Structure

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Beginning

“Tell the Women We’re Going” opens with an introduction, offering information about the main characters’ past. In the exposition, we learn that Bill Jamison and Jerry Roberts “had always been best friends” (p. 182, l. 1). The story states that …

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Middle

In the rising action, we learn that “it was Sunday at Jerry’s place the time it happened” (p. 183, l. 18), which warns us that something important is about to follow. In another moment which foreshadows Jerry’s troubled mental state, Bill notices that Jerry is “getting to be deep, the way he stared all the time and hardly did any talking at all” (p. 183, ll. 27-28). This is the first hint of Jerry’s internal conflict.

The tension drops as Jerry suggests going for “a little run” (p. 183, l. 34), and Bill agrees. In a possible foreshadowing of Jerry’s violent tendencies, he punches Bi…

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Ending

The tension rises as the men follow the girls up a hillside path. The conflict between Bill and Jerry is suggested as Bill follows at a slower pace, and by the statement that “it was okay wit…