Little Old Lady From Cricket Creek
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Transcript Little Old Lady From Cricket Creek
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Little Old Lady From Cricket Creek
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Setting
The story takes place in Southern California at the Great
Riveroak Insurance Company.
Mabel Jumpstone claims she is from Cricket Creek,
California, which is supposedly up north.
The story is dated because there are no computers and all
writing is done on manual typewriters
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Characters
Mabel Jumpstone is a 65-year-old secretary.
She is described as resembling an old gray mare the first
time we meet her, but she is extremely competent and proves
to be a whiz at typing.
She is hired despite her age and in a short time, becomes the
most popular employee at the insurance company.
Mabel is a stereotypical character because at first, she fits
the stereotype as a ‘typical old lady.’
She is also a round character because we learn she has
several sides to her personality.
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Characters
Ralph Cummings is an associate at the insurance company.
Ralph is also the narrator of the story and we get an insight
into everything that happens through him.
Ralph has an active part in hiring Mabel Jumpstone and as we
later learn, is in on Mabel’s duplicity.
Ralph is a round character because he has several sides to
his personality.
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Characters
Art Bowen is another associate at Great Riveroak Insurance
Company.
Art also has an active part in interviewing and hiring Mabel
Jumpstone, but is not in on her duplicity.
Art is a flat character because he is a minor character and we
know little about him.
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Point of View
The story is told in the first person point of view
Ralph Cummings is the narrator
Because the story is told through Ralph’s eyes, we as the
readers are only given partial information.
What we find out about the other characters and events in the
story is limited to what Ralph tells us.
This increases the surprise at the end of the story when we
discover that Ralph and Mabel are related.
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Theme
The story is a humorous account of how easy it is to be deceived
by appearances.
To begin with, there is the hint of prejudice against hiring such
an old employee whom they are sure will only be able to type
“ten words a minute.”
Mabel proves them wrong after having gained their trust by
playing the part of of the innocent, little old lady, and robs them
blatantly.
The narrator’s involvement in the scheme is not made clear until
the end of the story
Nothing is what it appears to be in “Little Old Lady from Cricket
Creek”
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Irony
Irony is when the outcome of a situation is inconsistent with
what we expect would logically or normally occur. It is the
reverse of what we expect will be or happen.
Mabel is deliberately described as a typically “harmless”
eccentric old lady.
She does not fit the stereotype of a hardened bank robber,
which creates a sense of irony of character and adds to the
humour of the story.