Murray Leinster (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975) was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins; His father was an accountant. Although both parents were born in Virginia, the family lived in Manhattan. He began his career as a freelance writer, an award-winning American writer, of science fiction and alternate history. He wrote and published over 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.
In World War I, Leinster served with the United States Army (1917–1918). In 1921, he married Mary Mandola. Uneasy homecoming is a book, which genuinely would suit most individuals, and is a very hooking short fiction novel to grasp hold of, as I am not one for that particular genre of book, however once I got into it I honestly couldn’t stop reading it. This is why its unquestionably one of my favourite books I’ve read for a long time!
In this evaluation I intend to focus on “Uneasy Homecoming” and to analyze Jenkins, influence and effectiveness of techniques he uses throughout the story, to understand how he maintains the level of anticipation and suspense achieved which is very nerve racking. A short summary of Uneasy Homecoming by the author Will Jenkins, This story is focused on Connie who has arrived at her part of town, where her friends lived, after a two-week holiday. Upon reaching her house, which was the only one on the other side of the bay, her nearest neighbour’s houses were built across the bay.
Once she was inside her home, she knew that her partner (Tom), would be reaching home around midnight (But Connie felt unsettled and nervous without him). Connie went outside into the garden and failed to see someone or something move by the garage, furthermore, there was a motorbike leaning against the garage wall while walking back towards the house Connie once again failed to notice the pantry window which was wide open, she quickly turned on all the lights to reassure herself, she phoned Mrs.
Winston her older lady friend for some comfort talk however this soon disappeared when Mrs Winston stated “I do hope your house is alright, its been dreadful here! Didn’t you hear? ” As several other houses had been burgled including Mr Saddlers shop was robbed and Mr Field the cashier was almost beaten to death, Mrs Winston offered for her to stay around until Tom was home however that meant for creepy Charles coming to pick her up and she definitely didn’t want that so she declined the offer, of support.
She started for the stairs in the dark once she’d reached the top she switched that light on as well, she went into her room and noticed that someone had been in there and smoked cigarettes and casually dropped the buts on the rug, moreover the bedspread was ruffled as if someone had been lying down on it. Connie questioned herself as to what could possibly be under her bed… as she peered under the bed she found a bulging bag … FULL OF STOLEN LOOT! She dragged it out and emptied its contents onto the floor and instantaneously recognised some of the items.
She went to the bedroom door; her house had been used as a hiding place for the burglaries had been taking place whilst her and Tom had been away. Mr. Field must have recognized the burglar. They’d know that she would be at home found the loot and phone the police? The pantry was dark as she was whimpering afraid to enter, but she soon realised the pantry window was broken for forced entry. There was a thump and her heart suddenly stopped beating. The refrigerator cut off. It was a coincidence of course. She felt along the walls to get to the phone though she couldn’t see the dial.
He was in the house and he knew he had to kill her. She saw the back door where he forgot to shut it properly; the key to the door was missing. As she fled treading on the grass careful not tread on the gravel, as this will make sounds and alert the intruder, he still hadn’t guessed that she was outside. Connie saw the motorcycle and got the gasoline out found a book of matches in her pocket and struck it and ran away, because this would be seen across the bay and alert people that Connie’s house was on fire, she saw the figure trying to plunge out but it
didn’t work. ‘He could’ve murdered her, Connie,’ yet Mrs Winston was the mother of ‘him’. The protagonist in this fictional novel is Connie as the whole story is purely based about her feelings and what’s happening around her. The story is set in a village (she lives near close friends) and she lives across the bay from all of the other houses and is quite isolated from the community a perfect setting for a fiction horror novel especially because classic horrors happen in eerie places like these.
In addition to that Jenkins expertly interweaves this theme of female vulnerability and crime with being on her own, lonesome without a man/husband (Tom) to support her through the evening in a creepy mansion with no other neighbours around, this creates the impression of a tense atmosphere because Connie is alone, far from any other houses, which means that there was not anybody close to her if she needed any help.
?I also felt sorry for her at times and think that the tension in the story would be totally different if her husband, Tom, had arrived home first as woman are more vulnerable to darkness and predators than men, to show the reader the defenseless side of Connie, being on your own and experiencing a man trying to murder before she releases information to people of the village of his doings and whereabouts. I think the author purposely makes the protagonist a woman because compared to men women are seen as frail and weak especially in a horror movie.
in the setting Jenkins has described. Women are weaker character than men and would generally feel more fear than a male character if he were to be the protagonist, the male would challenge the intruder whereas the female is trying to hide herself in the shadows in fear Jenkins really emphasizes this in Connie’s emotions when in the story it suggests “ she felt a need to be quiet to hide herself” this is very effective because it shows how much terror she has within her.
I also noticed that throughout “Uneasy Homecoming” Connie does not hold back in expressing her fear. Many times in the short story the writer shows expression such as “Connie found herself weeping”. Consequently this made me think that something was about to happen, therefore, I felt sorry for her at times. An effective technique that W. F. Jenkins uses is in the short story he allows the reader to know more than the main character and that she might be in danger. For example, ”she had looked straight at the back door without seeing what there was to be seen”.
This kind of phrase gives me a feeling to urge Connie to safety. ? The theme of crime really pushes all boundaries when it comes to crime/horror novels and to be fair he situation gets even worse for Connie because not only is she unaccompanied yet shes got the fright of a unexpected man using her house daily while she was away, now she has to face him which makes the atmosphere more jumpy and the reader is anticipating and predicting what could happen next and are on the edge of their seat. Jenkins cleverly stresses this.
