she never did with all her other children. This straightaway made it practically clear what kind of character she was going to hold in the story. She was a harsh old lady who did not seem to be sympathetic in any way.

My opinions about Aunt Evelyn were that she was a stylish (showed up with high heels and fashionable clothes), sensitive young lady who suffered from anxiety attacks. She did not seem to have a dominant personality yet rather a person who could be pushed to do what other people wanted her to do and by the end of it all, she would loose her temper. My views on Thomas were completely different. Thomas seemed to have a strong personality. He did not budge when told to leave the narrator's grandmother's house. This suggests that he was somewhat arrogant and had a lot of confidence in him, like for example, he would feel free to look through the refrigerator when he wanted something to eat even though it was clear he was not welcomed- the fact that there was no plate on the table was a sign; however, that apparently did not seem to bother him much. He would talk to the narrator Charlie, trying to make him an ally for he may have felt a bit lonely and also since no one was on his side, well at least the grandmother was not, he may have felt that as having the boy as his friend, he could get back at her mentally. The narrator knew what Evelyn did during the day for he was a "watcher". He would observe her thoroughly and noticed bruises on her thigh, so therefore he knew Thomas beat her. The evening Thomas did that, Evelyn came down in shorts. This tells us more about her character, that she wanted people to know what hap

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Charlie Stanley, Aunt Evelyn, Thomas Evelyn, Robert Thomas, Grandma Bradley, short story, suffered bad, aunt evelyn, robert thomas, feel free, story boy, thomas evelyn, grandmother father,

Approximate Word count = 1462
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English