Texts for stylistic analysis

LIVE WITH LIGHTENING

by Mitchell Wilson
Professor Earle Fox ignored for the second time the buzzing signal from his secretary in the adjoining office. He
stared at the switch on the interoffice telephone and postponed permission to the outside world to flood in and nag
him. For still one more moment he roamed unhappily about his inner emptiness, seeking, this thousandth time, for a
sigh of what had gone wrong with his life.
His office was in the southwest corner of the twelfth floor of the Physics Building. The walls were panelled
because this was the office of the department chairman; and because the department was physics, the panels held
smell engraved portraits of Newton, Leibnitz, Farady and other scientists. From one window, he could look at
Barnard College and beyond this, at the Palisades. From the other window, one saw the four large city blocks of
university buildings and lawns: while beyond everything was the August haze. Sometimes, Fox would turn around in
his deep swivel chair and stare blindly out one window or the other, but now he pondered the blankness of his desk.
Lazily, almost without caring, he depressed the toggle switch and allowed his secretary to talk to him.
"Professor Fox, Mr. Erik Gorki is here to see you."
He frowned. Now who the devil was Erik Gorin? From habit Fox said nothing when he was puzzled, and so his
secretary's voice continued with a tactful hint.
"I've put off your other appointments for a while, just as you said so that you could see the new assistant as soon as
he arrived." "Oh yes," said Fox. "Have him come in, please." Earle Fox was only fifty-four, but he felt timeless and
ancient. After twenty-seven years of research he was out of love with his science. Realization had come slowly,
against his reluctance, and then in the end with a small explosion. He was listening to a paper being read, and he
found himself asking "Who cares?" It was the first open admission that curiosity was dead, and he was surprised in
the way a man look at Iris wife one morning and think, "Why, I haven't loved her for years!"
In the beginning of his career, Fox had been mildly socialist in accordance with a fashion of the decade of the
century, and to overcome this lapse, Mrs. Fox had cultivated the proper people while he worked assiduously at his
laboratory investigations. The promotions had come regularly, and only after he had received his full professorship
did he realize that his wife deserved more credit for his position than did his research, which had been steady,
undramatic, and ahead of his time. The Nobel Prize was given to him in 1924 when the advent of wave mechanics
had revealed the importance of his work, ten years after his famous experiment had been performed. But the
recognition came to crown his wife's achievement and not his, because he was already chairman of the department.
Now, in 1931, he listened with a diffuse sadness to the younger man as they wrangled over differences in theory and
fine points in each other's experiments. He envied their immersion in work with me dim vagueness of one who
doesn't really want the return of what he has regretfully lost Recently, this emptiness had become intolerable and Fox
longed for an earthquake to shake him back to life, or a sudden passion for an idea, for a woman, even for a girl - for
anything, no matter how unsuitable. All he wanted was to be made to care again, but each night he took up his
briefcase and walked home to dinner at 117th Street and Riverside Drive, apartment 12 D.
The door to his office opened, and he saw a young man, about twenty-one, enter behind his secretary. Erik
Gorin was a little above middle height, slender, and wearing not very good clothes. He had dark living eyes and
straight black hair that grew to a precise widow's peak.
"Mr. Gorin," said the secretary.
Fox rose to shake hands, and men asked the young man to sit down. His own voice sounded cold to him, and
he wished it could be more affable. He returned to his chair and tried to remember who had recommended Gorin
because that was how these interviews had to be started.

"Dr. Hollingworth?" Fox asked suddenly. "How is he?"

