The Malice of Inanimate Objects and A Vignette Summary

THE MALICE OF INANIMATE OBJECTS

The narrator muses that sometimes it may seem that inanimate objects are out to get us. He relates a conversation between two elderly men. One of the men, Mr. Burton, has cut himself shaving that morning. The two men read about an acquaintance who has died after his throat was slit. The men go for a walk, and Mr. Burton keeps getting tripped up by inanimate objects. They see a kite and Burton puts his cane through it. Later, Burton takes a train home after visiting his friends, but is found with his throat slit.

A VIGNETTE

The narrator asks the reader to think of a spacious garden outside a country rectory. There is a gate that leads to a nearby park. The narrator...