Short Story Contents Of A Dead Man's Pockets

Have you ever had a near death experience before? In “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pockets”, Tom Benecke is working while his wife was out,when his most important paper flies out his office window and he has to retrieve it. He climbs out the window and looks down at the streets eleven stories below him. Tom manages to retrieve his paper and make it back to his window, only to find out that it is shut. Then, he thinks about what he values in life, which gives him enough adrenaline to punch through the window, put his paper back on his desk, and run to his wife. While he was walking out he turned and saw the same paper fly back out the window, Tom simply laughed and kept walking. In “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pockets” by Jack Finney, conflict and setting impact the story in a great matter and it gives the reader anticipation of what is going to happen to Tom. …show more content…
In the text, the author says, “He saw a sheet of white paper drifting toward the window…..He saw the yellow paper drop to the window ledge and slide over out of sight” (Finney 112). This quote shows that the yellow paper is really important to Tom and he doesn't want to lose it. Now that they yellow paper has flown out the window Tom has to figure out how to retrieve it (113). The yellow paper is of great significance to Tom and he needs to retrieve it. Tom is struggling to find something in his apartment long enough to reach it. The conflict in this story is that the yellow paper, that Tom values, had flown out the window and Tom cannot reach it. Now he has to find a way to retrieve