here are the key quotes for the short story the telegram by ian crichton smith one they were like two birds one a fat domestic bird perhaps the other more aqualine more gaunt or to be precise more like a buzzard here the use of bird simile to accentuate the contrast between the two women is highly effective domestics suggest that the fat woman belongs in the village and is comfortable there as she's a native as well as emphasizing her return shape whereas the word choice of aquiline highlights the sharp features of the thin woman and the comparison to a bird of prey which flies above fat domestic birds implies that she looks down on the fat woman and the other woman of the village and that she has to be constantly vigilant to survive 2. it came on them as a strange plague taking their sons away and then killing them meaninglessly randomly another effective simile is used here by crichton smith when he compares the destructiveness of war to a plague just as a plague is an insidious infectious disease that people are terrified of catching because it kills them so too the destructiveness of war causes people to be afraid and results in death this skillfully develops the themes of loss and the destructiveness of war and the word choice of meaningless underlines the futility or pointlessness of war 3. people began to think of the telegram as a strange missile pointed at them from abroad by using the imagery of a missile a weapon of destruction that is aimed at a target to convey the effects of the yellow telegrams on a household and its inhabitants the writer makes clear the devastating impact of these telegrams on families just as a missile destroys its target so too the arrival of a telegram causes irreversible damage to the families affected four a weapon that left desolation just like any other weapon this extends the previous imagery and would also be useful to quote as an example of how language is used very effectively in this short story particularly to convey the effects of war and its destructiveness 5. the fat woman's cow used to eat the thin woman's washing this incident could be seen as typical of the sort of minor dramas that are so much part of life in a small rural community such as the one where the telegram is set this adds a light touch of humor and contrasts starkly with the darkness of the wartime setting it also highlights the trivial and petty nature of squabbles in such small communities six this was a bare village with little colour and therefore the yellow was both strange and unnatural the word choice of bear suggests that this is a sparsely populated village and that not much happens there and provides important information about the setting of the village moreover as there is little color it sounds as if it's a fairly dull place so the bright yellow of the telegram stands out against the elders black clothing and against the dullness of the village in general emphasizing the telegrams significance and the words strange and unnatural add to this seven they were both frightened for he could be coming to their house the word choice of frightened here makes clear to the reader just how scared the women are and the use of the word both serves to underline that this is a shared fear but it is not unique to them as the impact of war is felt by whole communities nationwide eight they looked at each other wildly it must be one of them surely three short blunt sentences are used here and this structure emphasizes the woman's shock and terror the word choice of wildly suggests an almost animalistic fear once again drawing on nature to describe the woman 9. he didn't mix with people and he always carried the bible into the pulpit for the minister the reference to the importance of carrying the bible gives the reader some insight into the importance of the church as the bible is seen as a religious symbol the fact that he does not socialize much accentuates that the elder is insular just like most of the village's inhabitants he appears proud to be the bearer of the telegrams or at least that is what the prejudiced fat woman believes before the truth emerges and she also snipes that he's not even served in the war himself after the day new mall that it is the elder son that has been killed the reader appreciates the irony of the fact that his service to god does not mean that the elder's own son has been spared which harks back to the random nature of war 10 she felt the arm of the thin woman around her shoulders the thin arm and it was like first love the fat woman puts aside her prejudice momentarily and is able to appreciate the thin woman's compassionate gesture it reminds her of young love when murdo her husband first held her hand an experience which was memorable and special for her this imagery is another example of the author's lightness of touch providing a transient relief from the seriousness of the situation the repetition of the word thin here also accentuates the thinness of the thin woman eleven so unexpected so strange so much a gift this sentence harnesses the power of three and the repetition of the word so to draw the regis attention to the fact that this is a key incident in the story and the image of the gesture as a gift emphasizes the poignancy of this moment and the change in the woman's relationship even if it is only temporary 12. she saw the years of discipline she remembered how thin and unfed and pale the thin woman had always looked here the use of the polysynthetic thin and unfed and pale accentuates the sacrifices that the woman has made for her son also the parallel structure she and then she contributes both to the characterization of the thin woman and of the fat woman as the latter experiences an epiphany and sees the thin woman in a different light this quote also develops the theme of sacrifice in the story 13. people had said she was weak and useless the words people had said reveal the assumptions made by the prejudiced villagers and the gossipy nature of village life the word choice of weak once again alludes to the thin woman's sacrifices 14. miracle of miracles miracle means an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws and miracles are often associated with god and religion which evidently play an important role in village life and the repetition of the word miracle highlights the extreme relief joy and gratitude felt by the two women when they discover it is not their son who has been lost when the elder passes the last house in the village the reader experiences a cathartic purging of emotion as it seems that everyone is spared however this relief is short-lived 15. his walk through the village was a somnambulistic the word choice of somnambulistic creates an image in the reader's mind of someone who is sleepwalking reinforcing that the man is walking in a daze caused by the deep emotional trauma that the news in the telegram has inflicted on him a sleepwalker's senses can be dulled as often happens when someone experiences severe shock moreover the word choice of wandering reminds the reader that people are not in control when they are sleepwalking and this perhaps alludes to the fact that neither the elder nor indeed anyone can control the effects of war nor stop the losses 16. the telegram was crushed in his fingers and so sweaty that they could hardly make out the writing the word choice of crushed and sweaty in this final line of the short story emphasized the emotional trauma experienced by the elder in the loss of his son crushed has connotations of physical damage suggesting that the elders hands are clenched together violently owing to the severity of his stress the word sweaty suggests that the experience of loss is so profound that it can trigger physical manifestations the picture formed in the reader's mind at the end of this short story is of a man whose life has been wrecked by the destructiveness of war thank you for watching this video and hope you find it useful see you next time in other videos on the telegram we look at an overview and key themes of the story if you found this or any of our other videos useful it would be great if you could subscribe to the youtube channel thanks for your support