August Heat By W. F Harvey Analysis

In the short story, “August Heat,” W. F. Harvey uses imagery, point of view, and structure to build intensity, and to show how humans cannot control nature. The first person point of view shows how James’s attitude changes over the course of the story. At the beginning, James states, “I am forty years old, in perfect health, never having known a day’s illness.” Later in the story, James had a, “sudden impulse,” to enter the monumental maker yard. James just deciding to enter the yard brings attention to him. Not many people just have a sudden impulse to enter a monumental maker yard. After meeting the monumental mason, James said he felt, “uneasy,” and that there was something, “unnatural, uncanny, in meeting this man.” James was happy at the start of the story. Now, he is nervous and paranoid. James proves this when he says, “He spoke of the improbable with an intense seriousness that would have been laughable six hours before. But I did not laugh.” This change of character creates intensity in the story.

The descriptive
The author of the story made the start seem happy and content. James supports this when he states, “By profession I am an artist, not a very successful one, but I earn enough money by my black and white work to satisfy my necessary wants.” Later in the story, the author adds mystery by the main character, James, meeting the man. Atkinson looks just like the man in the picture that James drew at the beginning of the story. This may have been just a coincidence. After he meets Atkinson, Atkinson makes a tombstone with James’s name and birthday on it. He didn’t know James’s name, so it spooked both characters. This was depicted when James wrote, “’It happens to be mine’ (Atkinson) gave a long, low whistle.” Both of the men decided it would be a good idea to go inside and smoke. The author leaves the reader on a cliffhanger, and lets the reader figure out the rest of the story by