The desire to escape, to free oneself from confinement or control, emerges in the short story "Scene" by William Dean Howells, where the real tragedy of a suicide victim appears secondary to the importance of the diversion it creates for the characters involved: the Contributor and the inhabitants of the Irish town. Through “Scene,” Howells conveys the concept of escape, in its various expressions, as an integral part of life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The idea of ​​escape makes an immediate appearance. The title of the story implies a place or setting where an incident, real or imagined, may or has occurred. The use of a single word for the title, without a definite article to anchor it to a specific event, or an adjective to determine the quality or tone of the scene, implies freedom of interpretation. In the first paragraph of the story, the residents of a poor Irish coastal town welcome any escape from the reality of their daily lives. Howells describes their “little Irish houses standing miserably on the flats ankle-deep, as it were, in little tidal pools” (Howells 190). By using personification, Howells binds the residents to the limitations of their environment. The people, like the houses, seem miserable not only in their dilapidated appearance but also in their mood. Just as houses remain stuck “ankle-deep” (190) in the remains of tidal water, their inhabitants seem trapped by the circumstances of their lives, their freedom restricted. References to “broken fences,” “vacant lots,” and “insulted signs [that] forbade them from entering without permission” (190) reinforce the poverty and banality of their existence where even defaced signs prohibit exploration. and the escape. A young girl escapes her world by drowning, a resident remarks: “It was the best thing she could do” (190). Not only could the reason for her suicide have made life unbearable in such a closed society, but it would have simply saved her from a boring existence. The news of his tragic death and the intention to recover the victim's body promise to make people forget the bleakness of life for the townspeople. Howells describes “a strange movement of people in the streets” (190). The words “strange restlessness” imply unusual interest and activity. The “flight” (190) of children through the streets and the “beating” (190) of women coming and going reinforce this activity; verbs suggesting a lightness of mind generated by welcome distraction. As the title of the story indicates, people prepare to observe a scene, in this case the discovery of the body of a young girl. The event provides an opportunity to escape the bleakness of their daily lives. Howells provides another example of escapism through the character of the contributor. Unlike the townspeople, the writer initially avoids the reality of the dismal Irish town and the growing interest of its inhabitants. Immersing himself in the beauty of the autumn morning, "the contributor advanced along the street, luminous on either side with purple and yellowing maples, he was so filled with the tender serenity of the scene that he did not allow himself to be disturbed by the spectacle". (190). The contributor focuses on the surrounding maple trees and the different shades of their dark red and yellow foliage made even brighter in the sun. A feeling of “tender serenity”, of sweet peace, created by his vision, serves to distract the contributor so as not to be “disturbed”, inconvenienced or emotionally disturbed by “the spectacle” of this poor cityIrish. The word “spectacle” implies a performance, which in turn places the writer as a spectator, removed from the real events around him. The fact that only a "sense", (190) a partial awareness of the increasing noise and movement around him "penetrated", (190) forcefully pierced his consciousness implies how successfully he has emotionally withdrawn from reality. The very length of the story's second sentence, at fourteen lines, suggests not only the increasing activity and chaos on the street, but also the contributor's gradual awareness of the scene as she enters his conscience. His imagination offered him a perfect diversion, a perfect escape from real circumstances. Like the townspeople, once aware of the young girl's suicide, the contributor seems to distance himself, thus escaping the true facts and emotions of the event. Howells mocks how "this literary soul immediately set about inventing a romantic story for suicide, in the pitiful manner of that age of fiction" (191). The expressions "fallen at once" and "caught up" suggest not only the haste with which he must create his fiction, but also his attempt to bring together the required elements of a romantic story, as his readers demand. He evaluates the events in terms of setting and character, finding both disappointing. The bleak setting of the Irish town repels the Romantic writer because it had “so little connection with the French roofs and modern improvements of the comfortable Charlesbridge he knew” (191). The contributor would prefer a more refined setting for his story, something more engaging for his readers who also want to escape. Assuming that the young girl died in shame, after having succumbed to seduction, the contributor reluctantly describes her character as “the fallen woman” (191) whom he describes as “a very tiring figure for the imagination” (191 ). Obviously, the overuse of this character type in literature has rendered him useless. The Fallen Woman “was a heartbreaking spectacle” (191) but seemed “an inevitability” (191) that she was “the main character of this little scene” (191). The words "show" and "scene" distance the contributor from that of a spectator evaluating a drama, while the adjective "small" sums up his almost indifference to the tragedy of the real situation: the death, not of a "character main, » but of a young girl. The contributor's disappointment and insensitivity toward the actual facts of the scene reduce him to a mere "spectator awaiting entertainment, with a slight inclination to be critical" (191). With the earlier use of “spectacle” and “scene,” the word “spectator” once again distances the contributor from true involvement in the scene. By romanticizing reality, the contributor and his readers seek to escape the unpleasantness of life. As the contributor creates more details for their story and the residents' anticipation increases with the discovery of the girl's body, their escape deepens. Howells describes how "through the motley crowd, not so much a cry as a feeling of 'They found her, they found her!' and then the terrible and picturesque fact: “She was standing up!” » » (191). The word “motley” emphasizes the ordinariness of the crowd, thus making the details of its discovery more exciting for them. The use of exclamation points, coupled with the word “sensation,” captures the buzz that spreads through the crowd as they view the vivid image of the victim standing in the mud. Her position suggests a final challenge to the nobles who would have shunned her had she lived. However, his escape remains incomplete.?