Stroll In The Parc

2 Pages 514 Words

A Stroll in the Parc
It is ok to be gentle as long as you have courage when needed in life. Two middle-aged and gentle people, Henry C. Greaves and Marie-Claire Duval meet on a bench in the Parc Monceau. After getting to know each other better, they dined later at the Brosseri Lorraine. While at the café, they realize that they have much in common and “they seem to know each other more completely than they knew anyone else.” Later at home, they both begin to imagine what life would have been like if they would have met long ago. In “Two Gentle People,” by Graham Greene, the literary language helps to establish the central idea that even gentle people should have the courage to better their lives so they are not “sorry to have missed something.”
The dialogue throughout the story seems to be in a hushed tone. The author uses interior monologue to explain the characters’ thoughts, as to deepen the conflict which is arising between man—and woman—and self. Both characters had a unique dialogue in which everything was well thought and understood.
The author also uses symbolism throughout the story. A pigeon is gentle and undemanding in life as well as Henry and Marie-Claire. Because of the characters’ outlook on life they will never be treated with the respect they deserve. Just as the pigeon was treated without respect when the teen went “kicking out at the preoccupied pigeons…”
There is a man vs. himself conflict in the story in both Henry Greaves and Marie-Claire Duval. The dialogue in the story does not describe the conflict as well as the the characters’ thoughts, but does help in the understanding of the characters’ interactions. Both characters have troubled marriages, such as Marie-Claire when she arrives at home, she “could hear her husband’s voice…[and] she wondered who was with him tonight.” The dialogue could change with the setting when Marie-Claire and Henry were toget...