Structure

The events in the short story “I Spy” by Graham Greene take place over an hour or less, in the same setting. 

The story begins in medias res, in the middle of the events, with Charlie sneaking out of bed to steal a few cigarettes from his father’s tobacco shop. The story has a circular structure. At the start of the narrative, Charlie is in bed, waiting for his mother to fall asleep. (p. 40, ll. 1-2). At the end, he is back in his bed, “alone in the house with his mother” (p. 42, l. 30). However, something has changed in Charlie’s feelings towards his father. At the beginning, Charlie is convinced that he does not love his father (p. 40, ll. 18-19) and uses it to justify his theft. However, at the end, he acknowledges that he does, indeed, love his father (p. 42, ll. 28-29).

There are several elements of foreshadowing in the s...