The End of the Party (short story)

"The End of the Party" is a short story by the English writer Graham Greene (1904–1991). It was first published in 1929, and has been reprinted many times in anthologies.^[1] It is viewed as a classical expression of the English tradition of horror fiction, as it elicits a well-founded and increasingly intense sense of impending doom without inserting any scenes of physical violence.

Plot summary

The two principal protagonists of "The End of the Party" are nine-year-olds, Peter Morton and Francis Morton. The story makes clear that although they are identical twins, they possess profound psychological differences – Peter, the elder by several minutes, is presented as a healthy child with an intensively protective attitude towards his impaired brother, while Francis is depicted as being challenged by an intense anxiety disorder. The unnamed narrator speculates that Francis suffered psychological trauma during the birth process, when he was briefly separated from Peter.

Peter and Francis will be separated again during a game of hide-and-seek that is the scheduled climax of a birthday party for a family acquaintance, ten-year-old Colin Henne-Falcon. Descriptions of the home of the Mortons, where the story begins, and the Henne-Falcons, where it ends, make clear that the ambiance of the story is that of the English upper class between the two World Wars. The brief appearance of a child's nurse, and other servants, help establish the social setting. Cozy elements such as an egg-and-spoon race, a three-legged race, and a birthday cake do little to diminish the mounting horror of the story, as Francis is increasingly terrified by the prospect of being required to play hide-and-seek in the dark. It is made clear that the "birthday party" is merely a façade for a grim reality: the children, and their hostess, are all participating in a complicated and brutal ritual aimed at establishing a social hierarchy amongst the juvenile partygoers.

As the climactic hide-and-seek game begins, the adults present turn out the lights and the children designated to hide, including Peter and Francis, are required to scatter. Peter senses his brother's terror and, aided by his instinctive grasp of his brother's psychological fears and needs, is able to guess where Francis has hidden himself. A gesture of Peters's hand in the dark, as he reaches out, tells him that his guess has been successful: he touches his younger brother and then grasps his hand and crouches close to him, attempting to provide a continuing presence of reassurance. Faint noises, described meticulously by Greene, show that the game is continuing, and darkness continues to enshroud the place of safety where the two brothers are hiding.

Finally the game is over, a chandelier is lit, and the party's hostess begins to scream with horror. As light floods into the niche where the brothers have hidden themselves, the narrator reports that Francis Morton has lain sprawled and still since the terrified child was startled beyond endurance by the touch of a human hand in the dark. The story's ironic ending makes clear that the nine-year-old did not live long enough to realize that the fingers descending upon his face were those of his protective brother. Their separation would now be permanent.

Critical response

Greene published "The End of the Party" near the start of a writing career that would extend over more than six decades; this short story helped to develop his reputation as a significant force in English letters. The favorable response to his story may be connected to ongoing concerns in Britain due to the significant headcount of World War I veterans afflicted with "shell shock". The story was anthologized in the Greene collection, Twenty-One Stories, published in 1954.

Greene himself considered this story to be among his best, and assisted in its selection among the texts reprinted in the Greene edition of the Viking Portable Library, originally published in 1973 and reprinted since in revised editions.^[1]

Later commentary on "The End of the Party" tends to look at protagonist Francis Morton's impairments from the standpoint of a society that tries to help children with disabilities. A review published in 1999 by New York University encourages readers to develop a sense of empathy for the doomed child.^[2]

Notes