Short+Story+Analysis

The mood of the setting in “The Interlopers” is very clearly portrayed. H.H. Munro gives the story a tense, spooky feeling. Munro writes of the forest, “it was the most jealously guarded of all its owner’s territorial possessions (190).” This sentence sets a sort of tension for the setting. Whoever owns this property is envied. Everyone who does not own the property wants it and will do anything to get it. This presents a conflict between the humans of the story who fight for the property. It presents tension between characters. The spookiness is also portrayed early on in the story. “…the whistling and skirling of the wind and the restless beating of the branches…” This sentence personifies the winds and the branches. The wind is whistling and making spooky noises as it blows. The branches are beating in the wind as if they are angry. This is written to give the reader an idea of the creepiness that the sounds of the forest give. That, along with the tension is the mood given in the setting.
 * Short Story Analysis **