Setting The story takes place in Southern California at the Great Riveroak Insurance Company Mabel Jumpstone claims she is from Cricket Creek California which is supposedly up north ID: 139911
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Slide1
Little Old Lady From Cricket CreekSlide2
Setting
The story takes place in
Southern California at the Great
Riveroak
Insurance Company.
Mabel
Jumpstone
claims she is from Cricket Creek, California, which is supposedly up north.
The story is dated because there are no computers and all writing is done on manual typewriters Slide3
Characters
Mabel
Jumpstone
is a 65-year-old secretary.
She is described as resembling an old gray mare the first time we meet her, but she is extremely competent and proves to be a whiz at typing.
She is hired despite her age and in a short time, becomes the most popular employee at the insurance company.
Mabel is a
stereotypical
character because at first, she fits the stereotype as a ‘typical old lady.’
She is also a
round
character because we learn she has several sides to her personality. Slide4
Characters
Ralph Cummings is an associate at the insurance company.
Ralph is also the narrator of the story and we get an insight into everything that happens through him.
Ralph has an active part in hiring Mabel
Jumpstone
and as we later learn, is in on Mabel’s duplicity.
Ralph is a
round
character because he has several sides to his personality. Slide5
Characters
Art Bowen is another associate at Great
Riveroak
Insurance Company.
Art also has an active part in interviewing and hiring Mabel
Jumpstone
, but is not in on her duplicity.
Art is a
flat
character because he is a minor character and we know little about him. Slide6
Point of View
The story is told in the first person point of view
Ralph Cummings is the narrator
Because the story is told through Ralph’s eyes, we as the readers are only given partial information.
What we find out about the other characters and events in the story is limited to what Ralph tells us.
This increases the surprise at the end of the story when we discover that Ralph and Mabel are related. Slide7
Theme
The story is a humorous account of how easy it is to be deceived by appearances.
To begin with, there is the hint of prejudice against hiring such an old employee whom they are sure will only be able to type “ten words a minute.”
Mabel proves them wrong after having gained their trust by playing the part of of the innocent, little old lady, and robs them blatantly.
The narrator’s involvement in the scheme is not made clear until the end of the story
Nothing is what it appears to be in “Little Old Lady from Cricket Creek”Slide8
Irony
Irony is
when the outcome of a situation is inconsistent with what we expect would logically or normally occur. It is the reverse of what we expect will be or happen.
Mabel is deliberately described as a typically “harmless” eccentric old lady.
She does not fit the stereotype of a hardened bank robber, which creates a sense of
irony of character
and adds to the
humour
of the story.