Analysis Of A Television Drama, By Jane Rules

The story A Television Drama, by Jane Rule is an exciting story about an unusual event, which the main character, Carolee Mitchell, experiences the end of. The story is about her quiet street becoming unusually busy with police officers, and how the man who is being chased by these officers ends up being outside her front door. Through the point of view of the story, the characterization and character change of Carolee Mitchell, and the setting of the story, A Television Drama is an exciting read. The story conveys how important it is to be aware of ones surroundings, and what is happening around oneself through these elements.
The point of view of the story is third person limited. The reader only knows what Carolee knows, and is only finding

out informations as Carolee finds out. The use of third person limited allows the reader to understand how important it is to be aware of ones surroundings, because of how unaware Carolee is of her surrounds makes the reader unaware as well. Carolee appears to be in her own world, and not paying attention, “… Carolee Mitchell was running the vacuum cleaner, or she would have heard the first sirens and looked out,” (147). Although she was vacuuming, which albeit makes a certain amount of noise, all of the police cars arriving on her street should have been louder. On page 148, it is said that, “Suddenly there was a voice magnified to reach even Carolee, surprised and unbelieving behind her picture window.” By saying that the voice was so magnified it, “[reached] even Carolee” (148), it further proves that the point of view helps to convey how important it is to know ones surroundings, and to know what is happening around oneself. The point of view being of the third person is essential to communicate the theme of this story, because of how using the third person involves clues that allow the reader to see how the main character reacts to situations.
The theme of A Television Drama is also shown through characterization.

Carolee comes across as unaware and quiet at the beginning of the story, which she also appears to be alright with. She comes up with ideas about how to find out what is happening, but does not use these ideas which she comes up with. Once Carolee realized what was happening, she debated with herself about whether or not, “… she should go out just to find out what on Earth was going wrong.” (148) She ultimately ended up staying indoors, which caused her to remain unaware of her surroundings. This makes the reader want to know what is happening, and why Carolee is alright with being so unaware of her surroundings. Carolee continues to look out her window, and listening to what she can hear, but none of the information she is hearing about is telling her what is happening in her front yard. She chooses to let the information come to her, rather than finding out herself. When she hears the police officers mention a house to house search, the narrator says, “If one of those policemen standing about on the street would come to search the house, Carolee could at least find out what was going on.” (149) The character traits given to Carolee furthermore relate to the theme, because of her unwillingness to find out what is happening in her

neighbourhood.
The setting of A Television Drama furthermore relates to how important it is to know ones surroundings. The story is set on a residential street, which the main character, Carolee, lives on. Most of the story relates to Carolee’s home, and the way this home is described makes it seem like it is a safe zone, such as, “… behind her picture window.” (148) Her window being describes as a picture makes her home seem as though it is a bubble, in which nothing bad can happen, and that she is completely safe when she is inside. This implied level of safety appears to make Carolee think that she does not need to know what is happening outside, because she is in her safe bubble. Carolee, “Went to the window in Pete’s study see if she could discover activity on the side street.” (149) In this scene, the setting describes there only being a few more policemen on the street. Although at this point Carolee is choosing to look out her window at what is happening around her, she never leaves her the quiet, safe setting of her home to find out what the actual situation is around her. The setting of the story is revealed to be considered the safe indoors that Carolee lives in, rather than going to find out what is happening in the world around her.
A Television Drama is a perfect example of why it is important to be aware of ones surroundings. Through the point of view, characterization of Carolee Mitchell, and the setting, the biggest message is how important it is to know what is happening around oneself. The story describes the main character as not wanting to know what is happening, which leaves the reader with a feeling of how important it is to know whats happening around them.