Point of View

"The Door in the Wall" is told from the point of view of Redmond, Wallace's friend. Redmond speaks in the first person ("I") as he relates Wallace's story. At first, Redmond does not know if he should believe his friend's wild tale: "But whether he himself saw, or only thought he saw, whether he himself was the possessor of an inestimable privilege, or the victim of a fantastic dream, I cannot pretend to guess." The reader is more willing to believe Wallace's fantastic story because it is filtered through the sensible, trustworthy voice of Redmond, the narrator. This particular point of view also allows the reader to find out about Wallace's demise, something that would not have been possible if Wallace told the story himself, although it prevents readers from knowing what Wallace's final thoughts were.

Symbols

"The Door in the Wall" relies heavily on symbols...