Structure

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Beginning

The short story begins in medias res, or in the middle of things.

The exposition is fairly brief. It introduces the setting and the main characters of the short story as the narrator begins to describe the events. The story opens with the narrator waiting at her kitchen table after supper. She has been waiting with the lights off for over an hour, anticipating that her neighbor will come out of his house to look in th…

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Middle

The rising action begins when the neighbor exits his house. Once she spots him, the narrator impatiently calls out for her partner. Vern warns her not to get too close to the window. The narrator reveals that Vern always says that because he is embarrassed about watching. However, he enjoys spying on his neighbor. Therefore, ironically, both Vern and the narrator engage in voyeuristic activities.

Through a backstory, the narrator recounts that she has been watching her neighbor for three months. The first time she has spotted hi…

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Ending

The falling action begins with a tension point when the neighbor goes back into his house, and Vern and the narrator stop watching. The narrator suddenly becomes outraged and calls the neighboring woman “trash” (p. 65, l. 21). She threatens to tell the woman what she thinks about her. Vern seems distressed by this idea and tells the narrator not to do it (p. 65, l. 26).

As the falling action continues, Vern and the narrator go into the living room and try to watch TV. However, thoughts about their neighbor still occupy their minds. Vern tells the narrator that “ ‘Maybe he has something there’ ” (p. 65, l. 38), implying that perhaps his behavior is not that abnormal or illogical. However, the narrator declares t…