Answer to Question #176868 in English for Ralph

Question

from the story SORRY WRONG NUMBER

.                 Suspense and Atmosphere---  

 What did Mrs. Stevenson feel with her conversation with 

each of the following characters? 

Why? 

What happened to each conversation?

(10 points)

 

Conversation with the First Operator: 

 

Convo w/ the Chief Operator:      

 

Convo w/ Sgt. Duffy:

 

Convo w/ the man from Western Union:

 

Convo w/ the Woman at the Hospital:

Answer 1

Mrs. Stevenson's traits are fearful, agitated, and paranoid. Being the main character in the story, she is portrayed as a person with a disability and has been bed-ridden due to an unknown illness.

Conversation with the First Operator:

At first, Mrs. Stevenson dials the operator, and she requests that the operator try the number, hoping the operator will be able to get through. When the operator is successful, Mrs. Stevenson does not recognize the man who answers. She repeatedly asks who the man is, then asking for her husband, but the man does not hear her. Mrs. Stevenson calls the operator again and becomes frustrated when the operator tells her that it is impossible to trace the phone call Mrs. Stevenson had been mistakenly connected to. Mrs. Stevenson replies by calling the operator "stupid." The operator redials the same number that Mrs. Stevenson had previously requested, but the line is once again busy. Mrs. Stevenson feels highly irritated when she realizes that operator does not know how to call the wrong number again.

Convo w/ the Chief Operator:

Mrs. Stevenson repeats her story of how she has overheard a murder plot, but she can provide no names, nor can she tell the operator the number where these men can be called but demand that the chief operator trace the phone call. Fortunately, the Chief operator realizes that she doesn't have any official policy or government title. She is just an ordinary private citizen; she tells Mrs. Stevenson that she should call the police first, who then proceeds to call the police. She feels relaxed and relieved.

Convo w/ Sgt. Duffy:

When Sgt. Duffy receives the call; Mrs. Stevenson gives complete details about what she overhead on the murder plan, though she does not have clear hints about the location. The more Duffy questions Mrs. Stevenson, the less interested he is in her story. Duffy tells her that there are many murders committed in the city every day, and he adds unless, of course, she has some reason for thinking that that call was phony and that someone was planning to murder her, but this makes her preposterous. She tells Duffy that her husband is "crazy" about her. Duffy says that since her husband is so devoted, Mrs. Stevenson has nothing to worry about, and she should relax and let the police handle the situation. He promises to take care of things, but this makes her more frustrated.

Convo w/ the man from Western Union:

This call makes her abandoned by her husband as her husband was not going to come home that day, and he has been trying to call her but constantly busy. She feels more unsettled than ever when she remembers another similar incident two years back.

Convo w/ the woman at the Hospital:

She dials the Hospital's number and asks for a nurse, no one in particular. She wants a professional to come to her house. However, the receptionist who answers the phone tells Mrs. Stevenson that their nursing staff is short of people, and she has been told to send out nurses only in cases of emergency. To have a nurse come to Mrs. Stevenson's house, she would have to have a doctor's permission. She yells at the woman on the phone and tells her about the murder plan she has overheard. She also tells the woman that she has a disability. The woman on the phone says that a nurse by the name of Miss Phillips might come, but Miss Phillips went out for dinner at eleven o'clock. Mrs. Stevenson is caught off guard as she was not aware it was already late. While they are talking with the woman, she hears a click of a person downstairs. She feels more confused and hangs up.