Character Analysis Of The Villager, By Shirley Jackson

The Villager
As human beings we have all at some point in our lives dreamt of something that has seemed beyond our reach. As a result, we have succumbed to nothing but regret, a feeling that waves the white flag, an indication of one’s acceptance of that which is lost. Maybe the most difficult part of attaining one’s dream is not the part in which one fails, but rather finding the courage or the motivation to give it one more shot. This form of acquiescence of one’s failure could also be seen in the short story “The Villager” written by Shirley Jackson from 1948. The main character of the short story, Miss Hilda Clarence, is a thirty-five-year-old woman who has even given up on trying, despite her reluctance to give up on hope. The short story might have been an attempt to unveil the truth of how one’s actions do not always go hand in hand with one’s intention.
The story is conveyed through a third-person point of view, Miss Clarence’s point of view, in which the narration is rendered through a more specifically limited, yet subjective point of view. Hence, we have access to Miss Clarence’s thoughts and feelings throughout the story. Furthermore, the narrative technique employs indirect or implicit characterization since we as readers must deduce for ourselves the character’s characteristics especially since the narrative voice does not seem to reflect the narrator’s personality. This is mainly due to the narrator having some qualities (that will be analyzed thoroughly in