54 pages • 1 hour read
Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1956
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Introduction
“Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket”
- Genre: Fiction; realistic short story
- Originally Published: 1956
- Reading Level/Interest: Adult
- Structure/Length: Approx. 22 pages
- Protagonist and Central Conflict: Tom, an ambitious young corporate employee, stays home to work on a memo while his wife goes to the movies. When his notes fly out the window and land on the 11th-floor ledge of his apartment building, Tom climbs out to retrieve them and has time to contemplate what really matters in life.
Jack Finney, Author
- Bio: Born in 1911 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; died in 1995; worked in advertising in New York City before starting to write short stories; wrote mostly thrillers and science fiction; his novel The Body Snatchers was adapted as a movie four times—as Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1956 and 1978, as Body Snatchers in 1993, and as The Invasion in 2007; received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (1987)
- Other Works: “Such Interesting Neighbors” (short story; 1951); “Of Missing Persons” (short story; 1955); The Body Snatchers (novel; 1955); Time and Again (novel; 1970)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
- The Consequences of Unbridled Ambition
- Controlling and Overcoming Fear
- The Will to Live
STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:
- Gain an understanding of the social and cultural contexts regarding the post-WWII economic boom that motivate the story’s main character.
