DEATH BY SCRABBLE SHORT STORY

Death By Scrabble

by: Charlie Fish

It's a hot day and I hate my wife.

We're playing Scrabble. That's how bad it is. I'm 42 years old, it's a blistering hot Sunday afternoon and all I can think of to do with my life is to play Scrabble.

I should be out, doing exercise, spending money, meeting people. I don't think I've spoken to anyone except my wife since Thursday morning. On Thursday morning I spoke to the milkman.

My letters are crap.

I play, appropriately, BEGIN. With the N on the little pink star. Twenty-two points.

I watch my wife's smug expression as she rearranges her letters. Clack, clack, clack. I hate her. If she wasn't around, I'd be doing something interesting right now. I'd be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. I'd be starring in the latest Hollywood blockbuster. I'd be sailing the Vendee Globe on a 60-foot clipper called the New Horizons - I don't know, but I'd be doing something.

She plays JINXED, with the J on a double-letter score. 30 points. She's beating me already. Maybe I should kill her.

If only I had a D, then I could play MURDER. That would be a sign. That would be permission.

I start chewing on my U. It's a bad habit, I know. All the letters are frayed. I play WARMER for 22 points, mainly so I can keep chewing on my U.

As I'm picking new letters from the bag, I find myself thinking - the letters will tell me what to do. If they spell out KILL, or STAB, or her name, or anything, I'll do it right now. I'll finish her off.

My rack spells MIHZPA. Plus the U in my mouth. Damn.

The heat of the sun is pushing at me through the window. I can hear buzzing insects outside. I hope they're not bees. My cousin Harold swallowed a bee when he was nine, his throat swelled up and he died. I hope that if they are bees, they fly into my wife's throat.

She plays SWEATIER, using all her letters. 24 points plus a 50 point bonus. If it wasn't too hot to move I would strangle her right now.

I am getting sweatier. It needs to rain, to clear the air. As soon as that thought crosses my mind, I find a good word. HUMID on a double-word score, using the D of JINXED. The U makes a little splash of saliva when I put it down. Another 22 points. I hope she has lousy letters.

< 2 >

She tells me she has lousy letters. For some reason, I hate her more.

She plays FAN, with the F on a double-letter, and gets up to fill the kettle and turn on the air conditioning.

It's the hottest day for ten years and my wife is turning on the kettle. This is why I hate my wife. I play ZAPS, with the Z doubled, and she gets a static shock off the air conditioning unit. I find this remarkably satisfying.

She sits back down with a heavy sigh and starts fiddling with her letters again. Clack clack. Clack clack. I feel a terrible rage build up inside me. Some inner poison slowly spreading through my limbs, and when it gets to my fingertips I am going to jump out of my chair, spilling the Scrabble tiles over the floor, and I am going to start hitting her again and again and again.

The rage gets to my fingertips and passes. My heart is beating. I'm sweating. I think my face actually twitches. Then I sigh, deeply, and sit back into my chair. The kettle starts whistling. As the whistle builds it makes me feel hotter.

She plays READY on a double-word for 18 points, then goes to pour herself a cup of tea. No I do not want one.

I steal a blank tile from the letter bag when she's not looking, and throw back a V from my rack. She gives me a suspicious look. She sits back down with her cup of tea, making a cup-ring on the table, as I play an 8-letter word: CHEATING, using the A of READY. 64 points, including the 50-point bonus, which means I'm beating her now.

She asks me if I cheated.

I really, really hate her.

She plays IGNORE on the triple-word for 21 points. The score is 153 to her, 155 to me.

The steam rising from her cup of tea makes me feel hotter. I try to make murderous words with the letters on my rack, but the best I can do is SLEEP.

My wife sleeps all the time. She slept through an argument our next-door neighbours had that resulted in a broken door, a smashed TV and a Teletubby Lala doll with all the stuffing coming out. And then she bitched at me for being moody the next day from lack of sleep.

< 3 >

If only there was some way for me to get rid of her.

I spot a chance to use all my letters. EXPLODES, using the X of JINXED. 72 points. That'll show her.

As I put the last letter down, there is a deafening bang and the air conditioning unit fails.

