The Analysis of Herbert Ernest Bates' Short Story "The Song of the Wren"

The story is open-ended. The author leaving the reader to question what would happen next. The story ends in a cliffhanger about Mr. Adamson and how “There were clearly things of greater importance on his mind”, leaving the reader wondering what they were. One thing that is especially interesting about the last sentence is how the meaning of it changes, depending on where the stress is put. If one chooses to stress the word his, it suggests that Mr. Adamson finds the things on Miss Shuttleworth’s mind of greater importance as well, and she has made an impact on him, but if the stress is put elsewhere, it suggests that Mr. Adamson simply started to think about something important, and Miss Shuttleworth is not the reason behind it.
In conclusion, the story is rich in various stylistic devices and multiple cases of subtext that make the story much more colourful, and makes the reader want to re-read it multiple times because once one starts analysing the text and notices all the hidden messages, the story becomes significantly more meaningful.
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