Classification. A single scene sketch; it is like a charcoal drawing.
Plot. The plot, concealed beneath the picture, lies in the objectifying of the eternal struggle for bread and meat.
Setting. The place is the street near the theatre door: like a magnet it draws the individual human beings, who cohere in the mass until the attracting power is removed.
Characters. This mass, or aggregate, emphasizes the individual struggle, at the same time it engulfs individual personality. What does the name “Supers” indicate, literally? Figuratively? What part does Red Beard play? How does he, too, contribute to the larger unity at the same time he offers a note of contrast?
Atmosphere. Sordid, drab realism, uncompromising in its ugliness.
BUSTER
Opening Incident. Emphasis falls at once on the society which the hero disconcerts. The correctness of living, the tranquil setting, provide the formal serenity he is to break. “Lucien forgot himself completely,” note the effect of the impeccable chauffeur’s exclamation as testimony to the “demon boy.” The reader, startled with the characters into attention, catches the epithet up with interest and expectation.
Are the recounted escapades and the antecedent scene necessary? or, in the wealth of instance which follows, does the recountal seem extensive? Is the relaxation so effected pleasant? Does the rehearsal of the antecedent episode slow the tempo and hold the story back unnecessarily? Besides revealing Buster, the material permits the cousin’s mental distress to accumulate in effect and allows time for the race to and from Boston.
Within the economy of the first picture, Buster’s manner, the striking factor of his aspect, and his adolescent growth are suggested. Notice that the following scene enlarges the same points. Notice that in this scene and the others between Buster and his aunts, Buster does the talking. The aunts interpose, occasionally, protest and reasoning. Do the scenes lack excitement other than Buster’s excitement? There is not the vigorous clash of speech with speech; for that, the characters are too well mannered. If the struggle wants intensity, is there compensation in the naturalness of the futile boyish tirading? Buster seems to fume?
The trouble at the bakery serves to remind the reader that Buster, in the apparent lull, is intent on his own purposes. It serves, also, to divert the reader’s mind from the preparation for the aeroplane incident.