My heart is racing, but not from the shock of the bang. I don't believe it - but it can't be a coincidence. The letters made it happen. I played the word EXPLODES, and it happened - the air conditioning unit exploded. And before, I played the word CHEATING when I cheated. And ZAP when my wife got the electric shock. The words are coming true. The letters are choosing their future. The whole game is - JINXED.

My wife plays SIGN, with the N on a triple-letter, for 10 points.

I have to test this.

I have to play something and see if it happens. Something unlikely, to prove that the letters are making it happen. My rack is ABQYFWE. That doesn't leave me with a lot of options. I start frantically chewing on the B.

I play FLY, using the L of EXPLODES. I sit back in my chair and close my eyes, waiting for the sensation of rising up from my chair. Waiting to fly.

Stupid. I open my eyes, and there's a fly. An insect, buzzing around above the Scrabble board, surfing the thermals from the tepid cup of tea. That proves nothing. The fly could have been there anyway.

I need to play something unambiguous. Something that cannot be misinterpreted. Something absolute and final. Something terminal. Something murderous.

My wife plays CAUTION, using a blank tile for the N. 18 points.

My rack is AQWEUK, plus the B in my mouth. I am awed by the power of the letters, and frustrated that I cannot wield it. Maybe I should cheat again, and pick out the letters I need to spell SLASH or SLAY.

Then it hits me. The perfect word. A powerful, dangerous, terrible word.

I play QUAKE for 19 points.

I wonder if the strength of the quake will be proportionate to how many points it scored. I can feel the trembling energy of potential in my veins. I am commanding fate. I am manipulating destiny.

My wife plays DEATH for 34 points, just as the room starts to shake. I gasp with surprise and vindication - and the B that I was chewing on gets lodged in my throat. I try to cough. My face goes red, then blue. My throat swells. I draw blood clawing at my neck. The earthquake builds to a climax.

I fall to the floor. My wife just sits there, watching.

DEATH BY SCRABBLE INTERPRETATION

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE STORY The story begins with the narrator’s statement (the husband), by saying, ”It’s a hot day, and I hate my wife.” He has none to talk to except his wife since Thursday morning. On a hot Sunday afternoon, actually he could do something fun outside, but unfortunately, all he can think of to do with his life is playing scrabble. It is not merely about playing scrabble, but deeper than that, it is about the husband’s flirtation with another woman. When the wife finally knew the husband’s affair, he becomes hate her. That is why on Sunday afternoon, the conflict finally comes to surface. The husband is shown in the beginning of the story, he plays the word “BEGIN”. This is interpreted as his action of moaning and complaining for being bored and trapped in the house, without being allowed to have a conversation with other people. He imagines if only the wife is not around, he will be able to do something interesting outside with his affair. The wife then responses by saying bad words to her husband for she is also annoyed because of her husband’s bad behavior, this is shown in the word “JINXED”, which means bad luck.

The husband gets offended by the wife’s curse. He then decides to plan of murdering his wife. So he starts to chew on his U. He starts to think about finding a way to kill his wife. The husband’s feeling is illustrated by the word “WARMER”, he begins to arrange some execution plans for his wife. The situation is no longer calm; this is described in the sentence, “…as the heat of the sun is pushing at him through the window”. The wife seems get emotional and keeps accusing his husband for having affair, she only wants his commit his mistake. That is why she chooses the word “SWEATIER”, to show that her word influences her husband and makes him nervous. The husband then plays “HUMID” represents his struggle to cover his nervousness by denying the wife’s accusation but in hesitation way.

Furthermore, the wife plays the word “FAN”. She decides to solve the problem by offering a divorce. But according to her husband, the solution she made creates the situation even worse. The husband definitely does not want to accept this decision; he still wants to continue the marriage and forgets all the things happened. This is shown in the word “ZAPS”, the husband’s response is unexpected for his wife and makes her shocked. This is illustrated in the sentence, “…and she gets a static shock off the air conditioning unit.”

Finally the wife wants to accept her husband’s decision to keep maintaining their marriage but without forgetting his flirtation. She plays “READY”. The husband then tries another tactic to calm his wife. He plays “CHEATING”. He denies his woman affair, and pretends that he does not know about her at all. This part is described in the paragraph 21, “I steal a blank tile from the letter bag when she’s not looking, and throw back a V from my rack. She gives me a suspicious look.” And yet, his wife suspects him although he has tried many things to hide the woman but she knows the truth and she wants her husband to admit it. “She asks me if I cheated.”

