Don't Let Him In

Part 1 establishes the story’s premise, foreshadows later revelations, builds a suspenseful atmosphere, and contains important details of characterization. Chapter 1 establishes that the as-yet-unnamed delivery man, Nick Radcliffe, once knew Paddy Swann and holds a grudge against him. Since Paddy is dead, Nick is carrying out his revenge on his wife and children, which characterizes him as cold and unfeeling, especially as his plan is being enacted on the heels of Paddy’s funeral. Chapter 2 continues the scene from Chapter 1, but switches to the family’s perspective, establishing that the family has just laid Paddy Swann to rest following his shocking murder. The juxtaposition of these two chapters lays out the story’s central conflict, between the scheming Nick and the grieving family, but by introducing Nick’s voice first, Jewell immediately establishes the dark tone of the narrative and its psychological thriller genre. A common convention of the genre is to offer a prologue or first chapter in the criminal’s voice, creating dramatic irony, in this case, that highlights how the Swanns have no idea that they are being targeted.

These chapters also hew to the psychological thriller genre as they create suspense and they generate questions about what Nick will do to the Swanns and what event in Paddy’s past motivates Nick—Nick mentions Paddy’s “really bad mistake” but does not clarify what that mistake was (4). The details in Chapter 2, characterizing Paddy as a cheerful, beloved family man that the Swanns feel lost without, build empathy for the family, heightening the sense that the danger hovering over the Swanns is cruel and unjust.

Nick is characterized as callous, greedy, and dangerous. His thoughts as he approaches the Swann house focus on the home’s expensive details, and his envy shows how motivated he is by money and status. He notes that he rarely bothers to think about other people, foreshadowing the later revelation that he is dangerously lacking in empathy. Because Nick is also a first-person narrator, the reader is privy not just to his thoughts but also to their tone. He is matter-of-fact about his plans, reinforcing the characterization of him as cold and unfeeling, and his calculated perspective and plans establish one of the novel’s prominent themes, The Insidious Nature of Psychological Manipulation.

The third-person narrator of Chapter 2 focuses on Ash’s perspective, establishing her as the story’s protagonist, the family’s best hope of defeating whatever nefarious plans Nick has in mind. She is characterized as caring and tactful as she deals with the unexpected delivery of flowers, deliberately minimizing any stress on her mother. She looks at photos of her father and shares memories with her brother, Arlo, showing that she is also a loving sibling. Chapter 2 ends with this sympathetic character wondering how the family will manage to move on after Paddy’s death, reinforcing just how lost and grieving the Swanns really are. This is a portrait of a family dealing with loss, but it also establishes a loving family with competent, intelligent, and compassionate members. With this characterization, Jewell ensures that the Swanns cannot be seen as responsible for whatever Nick is planning for them, developing the novel’s exploration of The Universality of Vulnerability to Scams.