Mistaken Interpretation
“The tall man in the blue suit” is the classic identifier of “The Daemon Lover”. He is the sinister and malicious symbol that appears and disappears throughout Shirley Jackson’s collection of stories, “The Lottery and Other Stories”, leaving anyone surrounding him uncomfortable and paranoid. Despite this he always remains a minor character in her writings. Until he is made note of in Shirley Jackson’s story “The Daemon Lover” when the consistent pattern of him vanishing proceeds with him as the unnamed protagonist 's missing fiance. The protagonist wakes on her wedding day and awaits her fiance’s (James Harris’) arrival, but when he doesn 't show she frantically searches the city for him. When she tracks down the building …show more content…
She encounters a man selling newspapers and inquires if he had observed a man wearing a blue suit that morning and the narrator reveals her thoughts, “His smile was knowing and his eyes shifted over her shoulder to the man in the back of her. She was suddenly aware of her over-young print dress, and pulled her coat around her quickly.” Later after she asks a florists the same question and he becomes frustrated and responds with a nasty tone we are pulled into her thoughts again, “Everyone thinks its so funny: and she pulled her coat tighter around her, so that only the ruffle around the bottom of the print dress was showing.” As her interrogations of possible witnesses proceed we discover that she has no problem badgering people with questions it is only when they show annoyance and start questioning her that she becomes defensive and anxious. “The unnamed protagonist senses the mocking air of the people who talk to her. They change their responses and attitudes as conversations progress. Those people sense, mirror and stir up the protagonist 's anxieties.” (Chiho) Jackson utilizes secondary characters to trigger the protagonist’s defensive side and unveil anxious habits and paranoia that everyone is against her.
“The daemon lover”, characters in the setting, and the protagonist’s misinterpretations all unite
“The tall man in the blue suit” is the classic identifier of “The Daemon Lover”. He is the sinister and malicious symbol that appears and disappears throughout Shirley Jackson’s collection of stories, “The Lottery and Other Stories”, leaving anyone surrounding him uncomfortable and paranoid. Despite this he always remains a minor character in her writings. Until he is made note of in Shirley Jackson’s story “The Daemon Lover” when the consistent pattern of him vanishing proceeds with him as the unnamed protagonist 's missing fiance. The protagonist wakes on her wedding day and awaits her fiance’s (James Harris’) arrival, but when he doesn 't show she frantically searches the city for him. When she tracks down the building …show more content…
She encounters a man selling newspapers and inquires if he had observed a man wearing a blue suit that morning and the narrator reveals her thoughts, “His smile was knowing and his eyes shifted over her shoulder to the man in the back of her. She was suddenly aware of her over-young print dress, and pulled her coat around her quickly.” Later after she asks a florists the same question and he becomes frustrated and responds with a nasty tone we are pulled into her thoughts again, “Everyone thinks its so funny: and she pulled her coat tighter around her, so that only the ruffle around the bottom of the print dress was showing.” As her interrogations of possible witnesses proceed we discover that she has no problem badgering people with questions it is only when they show annoyance and start questioning her that she becomes defensive and anxious. “The unnamed protagonist senses the mocking air of the people who talk to her. They change their responses and attitudes as conversations progress. Those people sense, mirror and stir up the protagonist 's anxieties.” (Chiho) Jackson utilizes secondary characters to trigger the protagonist’s defensive side and unveil anxious habits and paranoia that everyone is against her.
“The daemon lover”, characters in the setting, and the protagonist’s misinterpretations all unite