Jenkins word choice is vital for this particular genre of short story because every aspect is described in detail, which is essential because he describes with powerful words in short sentences like “She recognized him” or things like this as well “Connie noticed nothing” these are short effective sentences, because, essentially in short stories you cant drag on for long sentences as you have a short story to write not a long one therefore you word choice has to be chosen very carefully and accurately to sustain the reader attention.
I have chosen 5 quotations from the book: “The red dying sun, cast long shadows across the road” (P1), the time of day is very important in uneasy homecoming the writer deliberately sets the short story at night with a “red dying sun” a sign of danger in the air and the perfect setting for a horror books or movies. In the story he wrote “The red dying sun, cast long shadows across the road” this is important because it put a picture in my mind of an evening with a fading sun and unusual shaped shadows, that seem to move, creating a tense and unsettled atmosphere.
“She recognized him” (P8) another positive point about this key quotation is the sentence structure and paragraphing, throughout most of the story the sentences are short, slowing down the action, “She recognized him” this an example of a short sentence and a short paragraph these keep the reader on the edge of their seat, in contrast when the reader does come to a large paragraph it gives a long vivid it gives a long vivid description. In that specific quote its only three words therefore making it short, punctual and straightforward and tells you directly what’s happening and he is really emphasizing this command.
“In the lighted living room, she had the feeling of someone staring at her, from the dark outside”(P4) its like her 6th sense is working hard because she knows her thought is ridiculous and its in her head however, unfortunately she needs a logical explanation, what is more is, her coherent reasoning is not there, “The lighted living room” is quite eerie especially with contrast to “The dark outside” it’s the perfect situation to think that there is someone or something staring at her but its an illusion as well as because shes alone in a mansion like house with just her inside it in her position I could understand.
“She hastened desperately to turn out the rest. The dining room. Lights out, the windows were locked. The pantry. It was dark.
Whimpering she was afraid to enter”(P7), one of the adjectives is hastened, it is so much more effective than any other word Jenkins could’ve used because it means (at no expense/ be quick to do something and then the fact she did it desperately shows us how much she needed to turn all the lights out on the other hand she was feeling very susceptible and open to anything that could potentially happen, as we read further on in that quote each sentence is getting shorter and shorter almost to show the restlessness in how she was switching everything off and Jenkins has cleverly intertwined that in his sentence structure.
“The men who prey on others”(P10) throughout the “Uneasy Homecoming” the main character played a very important part in creating a tense atmosphere. The main character, Connie, developed a sense of fear about man hunting women. The writer develops this character by writing such things as “the unnerving realization that the fears she’d had about Them, “The men who prey on others”. This phrase in particular shows that Connie is a worried, insecure person who frets about becoming a victim of “Them”. The capital letter is there to show the importance Connie gives these people.
This person or people are constantly on Connie’s mind worrying her during the novel. I think the main reason why the author uses words like; ridiculous, silly, absurd and nonsense when Connie is scared is mainly because Jenkins wants you to think that it is nonsense to dismiss the idea out of your head and Connie’s too. Jenkins in his book uses many figures of speech and I think that this is a good thing and to be fair I observed right from the beginning of the story. More importantly this makes it interesting for the reader some of them are interesting others aren’t, here are two, which really grabbed my attention.
“Her knees were water” (P5) this got me because it s not literately saying her knees were water its an expression almost to say she was so scared her knees were shivering, a really powerful figure of speech which got me on the edge of my seat. “There was a thump” (P5) this is an example of a really great and influential figure of speech because it uses onomatopoeia in it a thump gets me scared because Im wondering why she heard that when and where! Which interests me a lot. In his short fiction horror novel Will F Jenkins uses a lot of diverse literary techniques.
Another technique the writer uses is noises in the story or lack of them. Continuously throughout the story one particular noise is mentioned, “the hum of the refrigerator”. This noise creates a tense atmosphere because it is the only sound Connie can hear if this is then interrupted something or someone must be in the house. The author helps to create a sense of realism within the book because he knew what the readers wanted and genuinely didn’t go over the top. My favourite part of the novel has to be the hunt. The hunt is the part of the story where the burglar patrolling the house looking for Connie.
Connie just narrowly escapes. During the hunt Connie is terrified, many points are made about her fear such as “She felt that she would lie down at any instant and scream”. It is remarks such as these that created a tense atmosphere throughout the hunt. My favourite sentence must be “Connie bent and peered under the bed” simply because it’s a silly idea yet so influential and significant furthermore it’s the fact that shes worked herself up into such a state about it when she does know deep down there nothing under there. More importantly I can relate to this, as will many others.
A cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction, which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction. In Uneasy Homecoming the author tries to almost end it on a cliffhanger “But Mrs. Winston was the other of one of them” it ends on something for your brain to work out I loved the way he put that last sentence because I had to think for the answer and I fully enjoyed it, generally I think he ended it like that for importance and above all it’s a much better ending rather than just giving the game away.
Having analyzed Jenkins, his novel is wonderful and it is clear that suspense and tension are ever present throughout Uneasy Homecoming, Jenkins carefully chosen themes, word choice and literary techniques all input in helping to sustain the theme of female vulnerability, darkness and being alone which I think are the main three point Jenkins tries to really focus on which keeps the story level headed, the writer does use various techniques to create a tense atmosphere in the story.
Although the writer created a very entertaining tense atmosphere, the ending was not nerve wracking enough compared to the other nail biting moments in the story. If the burglar had found Connie, I feel that it would have been a better ending. Overall I would give congratulations to W. F. Jenkins for the creation of a suspend-filled story of an uneasy feeling.
