First published in Collier’s Magazine (October 26, 1956), “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket” by Jack Finney is a modern American short story set in New York City. Through the story’s protagonist, Tom Benecke, Finny examines the concept of personal success in relation to the American business culture of the 1950s. In addition to Tom Benecke, the story features only one other character, Tom’s wife, Clare.

Tom and Clare are an attractive young married couple who live in a small apartment high above Lexington Avenue. As the story begins, Clare is dressing to go to the movies, but Tom has chosen to stay home to complete a marketing project to display grocery store products in a new way. He is driven to finish his work, hoping that his efforts will impress his boss and lead to professional advancement. Tom is ambitious and career-oriented. He wants to succeed, and he defines success as having money “rolling in.” Tom wants to go out with his wife, but he is obsessed with his work. When Clare leaves, alone, Tom feels guilty but turns immediately to his paperwork laid out on his desk near the window he had opened moments before.

After closing the door behind Clare, Tom is horrified to see a single sheet of yellow paper fly out the open window. This is the page containing all of his project research notes, gathered through hours and hours of extra work on many nights and weekends. Tom watches the paper slide along the building’s ledge three feet below his window, finally becoming lodged five feet away in a corner where the exterior wall of the adjacent apartment projects farther into space over the avenue far below. Tom’s mind races as he stares at the yellow paper—a symbol of his hard work, sacrifice, and future success.

Even though he tries, Tom cannot accept its loss; ignoring his better judgment, he climbs through the open window and stands on the narrow ledge, eleven stories above the street, on a cold and windy autumn night. He intends to retrieve the paper. With his face and body pressed against the brick building, he will hold on to the bricks with his finger tips and shuffle sideways to the corner, get the paper, and shuffle back to his window. As Tom moves away from his warm, lighted apartment into the darkness, he undertakes what turns out to be a truly terrifying journey.

The story describes Tom’s ordeal in vivid, specific chronological detail. After finally working his way to the paper and bending to pick it up, Tom pulls it loose; then he sees Lexington Avenue many stories below. The sudden realization of his tenuous physical position on the ledge terrorizes him. Jerking upright and shuddering violently, he almost falls to his death. He struggles to overcome his fear, breathes deeply, and gets control. Calmer but unable to move, Tom shouts for help, but no one will hear, he knows. He begins to make his perilous way back along the ledge, only then realizing that the paper is actually in his hand; he puts it between his teeth and continues toward his apartment window, nearly falling several times. Finny captures Tom’s terror through numerous succeeding paragraphs by detailing the thoughts that race through his mind as he attempts to overcome his fear in order to survive.

When Tom has worked his way back to his own apartment, he discovers the window has closed. He takes the sheet of paper from his mouth, wads it into a ball, and shoves it into his pocket before opening the window. The window will not budge; Tom cannot open it. Striking the glass with his hand, the force of the blow upsets his balance, and he struggles to regain it. Only a thin pane of glass now separates Tom from warmth and safety; he refuses to believe that he cannot find a way to get inside. He tries and fails to break the glass with a coin from his pocket; he takes off one shoe and strikes the window again, without success. Giving up on these efforts, Tom pulls miscellaneous papers from his pockets and lights them with matches, desperately waving them behind him like a torch. No one notices. Tom finds more coins in his pockets and drops them a few at a time to the street below. Again, no one notices. Tom begins to understand that he may well die. He imagines his body having fallen to Lexington Avenue below. All that would identify the dead man in the street, he realizes, would be a wadded up sheet of yellow paper filled with meaningless facts and figures.

Facing this truth, Tom remembers and now regrets the many times he chose to work, leaving Clare alone while he chased success. He is filled with bitterness for the life he has lived, a wasted life. Tom, however, cannot accept that his meaningless life will end without his having an opportunity to make amends. He decides to try his only remaining option: he will strike the glass with his fist. He will break the glass and save his life, or the rebound from the blow will throw him backwards to his death. After testing the glass again and determining the best angle to strike it, Tom acts. Using his last ounce of strength, he calls out Clare’s name, drives his fist through the window pane, grabs the curtains inside, and falls forward into his apartment.

Once inside, Tom picks his way through the broken glass and lays the yellow paper on his desk, smoothing it out and laying a pencil on top to act as a paperweight. He goes directly to his closet then, finds his coat and hat, and walks to the front door. He intends to find Clare without wasting a moment. As Tom opens the door, a sudden draft blows through the apartment. He watches as the pencil blows off the desk and the yellow paper once again sails through the now glassless window. Tom bursts into laughter, closes the door behind him, and goes to find his wife.

The ironic ending of the story emphasizes its theme. Because of his near-death experience, Tom’s personal values have changed, no doubt for the rest of his life. He will no longer sacrifice his relationship with Clare, whom he loves deeply, in order to work for professional advancement. Tom now rejects material success—acquiring great sums of money—as the standard by which he will judge a life well lived.

“Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket” rejects the culture of corporate success and materialism that flourished in the United States following World War II. Other American writers, such as Arthur Miller, developed similar themes. Miller’s award-winning drama Death of a Salesman stands as an excellent example of this social criticism in contemporary American literature.