The wife then plays “IGNORE”, shows her response to her husband lies. She feels frustrated, annoyed and fed up but she does not want to continue the fight. Therefore, she chooses to keep quiet. On the other side, the husband intends to finish his wife off, but still he does not find a good chance. That is why he finally decides to play “SLEEP”. The best thing he can do is to ask his wife to get some sleep or rest, so probably his wife will be able to forgive him after having some “sleep”.

The next statement, “And then she bitched at me for being moody the next day from lack of sleep” is an ambiguous sentence. It could be the wife who is being moody because lack of sleep and it could also be the husband who is being moody from lack of sleep. The first ambiguity occurs when the wife becomes annoying because she feels unsatisfied after “sleep” or in other words, the husband could not play satisfyingly. The second ambiguity appears when the wife becomes annoying seeing her husband is moody because lack of sleep, probably he is busy thinking to find a chance to kill his wife.

However, either the wife or the husband becomes moody, this makes the fight continue and even worse. Finally the husband plays “EXPLODES” shows his feeling of being emotion, he reveals everything. He admits all the things he has done. Hoping the wife will give up and stop forcing him to admit.

But the wife does not seem interesting by her husband’s admission; she even plays “SIGN” to remind her husband calmly to keep his mouth and take a good care. He is now in a completely extreme emotion. The husband then realizes about his gun. He feels afraid and anxiety of using this weapon to kill his wife, but he has to do it quickly. “…I start frantically chewing on the B.”

Trying to calm his anxiety, the husband tries to persuade his wife by giving such false promises in order to maintain their marriage. He plays “FLY” merely to release himself from being nervous for a while, so that he can focuses holding his gun toward his wife. He won’t get missed the target. “I sit back in my chair and close my eyes, waiting for the sensation of rising up from my chair. Waiting to fly.”

Once again, the wife does not seem care with the husband’s persuasion. On the contrary, she even threats him that he will be sorry for betraying her. She plays “CAUTION”. The situation becomes hotter as the husband thinks that he already has a gun in his hand and he immediately holds it toward his wife. He plays “QUAKE”. Feeling he finally finds a perfect chance to kill his wife. He is manipulating destiny. The wife, who deserves to continue her living, but now she has to die in his hands. This is the point, which shows the couple’s fight.

Somehow, at last the wife is able to play the word "DEATH" and grabs the weapon from her husband and shoots him right on his neck, “Bang!” the husband suddenly gasps with surprise, his throat swells. He draws blood clawing at his neck.He falls to the floor, dead. And his wife just sits there, watching.

PLOT

PLOT

Plot is divided into four parts: exposition (includes foreshadowing and introduction), inciting incident, rising action, climax, anticlimax and resolution and denouement. ·Exposition The foreshadowing is described in the first paragraph, “It’s a hot day and I hate my wife”. It illustrates the whole story thoroughly, in which the story focuses on the husband’s thought of a plan to murder his wife for he hates her so much. The introduction starts from the 2nd – 6th paragraph. It tells how the game moves on between two players -the husband and the wife- and how they try to beat each other (from the word “BEGIN” – “JINXED”). ·Inciting incident It introduces the central conflict. It is shown in paragraph 7, when the husband tends to kill his wife, “…Maybe I should kill her”. The inciting incident then develops and the action rises. The developments, which describe the husband’s efforts to murder his wife, are shown in the paragraph 8th-29th. ·Rising Action Rising action is illustrated in the 30th – 37th paragraph, when the husband finally realizes that the scrabble words they have created are coming to be real. The suspense increases as the complications of the conflict develop. ·Climax Climax is shown in the 38th – 41st paragraph, when the husband is struck by a powerful, terrible and dangerous word. He then decides to play “QUAKE”. Hoping by this word, he will finally be able to end his wife’s life. ·Anticlimax Anticlimax is described in the 41st – 42nd paragraph. It also includes irony when the husband’s intensity to finish her wife’s life is in vain. Unexpectedly, Fish ends this story by killing the husband. He has to die in his wife’s hand when she plays the word “DEATH”. ·Resolution and denouement

Fish sets the resolution of the story in the last paragraph. It is described, when the husband finally dead and falls to the floor. The denouement is shown when the wife just sits there and watches.

