The Landlady Analysis

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“The Landlady”

1. On page 73, the author uses the words: brisk, briskly, and briskness in the first full paragraph. Billy states that, "briskness is a common characteristic of all successful businessmen." What does the author mean by this word and what is the significance of being "brisk" in the story? The plot of the story develops quite slowly, which represents the contrary of briskness. So, as Billy referred occasionally to this quality as an ideal of his, he didn’t really commit to put it in it. When confronted to the landlady, his sweet manner left aside the briskness that could have saved his youthful deceived mind.

2. When Billy arrives in the city of Bath, the first thing he needs to do is find lodgings. Why is he debating between …show more content…
As Billy is almost remembering the connection between the two boys, what effect did the interruptions from the landlady have on the story? The interruptions increase the effect of mystery, because that means that she’s trying to hide something, since she doesn’t want Billy to discover her lie and obviously her plan.

12. What can the reader infer, using evidence from the text, about the two boys that are missing? What does this information lead the reader to believe concerning Billy's possible fate? The two boys have a year difference and Billy one too from the last one. So this is some sort of pattern following. The two young boys are related and share some similar features: they are young, handsome and own a good physique. Since Billy is part of this circle, it means he’s going to end up like them. The lady says that they’re still there, stuffed out and that’s how his end is going to be signed too.

13. What other evidence from the story suggests a possible, fatal demise for Billy? The fact that he sips tea that tastes like bitter almonds, implies that he drank in fact cyanide, signing his death. Also the fact that she used to stuff out the dead pets and that the boys were still there, meant that he’s going to be there forever, joining her mutual
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