Structure

The short story “Tom Corridan” by Arhondia opens in medias res with a scene where the main character is smoking in the laneway behind the houses. The first scene foreshadows the ending of the story, where we will once again meet Tom smoking a cigarette in the laneway. It also foreshadows some of the character relationships in the story. For example, Tom’s remark that his friend Trevor is lucky because his father is never around (ll. 4-5) shows us that Tom does not like his own father.

The story takes place over two days in Tom’s life, where we see bits of his life both at school and at home. The tension rises as the story progresses, especially once we become aware that Tom’s father is both drunken and abusive. We also see more examples of foreshadowing as the stor...