"Very well sir," said Gorin. He spoke in a slow steady voice, and he sat up straight as though prepared
for any onslaught. But he had to clear his throat before answering, and Fox felt sorry for him even though
he was sure that the quick eyes would have been amazed at any expression of sympathy.
Don't be impressed by me, Fox wanted to say, I just wish to God that I were you. He saw the bright
watchful face and the eager intelligence it held. My God, he thought, he's scared, he's probably hungry,
and he still wants to set the world on fire.
"We're very glad to have you here, Mr. Gorin," he said gently. "This year we've taken on one new
assistant.7 You've come with excellent recommendations and you'll have every opportunity to live up to
them. As you know, you'll be teaching freshman physics lab while you take your own courses towards
your doctorate. You'll probably find the first year rather confusing and hard work between the two
schedules, but things will straighten out for you after a while. Is there any field of physics in which you're
especially interested so far?"
"No," said Erik after the slightest hesitation. "I really don't know enough about any of them yet. All I
had as an undergraduate were the usual courses in mechanics, light, thermodynamics and electricity."
Fox nodded. He knew that Gorin must have been tortures; for a moment by the conflict between the
fear that he might make a poor impression and the desire to tell the truth. But Fox had been through this
interview on the average of twice a year for twelve years and the answer was standard, just as all life to
Fox had become a stereotype.
"You'll have plenty of time to make up your mind," he said, and there are any number of researches
going on your work won't start for another two weeks. Professor Beans is the man to whom you'll be
responsible for your undergraduate teaching. He gives the freshman physics lecture. Professor Cameron
will be your adviser in your graduate work. In the meantime, leave your address with Miss Prescott, the
secretary. Each year just before the semester starts, Mrs. Fox and I hold an open house for all the members
of the staff so that the new men can meet everyone else. Naturally, we're expecting you, but Mrs. Fox will
prefer to send you an invitation anyhow."
This just about to made up the usual speech and Fox knew that his tone had warmed as he went along.
He took a certain satisfaction in his performance, and he was prepared to bring down the curtain before he
retreated into himself again. Was there anything he had left out, he wondered. The invitation, the names of
Beans and Cameron, the general air of encouragement - he had remembered them all. Oh yes, one more
touch...
"And did you have a pleasant summer, Mr. Gorin?" "A pleasant summer?" Erik was silent for the time of
two long breathes. His dark gaze never moved from Fox's face. "No, sir," he said explosively. "I damn
well did not have a pleasant summer!"
Questions:
1. Introductory part of the novel it can be subdivided into smaller fragments each dealing with a

certain theme and having a certain function in the development of the narration, please discuss
that.(themes, register, narrative quality)
2. Discuss the syntax and vocabulary of the excerpt.
3. Discuss the ironical tone. Who is ironic and towards what?
4. Discuss the important difference in the manner of presentation of the two characters.

Stylistic Analysis
The text under consideration is the introductory part of the well-known novel Live with Lightening by
M.Wilson. (Born in 1913, main works:None to Blind, 1945, The Panick Stricken, 1946, The Kimballs, 1947,
My Brother, My Enemy, 1952). The novel is remarkable from many points of view - it is, perhaps, one of the
first novels which opened to the reading public quite a new sphere of life -science, and the men of science
who are playing the ever increasing part in the life of modern society.
M. Wilson was one of those artists who were the first to put forth die problem of moral
responsibility of scientists for their work, for consequences their investigations and discoveries bring
upon the mankind. The very title of the novel which was differently but all the same poorly translated into
Russian ( " "- in the first edition of 1952, " " - the second publication) is
very suggestive by itself -"Live [laiv] with Lightning" is a technical term meaning "
" and the title renders not only the "professional orientation" of the novel but the very
atmosphere of the novel - the atmosphere of struggle and .compromise, love and hatred, moral
responsibility and moral unscrupulousness, the conflict between "Pure" science and the application of its
achievements for practical ends.
The conflict mentioned is reflected in the composition of the novel -it consists of the three books "The Laboratory", "Between the Laboratory and the World", "The World", outlining in this manner the
life story of the main character of the novel - a young scientist Erik Gorki.
The extract acquaints the reader with the two major characters of the novel; - Professor Earle Fox and
Erik Gorin.
Though the extract is an introductory part of the novel it can be subdivided into smaller fragments each
dealing with a certain theme and having a certain function in the development of the narration.
The first paragraph may be treated as a separate fragment. It is built, in terms of cinema terminology, like
"a close up". The author yet says nothing about the age, appearance, position of the person described, but,
in each of the three sentences which make the paragraph he mentions some details ("...ignored for the
second time the buzzing signal "...stared "postponed permission to the outside world to flood in..."
-remember the titles of the books constituting the novel roamed unhappily about his inner emptiness,
seeking, this thousandth time, for a sign of what had gone wrong with his life") which direct the reader's
attention to Fox's inner state - his uneasiness, unhappiness, this uncertain feeling that something had gone wrong.
Syntactical constructions used in the fragment - are stylistically neutral only in the third sentence the author uses
inversion - "For still one more moment he roamed unhappily..."stressing once more Fox's reluctance and uneasiness.
The words used are also neutral but at the same time some of them are rich in connotations - the verbs "to ignore", "to
stare", "to roam" may imply aimless actions. The outside world is something alien and hostile to Fox and to stress it
the author uses metaphor here "...the outside world to flood and nag him" Standing in an evident contrast with another
metaphor "he roamed unhappily about his Inner emptiness".
The second fragment beginning with the second paragraph and ending with the sentence "Earle Fox was only
fifty-four" presents the scene of the action. The author proceeds from smaller to bigger and bigger objects of
description - first, again like a close up - dean's office in the Physics department of the Columbia University and then as a panorama - some details of the University and New York landscape. At the same time the author again stresses
Fox's alienation from the outside world, using the same word "to stare" as in the first paragraph: "Fox would... stare
blindly out of one window or the other..." but this time it means much more for firstly it is used in the modal phrase
"would... stare" indicating a habitual action characteristic of Fox's state of mind in general and, secondly, it is stressed
by epithet "blindly".
The last sentence of the description like the last sentence in the first fragment begins with inversion-"Lazily, almost
without caring, he depressed the toglyle switch..." Note here the usage of the word "to care" for it would be repeated
again and again later with some new shades of meaning.
The plot moves ahead - Professor Fox is to meet the new assistant, a certain Erik Gorin.
But a new fragment - the three paragraphs which follow suspend the action. This fragment presents the so-called
flashbacks description of Fox's previous life and career which explains his present state of mind.
Using a sustained comparison the author shows mat Fox had completely lost interest in his work was out of love
with his science like a man' who fell out of love with his wife." The word "to care" is used again ("Who cares?") and

