The Conclusion to the Following Stories All Have a Twist-in-the-Tale. Selecting Two Only, Explain How This Happens and Which You Believe to Be the Most Unexpected.

The conclusion to the following stories all have a twist-in-the-tale. Selecting TWO only, explain how this happens and which you believe to be the most unexpected.

A twist-in-the-tale is a technique used in literature to change plot in stories, give it an unexpected ending, and surprise the readers. Telling Stories and A Family Man are obvious examples of this. What they have in common, is the flow of the plot and the changing of perspectives. Both of the stories created the effect by giving out limited information through swapping point of views of the characters and mislead the readers. By then, suspension in plot could be created and the writer could give the story a twist-in-the-tale. We would now discuss the use of the technique in the chosen two stories in detail.

The entire Telling Stories was told in a third person narration, yet restricted to only one single viewpoint. By not using omniscient narration, the writer had locked us into either Irene or Andrew’s emotions at different times so we can only read his or hers mind and cannot have a full picture of the situation. At the beginning, the story was told in Irene’s perspective, telling us how she has been jilted by Andrew at the night right before the wedding and how she had lost her “dignity”. Irene’s “face never moved at all” and had covered all her emotions cleverly. “Her unexpected gentleness” had gained her with reader’s sympathy and made Andrew not so honorable. Then, the perspective had switched to Andrew so that we could see how Irene was “hurt” by Andrew’s inconsiderate words which had intensified the resentment of readers towards Andrew. Most importantly, Irene’s mind and plan then becomes ambiguous to us. The readers and Andrew together have no idea what Irene truly wants. Finally, the point of view had switched back to Irene and that we finally know what Irene’s tactic was and why she acted so calmly earlier before. This had surprised poor Andrew who has been tricked by Irene and had...