The Third Policeman

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In The Third Policeman by Brian O'Nolan, Old Man Mathers' house serves as a portal to the unnamed protagonist story. In the beginning of the novel, the protagonist and his cohort John Divney conspire to steal money from the elderly man. Their plan culminates in the old man's death, and John Divney allegedly taking the money contained within a black box from Mathers' house. After continually pestering John Divney about the money, the protagonist is told that the money was buried underneath the floorboards of the deceased man's house. The protagonist goes back to Mathers' home, and, while looking for the money, accidentally sets of a landmine inside the house, killing him, and sending him to the afterlife. The protagonist remains unaware of the fact that he is dead, as he meets several characters in this new state of existence that behave bizarrely, and hinder his quest to find the black box full of money. …show more content…

When he sets off the landmine, it causes the explosion that ends his life, and enables the start of his journey in what can be considered to be Purgatory, or even Hell. The protagonist, unaware that he has triggered an explosion, finds the formerly empty house to suddenly and mysteriously occupied by its currently deceased owner, Old Man Mathers. The apparition, after an awkward and tense confrontation with the intruder, suggests that the protagonist journey to the police barracks, as they seem to be very capable in the art of finding lost items. After spending the night sleeping in the bed of the man whom he had previously murdered, the protagonist sets off to find the policemen, which sets off the chain of events that ultimately lead to his misadventures in his journey to find the stolen

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