The Wall (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Sansom
- First Published: 1947
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: World War II
- Setting: London during an air raid
- Principal Characters: The narrator, Len, Lofty, Verno
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: World War II, Survivalism, Life and death, Firefighting or firefighters
- Locales: London, England
The Story
This very short story of less than four pages describes what goes on in the narrator's mind as he perceives that a huge wall is about to fall on him and his fellow firefighters. After an initial impression of the scene and the nature of the work that has been going on in a typical, hellish night during which firefighters are trying to control fires during air raids in London, the lapse of time covered by the story is a very few minutes or even a matter of moments.
It is 3:00 a.m., and this is their third major blaze—a huge, brick warehouse, five stories high....
[The entire page is 1446 words long]
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