How It Happened
The story is written in the first person;
the narrator is a man who is met at the beginning of the story by his
chauffeur, Perkins, at half-past eleven at the "little country
station" while coming back from London. He wanted to try his new car,
which had been delivered that day. He was warned that the gears were not of the
same type he is used to but he insisted on driving. They "were just over the
brow of" Claystall Hill, "one of the worst hills of England ",
when he lost all control on the speed of the car. He tried to bring the car
back to his house "wheels whirring like a high wind" and did not jump
even when advised to do so by Perkins. In the end, he managed to reach home but
crashed into the park gate. The story ends with Perkins having injured his leg
and the narrator meeting a dead friend, Stanley, implying that he himself died
in the accident.
A central theme in this story is loyalty and companionship; the chauffeur, Perkins, offers to take control of the car, which would have allowed the narrator to jump from the vehicle. However, the narrator refuses to leave his chauffeur behind and remains in the car until the end, even offering to take the wheel himself and allow Perkins to jump.
A central theme in this story is loyalty and companionship; the chauffeur, Perkins, offers to take control of the car, which would have allowed the narrator to jump from the vehicle. However, the narrator refuses to leave his chauffeur behind and remains in the car until the end, even offering to take the wheel himself and allow Perkins to jump.
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