Back for Christmas: Summary
Back for Christmas
Summary
‘Back for Christmas’ by a highly skilled modern English writer John Collier is a grotesque short story with a twist in the end.
Basically it is about a cold-blooded murder committed by a provincial doctor who ironically fails to get rid of his bossy wife.
At the beginning of the story it is revealed that Doctor Carpenter is invited to conduct a course of lectures in the US. At their farewell party Mrs.Carpenter promises the guests to bring her husband back for Christmas ignoring his slight doubt about that.
The author makes it quite clear that Hermione Carpenter has always been exceedingly responsible for all arrangements in her husband’s life and career as well as the trip.
Further on, the narrator describes the murder carefully executed by the Doctor, who pretends to have found a gold chain in the drain, which he uses as a decoy.
After hitting his wife with a lead pipe and making sure she is dead, he goes on to dispose of the body.
The first obstacle to the Doctor’s plan arises when he finds out that the water has already been turned off by Mrs. Carpenter, what causes him to go to the cellar. Then there is a knock at the door, which scares him and brings about despair in the success of the affair.
But receiving no response, the neighbors decide to call on later and leave. After that the author depicts Mr. Carpenter’s endeavors to hide the body in the hole dug beforehand in the cellar, which his wife believed to be a preparation for a new wine bin.
The story ends with the Doctor arriving to America where he finds a letter waiting for him, which turns out to be a receipt for repairs of the wine bin and will inevitably lead to the discovery of his wife’s body.
Summary
‘Back for Christmas’ by a highly skilled modern English writer John Collier is a grotesque short story with a twist in the end.
Basically it is about a cold-blooded murder committed by a provincial doctor who ironically fails to get rid of his bossy wife.
At the beginning of the story it is revealed that Doctor Carpenter is invited to conduct a course of lectures in the US. At their farewell party Mrs.Carpenter promises the guests to bring her husband back for Christmas ignoring his slight doubt about that.
The author makes it quite clear that Hermione Carpenter has always been exceedingly responsible for all arrangements in her husband’s life and career as well as the trip.
Further on, the narrator describes the murder carefully executed by the Doctor, who pretends to have found a gold chain in the drain, which he uses as a decoy.
After hitting his wife with a lead pipe and making sure she is dead, he goes on to dispose of the body.
The first obstacle to the Doctor’s plan arises when he finds out that the water has already been turned off by Mrs. Carpenter, what causes him to go to the cellar. Then there is a knock at the door, which scares him and brings about despair in the success of the affair.
But receiving no response, the neighbors decide to call on later and leave. After that the author depicts Mr. Carpenter’s endeavors to hide the body in the hole dug beforehand in the cellar, which his wife believed to be a preparation for a new wine bin.
The story ends with the Doctor arriving to America where he finds a letter waiting for him, which turns out to be a receipt for repairs of the wine bin and will inevitably lead to the discovery of his wife’s body.