All the Years of Her Life

The relationship between Alfred and his mother, prior to this incident, is typical of a protective, worrisome mother and her immature, unfocused son. Alfred resents being condescended to by his...

In the story, Alfred has been caught stealing by his employer. Despite his well-developed body, Alfred's behavior reveals that he's still an immature and irresponsible young man. First, when his...

Right at the beginning of “All the Years of Her Life” by Morley Callaghan, the reader witnesses how Alfred Higgins is getting into trouble at work. However, while the story is told by an omniscient...

Mrs. Higgins is a well rounded character in "All the Years of her Life." As a reader you get to see different sides of her personality. She at first comes across as calm and collected, friendly...

Alfred Carr is an immature, troubled youth who lives with his mother and works at a drugstore. While his siblings have left home, Alfred still lives with his parents. As he prepares to go home one...

Sam Carr is an older gentleman of some means and comfort who owns the drugstore where Mrs. Higgins' son Alfred works. Mr. Carr is a calm but firm man who appears to have a sense of empathy toward...

Mrs. Higgins’s smooth handling of the potentially fraught situation at the drugstore has lulled both her son Alfred and the reader into a false sense of security. We get the impression that she’s...

Alfred's mother was called to the store by the owner, Sam Carr. Mr. Carr had caught Alfred stealing, and rather than "call a cop in point-blank", he called Alfred's mother first to let her know...

As children, we all grow up with certain preconceptions about our parents, and to a certain extent we believe that they are invincible. We often don’t perceive until we are nearly adults that our...

"All the Years of Her Life" is a story about the beginning of a late adolescent boy's growth into awareness and empathy. When Alfred's mother is called to the pharmacy where he works because of his...

After Mr. Carr confronts Alfred with his pilfering of small items from the drugstore, he calls Mrs. Higgins and asks her to come to the store; hearing Mr. Carr on the phone with his mother, Alfred...

Mr. Carr calls Alfred's mother in the rising action of the plot of "All the Years of her Life." In the exposition of Morley Callaghan's story, there is the introduction of the characters of Alfred...

The word son appears six times in this short story, but Mrs. Higgins uses it only once. She says "son" because it is a word with a positive emotional connotation. It has the effect of emphasizing...

In Morley Callaghan's short story "All The Years of Her Life," when the drugstore owner Sam Carr accuses Alfred Higgins of theft, Alfred's first reaction is one of denial.When Mr. Carr first says...

In "All the Years of Her Life," protagonist Alfred—a gangly teenage (or not much older) pharmacy clerk—is caught shoplifting women’s cosmetics at work. Just as he is leaving at the end of a...

There are multiple points when suspense is created in the story. Suspense is created by Callaghan setting up a situation and keeping the reader waiting before revealing the outcome. First, we are...

Not for the first time in his short life, Alfred Higgins is in trouble. This time, he’s been caught stealing by his employer, Sam Carr the drugstore owner. Though his theft of a compact, a...

Mr. Carr and Mrs. Higgins both have an extraordinary amount of patience. Neither one gets frustrated with Alfred or feels the need to "explode" at Alfred. They each handle the situation...

This isn’t the first time that Alfred Higgins has gotten into trouble, nor is it the first time that his mother has had to bail him out. And Alfred’s behavior as he and his mother make their silent...

The first five years are very straightforward. The value of the money increases by 4 percent every year. The math behind that is simple - each year you multiply the initial value by 1.04, or to...

After certain events occur, Alfred finally matures when he feels compassion for his mother as he attains insight into her character. The young man, Alfred Higgins, lives at home with his parents....

At the end of the story, particularly if you pay close attention to the way that Alfred sees his mother in a new light, you could certainly make the argument that this event has affected him. He...

The behaviors and reflections of Alfred, the complexity of human behavior in general, and possible surrounding socioeconomic factors in "All the Years of Her Life" could lead a reader to reasonably...

This story is written in the minimalist style. The author gives very little detail to the backstory of the characters or to description. We enter the story in the midst of things - Alfred has...

This is the inverse of the typical question where you are given an initial amount to find the final total. If you are searching for the final amount after the time period, you set the equation up...

To try to determine what Mrs. Higgins was thinking in "All the Years of Her Life" as she walked down the street after saving her son from being arrested from shoplifting, we first need to gather up...

The tension begins when Mr. Carr confronts Alfred about stealing items from the store. Initially, the tension is solely between Carr and Alfred, although the psychological tension is described from...

Most of the difference appears to be the fact that he never really noticed how much his actions affected his mother. Even as he goes downstairs and hears her making tea he is thinking about how...

Exposition is the background of a story, the setting and time period and essential facts. In the opening sequence of this story, we learn that it is set in a city during early part of the...

It seems that Alfred experience conflict with everyone. Alfred is immature, and has trouble holding down a job for long. His mother seems devoted to her son, but there is conflict when she must go...

The story’s plot concerns the interactions among Sam Carr, who owns a small store, his clerk Alfred, and Alfred’s mother, Mrs. Higgins. When Carr catches Alfred with stolen merchandise, he tells...

While the speed at which an object travels will vary according to friction and resistance by the atmosphere (think of a parachute), the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 meters per second...

Guilt is the driving force in Alfred's coming of age. It is guilt that first causes him to lie to Mr. Carr about the theft. When he is caught, and his mother comes to the store, it is guilt that...