STYLE AND ATMOSPHERE

STYLE Style is a writer’s typical way of writing. The writer uses a plain style, which is a way of writing that uses uncomplicated sentences and ordinary words to make the story simple. ATMOSPHERE Atmosphere is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. Elements that can influence the mood of a work include its setting, tone, and events. The setting, tone, and events contribute the atmosphere in suspense and thriller.

IRONY AND SYMBOLISM

C. IRONY AND SYMBOLISM The irony can be found in the last paragraph of the story, when the husband hates his wife and he wants to “play” her dead by playing the scrabble words ‘dead’ or ‘kill’. But, he hasn’t got the right letters to play one of these words. So he wants to tease her by playing some other words. Like ‘ZAPS’, ‘CHEATING’, and ‘QUAKE’. The readers seem to be led by the narrator to follow the narrator’s mind, which is to kill his wife. But unexpectedly, the story is ended by the death, which comes to the husband himself. Every word of the game is considered as a symbol. Scrabble symbolizes marriage and the tiles symbolize the action taken or done inside the marriage. All the words symbolize the action of the couple’s fight. . Begin : the beginning of the conflict · Jinxed : the starting point of the conflict · Warmer : the husband is provoked by his wife’s word · The letter U : represents the wife · Sweatier : the wife forces her husband to admit something, this also symbolizes the husband’s nervousness. · Humid : the husband’s denial to the wife’s accusation hesitantly. · Fan : the wife tries to solve the problem but it makes the problem even worse (probably she offers to divorce) · Zaps : the husband’s madness because of the wife’s solution. · Ready : the wife accepts the husband’s challenge. · The letter V : represents the husband’s woman affair. · Cheating : the husband plays a trick on his wife by having affair with another woman. · Ignore : the wife ignores her husband’s behavior. · Sleep : the best thing the husband can do for asking his wife’s apology. · Explodes : the husband finally reveals his flirtation or his affair with another woman. · Sign : the wife reminds her husband to keep his mouth. · The letter B : represents the weapon or gun, which is sounded “Bang” · Fly : the husband’s persuasion toward his wife, in order to release himself both from the conflict and the wife. · Caution : the wife’s threat toward her husband. · Quake : the final point of the husband’s madness and. · Death : the husband’s final execution, which is done by the wife . Points : refers to the power of each players.

SETTING

B. SETTING

The setting of the story takes place only in the couple’s house. It is described in paragraph 3, “I should be out…” and paragraph 12, “The heat of the sun is pushing at me through the window”. It indicates that the couple is inside a certain room of the house. Then the wife fills the kettle and turn on the air conditioning (paragraph 16). It indicates more that the wife fills the kettle somewhere inside a house, probably in the kitchen. She also turns on the air conditioning that it is only turned on in indoor room.

The couple plays scrabble on a very hot Sunday afternoon and continues till the next day. “It’s a hot day…” (p. 1) “…it’s a blistering hot Sunday afternoon…” (p. 2) “The heat of the sun is pushing at me through the window.” (p. 12)“… And then she bitched at me for being moody the next day from lack of sleep.” (p. 26)

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERIZATION

This story is characterized by a couple. It is a husband and his wife.

· The characterization of the husband:

He is a tricky man. He is a disloyal husband; therefore, he likes to deceive his wife. Once he can cheat well, he thinks that he can cheat again to deceive his wife. “I steal a blank tile from the letter bag when she’s not looking…” (p. 21) “I played the word CHEATING when I cheated” (p. 30) “Maybe I should cheat again,…”(p. 38)

He is also an emotional person. Whenever his wife does something he doesn’t like, he will hate her, mad at her, and think to throw her away. “She tells me she has lousy letters. For some reason, I hate her more.” (p.15) “If only there was some way for me to get rid of her.” (p.27)

· The characterization of the wife:

She is a harsh woman. She is mean because she doesn’t do anything when her husband lies in pain and starts to die. She just sits and watches. It describes that she has no mercy for her husband. In the beginning, she plays “JINXED”, which means that she curses her husband. It indicates that she is full of hatred. “I watch my wife's smug expression as she rearranges her letters. Clack, clack, clack.” (p. 6) “She plays JINXED,…” (p. 7)“I fall to the floor. My wife just sits there, watching.” (p. 44)

DEATH BY SCRABBLE ANALYSIS

THE ANALYSIS OF THE STORY I analyze this story by using formalism approach, which is concentrated to the intrinsic elements only, ignoring all the extrinsic elements, including the author’s biography. We consider that the story is a good piece of art both in form and meaning. That is why we decide to use a formalism approach.

