Narrative Perspective Of The Short Story 'Lost Keys' By Paul Milenski

The narrative perspective of the short story “Lost Keys”, by Paul Milenski, is first person. The narrator is a guy named Ron and he goes fishing with an old man. By having the story told from Ron’s perspective, the reader learns that the old man is changed from being organized and very independent, to forgetful and clumsy. This can be seen when Ron says, “After his retirement, he slowed down a little. One time he fell on a slippery rock and broke his glasses. Another time, he got caught in the middle of the stream.” This shows how that as the old man got older, he became clumsier. The reader can also tell that the old man has changed because at the beginning of the story Ron tells us that the old man would leave the keys with him, but after the old man

retired, he started to keep the keys with him. This can be interpreted as the old man doing this so that he could still feel responsible, even though he was clumsier than he was before.

The reader could also tell that the old man became more forgetful when he is talking about losing the keys to the truck. He says he cannot find the keys and he has looked all over for them, but he was sitting on them while he was sitting against the wheel hub. The old man also includes that he did not remember taking the keys out of the ignition. If the narrative perspective was changed from being first person from Ron’s point of view, to being from the old man’s point of view, the reader would understand other things. The old man might say something like “I wish things could be the way they were before I retired. I have been having a difficult time getting used to the changes that come with my aging. I cannot believe I lost those keys, I have searched everywhere. I cannot believe my mind is going like this. I do not want to be this dependent on other people. I do not want to leave this stream because this could be the last time I am able to go out and fish.” The old man could say something like this because he is disappointed that he was becoming more dependent on other

people. This is because he says, “I deserve to be left out here in the rain…I’m losing everything lately.” This quote shows how he is unhappy with the fact that he is forgetful and has to rely on other people.

There were several main elements of the plot of this story. The events that were told throughout the story are in chronological order. The story begins with Ron telling the reader about how the old man used to go fishing and would not want to be accompanied by anyone. Ron later tells the reader about how he would joke with the old man when they talked to Ron’s brother about fishing. He goes on to tell us how the old man would throw the keys to Ron and disappear until he was done fishing. After an unknown amount of time, Ron goes on to explain that the old man retired and that he “slowed down a little.” He then tells the reader that the old man started to keep the keys on him when he went off to fish. Ron ends the story by telling about a specific time when the old man thought he lost the keys, but he had them and was sitting on them. The way these events are placed in the story impacts the reader’s understanding. The reader can understand how the old man was significantly changed as time went on. If the order of the plot was different, the reader could have a different understanding of the story. For example, if the story started with how the old man thought he lost his keys, and then went back to how he acted before he retired, it would make the story more complex. The reader would possibly be confused about what is so important about a typical older man forgetting things.