is used in the next paragraph but one too -"All he wanted was to be made to care again..." stressing bits desire to find
any interest in life anew.
The second paragraph gives a brief account of Fox's career-a talented research worker whose Experiments though
steady and undramatic were ahead of his time was recognized' not due to his own achievements but due to the social
activities of his wife. This is shown by me usage of an emphatic construction and stylistic inversion "...only after he
had received his full professorship did he realize that..." The disillusionment in his work brought a moral crisis. But
Fox does not know and does not took for any way out. The vagueness of his feelings and sensations is shown by
several epithets "diffuse sadness", "dim vagueness.'
The author is somewhat ironical in the description of Fox's career but his irony is directed not so much against Fox
but against the circumstances of his life. The ironical tone of the description is created by the combination
(constellation) of high-flown words and phrases-"in accordance with a fashion", "worked assiduously", "to crown his
wife's achievement", "famous experiment", with rather colloquial ones-"mildly socialist", "to overcome the lapse", "to
cultivate the proper people". Note also the 'use of antithesis in the description Mrs. Fox had cultivated the proper
people while he worked assiduously at his laboratory investigations."
The discrepancy between Fox's longings and hopes is stressed by the last sentence of this fragment. Emphatic
construction of the first clause describing the inner state of his mind and very general in meaning-"All he wanted was
to be made to care again..." is connected, by the disjunctive conjunction "but" which connects- the second clause
enumerating in a business-like way the external details of his routine life - a briefcase, dinner, his home address. The
next fragment is a lengthy one - it contains all the paragraphs to follow but the last one. This fragment describes a
conversation between Professor Fox and Erik Gorin. The two characters are shown in a sharp contrast. For Erik Fox
it is a routine procedure which he had, on the average of twice a year, for Erik Gorki all this is absolutely
new and exciting. It is interesting to note the important difference in the manner of presentation of the two
characters. Fox is "presented by the author as it were, from within" - the author never says a word about
his appearance but pays a. great deal of attention to the description of his feelings - Fox not only acts and
speaks-he at the same time analyses his words and his acts - "his voice sounded cold to him", "he wished
it could be more affable", "Fox felt sorry for him", etc. It is not by chance that while describing Earle Fox
the author very often employs the reported speech to show Fox's thoughts and feelings. Erik Gorin. on the
other hand, is being described mainly "from outside" - the author mentions a number of details of Gorin's
portrait "about twenty-one", "little above middle height, slender, and wearing not very good clothes",
"dark Irving eyes and straight black hair that grew to a precise widow's peak", "slow steady voice", "sat up
straight "quick eyes" "bright watchful face and the eager intelligence it held", "dark gaze'. And only some
seemingly minor details show how he is excited and nervous.
Professor Fox's speech is an example of the standard conversational English it's syntactic structures,
choice of words and set expressions are typical of mat type of speech.
The closing paragraph may be treated as a culmination of the whole extract. Professor Fox- had played
his part to perfection - it is not by chance that the author uses the word "performance" here. "The
invitation, the names of Beans: and Cameron, the general air of encouragement - he had remembered
them all" - and he is ready to retreat into himself again. Fox seems to have protected himself from the
intrusion of the outer world. But (he traditional procedure of the interview ends unexpectedly - a formal
and polite question about the past summer results in an unexpected outburst on Erik Gorin's part preparing
the reader for a new turn of the narration.