On the other hand, the story is told in allegory. An allegory (from Greek: αλλος, allos, "other", and αγορευειν, agoreuein, "to speak in public") is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal.

It is a form of extended metaphor, in which the objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy. Thus an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.

Allegory is generally treated as a figure of rhetoric, but an allegory does not have to be expressed in language: it may be addressed to the eye, and is often found in realistic painting, sculpture or some other form of mimetic, or representative art.

Furthermore, the story is also irony. It is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity or discordance between what a speaker or a writer says and what he or she means, or is generally understood.

There is some argument about what is or is not ironic, but all the different senses of irony revolve around the perceived notion of an incongruity between what is said and what is meant; or between an understanding of reality, or an expectation of a reality, and what actually happens.

Irony can be funny, but it does not have to be. It results when there is a disjunction between what an audience would expect and what really happens.

Death by Scrabble

DEATH BY SCRABBLE SUMMARY

by: Charlie Fish This story is about playing scrabble by a couple in their house on a hot Sunday afternoon. It describes the husband’s feelings of hatred. He imagines for going out, doing exercise or even sailing the Vendee Globe rather than playing scrabble with his wife. He has been in the house since Thursday morning, and he has none to talk to except his wife. The husband takes the first turn; he starts the game by playing the word “BEGIN”, 22 points. The wife takes her next turn and plays “JINXED”, 30 points. The husband has a bad habit for chewing on the tile. He begins to chew on the letter U. He plays the word “WARMER” and the heat of the sun is pushing at the husband through the window. As soon as the atmosphere becomes hotter the wife chooses to play the word “SWEATIER”. The husband is getting sweatier, he needs water to clean the air, and so whenever the thought crosses his mind, he plays the word “HUMID”, with U, which is chewed on by him. Next, the wife plays “FAN”, she tends to clear the air. She then gets up to fill the kettle and turns on the air conditioner. The next turn, the husband plays “ZAPS” and the wife gets the electric shock. The husband keeps thinking to find a way to kill his wife. As soon as the kettle starts whistling, it makes him feel hotter. The wife then plays “READY” and goes to pour a cup of tea for herself. When it comes to the husband’s turn, he plays a trick. He throws back his “V” and takes a blank tile from the letter bag. He plays “CHEATING” and the wife asks him if he has cheated. But, she chooses to play “IGNORE”. The husband hates her even more, he thinks to play a murderous word with his letter on his rack but still the best he can do is to play “SLEEP”. The wife sleeps all time, she does not even awake when the neighbor argues, breaks the door, smashes the TV and throws all the stuffing out of the house. On the next day she becomes annoying because lack of sleep. The husband tries to find a way to get rid of her. He plays “EXPLODES”, as he puts the last letter down, there is a bang and the air conditioning unit fails. Finally he realizes that all the words they make are coming to be real. She decides to play “SIGN”. The husband feels that he has to test this word. He wants to know if the words are coming to be true, so he must play a word to prove that the letter makes it happen. He starts to chew on the “B” and plays “FLY”. He imagines that by playing this word he will be able to fly, so he sits back in his chair and closes his eyes, waiting to fly. Unfortunately, it does not seem like the way it should be, he then finds a fly, an insect, buzzing around above the Scrabble board. Until then, he keeps thinking to find another unambiguous word, which cannot be misinterpreted, absolute and final. Something that is murderous. The wife takes her turn, she plays “CAUTION”. The husband has “AQWEUK” on his rack plus “B” in his mouth; suddenly it crosses on his mind, a perfect word, powerful, terrible and dangerous. He plays “QUAKE”. But just as the room begins to shake, the wife plays “DEATH”.The letter “B”, which is chewed by the husband lodged in his throat, he fails to cough and dies. He falls to the floor, and the wife just sits there, watching.