Crime story "Slowly, Slowly in the Wind", which is written by Patricia Highsmith
The history of English literature has seen many immortal works of arts and aesthetics created by stalwart literary artists that have won the hearts of innumerable readers all over the globe transcending the barriers of communities and cultures. Slowly, Slowly in the Wind is one such seminal work in the history of literature that has made its mark with all the quintessential portraiture and affective appeal that have gripped the readers to the very core. The work by Patricia Highsmith has received accolades from critiques and readers like owing to the thematic content and portraiture of the story that makes it stand out amidst an array of stories belonging to the crime genre of literature.
The literary work was published first in the year 1979, and it has been able to retain its popularity even in the present times. The work in context is surely the author’s most psychologically suspenseful and nuanced work of all time. “Patricia Highsmith’s novels explore the intricate workings of the criminal psyche.” (Rzepka & Horsley) The eminent author goes on to explore the unchartered avenues of literary expressions that portray the stirring hypocrisies of the Catholic Church, horror fantasies, and the writing life. Thus, it would be correct to opine that that collection is surely the most apt example of the author’s perspective of human nature. The literary work can be deemed as one of the greatest works of the twentieth century literature with all its appeal and intricacy. (Farrell & Jacobs)
The avid readers can find a short-tempered tycoon who goes on to march inexorably in the direction of the crime. As the stories progress, the thrill and intricacy get heightened through the portraiture of the author. The author leaves her mark of excellence in every story as she goes on to demonstrate the sheer brilliance and inimitable talent for portraying even the coldest of characters to be extremely intriguing for the readers. “The character’s lives intermingle with deadly results.” (Britannica Educational Publishing) Thus, the work goes on to create its own niche among the readers of the literary genre of psychological thriller.
The literary work in context can be described to be oddly disturbing for the readers. In the collection, one can find the description of a pond that goes on to come to life and kill a woman and her son. There is description of a psychopath that gets very much involved in the wax museum that is full of killers. Thus, it would not be wrong to opine that the realm of literary portraiture that Highsmith goes on to weave in her work is irrational as well as claustrophobic. The famous author goes on to portray thematic content like justice, injustice, guilt and credulity. (Schenkar)
Thus, the reader goes to find the man who pens a life’s worth of novel in his own head. There is a man who can be found to avenge on his neighbor on the basis of slights that are real and envisaged. However, there is no doubt that the most bizarre story of the collection is the last one of all. Here, the readers come across a queer, cautionary tale that explicates about the ecological damage along with the revengefulness of nature on humans if the human nature crosses its limits in its exploitative pursuits. Hence, it would be correct to opine that this story in particular is more of a science fiction thriller than being a mysterious one. Harlan Ellison is found at be his weakest in this particular story in context. In this way, the echoing theme of revenge reaches its crescendo by the end of the collection by Highsmith. The story in context continues the journey of the thematic consistency of the works.
The story in context finds its inception in the description of how Edward ‘Skip’ Skipperton spent the major time of his life nurturing the emotions of anger. Patricia Highsmith pens that it was his nature. The character can be found in the course of the story to get his way using his anger as his arsenal. The readers can comprehend that this man is a fighter. Hence, in the end of the story he could have very well drawn on that rage in him to find his way out of the situation. However, he is seen to give up the fight. In this way, the author goes on to leave the avid readers with multiple loose ends that had the possibility of being woven into an entire story only if Highsmith would have let the story unfold in the natural order.
Works Cited
Farrell, James T. & W.W. Jacobs. Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Massachusetts: Salem Press, 2001. Print.
Great Authors of Mystery, Horror & Thrillers. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing, 2014. Print.
Kabatchnik, Amnon. Blood on the Stage, 1975-2000: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2012. Print.
Rzepka, Charles J. & Lee Horsley. A Companion to Crime Fiction. West Sussex: Blackwell Publishing, 2010. Print.
Schenkar, Joan. The Talented Miss Highsmith. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2009. Print.
Woods, Tim, ed. Who's Who of Twentieth Century Novelists. London: Routledge. Print.
