Introduction: Imagination of odd things leads to absolute humourous drama making everybody confused. This story makes us laugh at the confused family members whose imagination creates a chaos ultimately for nothing that made everyone spend a sleepless night. Let us enjoy the sequence that happened inside a house due to each persons’ different imaginations.
Confusion over foot steps: The narrator, James Thurber, comes out of his bathtub in the bathroom at 1:15 a.m. in the morning, on November 17th, 1915 and hears footsteps going round and round the dining room, downstairs. At first, James thinks the footsteps might belong to his father and brother Roy, who had been traveling in Indianapolis and were supposed to be back late in the evening. James quickly realizes that it isn’t his father and brother.
Brother Herman Wakes Up: After a few minutes, he fears something strange and goes to wake up his brother, Herman. Waking up all of a sudden in the middle of the night,Herman is frightened to know of someone downstairs as stated by his brother. He goes back to bed, slamming the door.
Mother’s fear for Burglar’s: The slamming of the door makes their mother come out of her room. The mother asks them about the footsteps she has heard and then comes to the conclusion that there are burglars inside their house.
Agitated neighbours: As the telephone is in the dining area, she plans to contact the police through her neighbour and throws a shoe through the window of the Bodwell’s. They are cross with her behavior. However, Mr.Bodwell mistakes for burglars in his house. The confusion is cleared and he calls the police and tells them about the burglars in Thurber house.
Arrival of Police: A whole lot of police in a Ford Sedan, two on motorcycles, and a patrol wagon with about eight policemen and a few reporters creates more chaos and confusion. They call out for the inmates and when no one responds, they break in. They find the narrator upstairs with a towel round his waist and the mother who is certain of burglars in the house. Though all doors and windows are bolted from inside, to justify their trip, the police set about searching the house, moving furniture and cleaning closets.
Police are suspicious: At one point, a policeman’s inquisitiveness gets the best of him, and he points out a rare old musical instrument, a zither, to another officer. The narrator adds to the confusion with the inadequate information about the family’s old guinea pig which used to sleep on the zither. The police are suspicious of this strange family.
Grandfather’s obsession: Just when the police decide to retire, the narrator’s grandfather sleeping in the attic makes a slight noise and the policemen spring into action. They race upstairs to catch the culprit. The narrator knows that this will lead to worry because his grandfather thinks that the Civil War is still going on. Grandfather is obsessed with the retreat of the army under General George Meade. When the policemen arrive at his door, he is convinced that they are Meade’s army. He calls them cowards and tells them to go back to the battle.
Grandpa shoots a Policeman: Grandpa slaps one of the policemen across the back of the head, sending him to the floor and as the others leave their fallen companion and run away, he takes the man’s gun from his holster and shoots at him, hitting him in the shoulder. He fires twice more and then goes back to bed. Back downstairs, the police are upset that there is nobody to arrest, but they are not willing to go back to the attic and risk being shot at. The wounded officer’s shoulder is bandaged and they start looking around the house \ again.
Reporter gazes at narrator’s stupidity: A reporter approaches the narrator who is wearing one of his mother’s outfit since he doesn’t find his nightdress. When the reporter asks him about the commotion, the narrator admits the presence of ghosts in the house. It is indeed a comedy, when the narrator’s mother is informed about Grandfather shooting a policeman and she is concerned about a nice-looking young man being shot at.
Unraveled Mystery: The next morning, the grandfather comes down for breakfast looking cheery. James, Herman, and their mother all think that the grandfather has forgotten the whole scene. However, the story ends with the grandfather asking, with a smirk on his face, what on earth the police had been doing raiding the house the night before. He chided them that none of them left a bottle beside his head and told them that they did not realize how hard it was for a thirsty man to look for water in the dining room. Now the family had him there; it was the grandpa who was going around the dining room last night.
Conclusion: This story thus ended as a humourous drama, each one assuming that there is a ghost, a burglar and Meade’s army men inside the house. Author has sequenced the scenes as a lively comedy show that one will roar with laughter at the stupidity of each person in the story.
