Unit 6
Blackmail
Arthur Hailey
Teaching Objectives
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Get to know some background
knowledge about the story
Grasp the main idea and the theme
of this story
Learn to use some vivid expressions
connected with the description of
character
Appreciate the writing skills of
developing a story
Teaching Points
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I. Background information
II. Structural analysis
III. Character analysis
IV. Rhetorical devices
V. Introduction to the novel
Background Information
• Title of the novel
• Hotel
• Arthur Hailey
• born and educated in Britain. 1939, RAF,
emigrated to Canada 1949. Famous novels:
Hotel, Airport, The moneychanger.
Structural Analysis
• Part 1. Prelude
• (The chief house officer
...Ogilvie remained standing)
• Section 1. The setting, main characters, and the
suspension.
• (The chief house ...that both might return at any
moment.)
Structural Analysis
• Section 2. The preliminary encounter
between the house detective and the
Croydons. (A wave of cigar
smoke...Ogilvie remained standing)
Structural Analysis
• Part2: Process of unveiling the crime (Now
then...the Duchess turned away）
• Section 1. First round of clash. the Duke confessed
his crime（Now then...Now we're getting
somewhere).
Structural Analysis
• Section 2. Second round of clash.(Wearily, in a
gesture...I can prove all I need to )
• Ogilvie spelt out what he had found out about
the activity of the Croydons and tried to confirm
all the details. The Duchess tried to win back the
upper hand.
Structural Analysis
• Section 3. The conviction was
undeniable.(The Duke cautioned...the
Duchess turned away ).
• The Croydons realized that they were
convicted of the crime
Structural Analysis
• Part 3. The Dirty Deal
• Section 1. Eliminating the possibility of
having the car repaired in New Orleans.
( Her husband asked...You people are hot).
Structural Analysis
• Section 2. The interior monologue of the
Duchess. Her judgement, analysis and
calculation of the situation, weighing the
advantages and disadvantages, the pros and cons.
• (The Duchess ...Or had they? )
Structural Analysis
• Section 3. The Duchess' decision to gamble on the
greed of the house detective.
• (The Duchess faced Ogilvie... the silence hung )
• Section 4. The ending.
• The dirty deal reached.
Main character of the novel:
• McDermott: assistant general manager of
the hotel
Characters of the novel:
• Ogilvie: chief house detective
• the Duke of Croydon: newly appointed British
ambassador to the United States
• the Duchess of Croydon: wife of the Duke
• a prostitute called lady friend by Ogilvie
Character Analysis
• A. The description of Ogilvie (notice that the
name itself sounds awkward, awful):
• 1. Appearance: fat, piggy eyes, gross jowled
face, obese body, incongruous falsetto voice,
moving with surprising speed
Character Analysis
• 2. Character: at first rude, sardonic, selfassured, shameless greedy, but finally
subservient
• the way he deals with the cigar
• sardonically
Character Analysis
• bite off the end of a fresh cigar
• words spat forth with sudden savagery, blandness
gone
• When mentioning the lady friend, he glanced,
grinning, at the Duchess
• falsetto voice took on a musing note
Character Analysis
• Whatever names you call things... I got to
live too
licked his lips
• This cigar botherin' you?
• 3. Language: uneducated, full of slang,
colloquial, not grammatical.
Character Analysis
• B. The description of the Duchess
• 1. Appearance: pale cheek with two high
points, gray-green eyes
Character Analysis
• 2. Character: imperious, three centuries and
a half of inbred arrogance, decisive,
vigilant, very quick in response
Character Analysis
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used “please” only once
look pointedly at the cigar
shot a swift warning glance
Would you kindly put that out!
Character Analysis
• 3. Language: formal, highly educated
• I imagine you did not come here to discuss
décor.
Character Analysis
• C. The description of the Duke
• 1. Appearance: attempt to square his
shoulders but failed
Character Analysis
• 2. Character: uncertain, ready to
compromise, passive, despairingly,
• “That’s interesting, I didn’t know that.” The
duke spoke as if he was speaking of sb.
unrelated to the whole thing.
Character Analysis
• 3. Language: upper class slang
• It's no go, old girl.
Character Analysis
• D. The description of the cigar:
• First Part:
• 1.(p.91) A wave of cigar smoke accompanied him
in.
• 2.(p.92) Ogilvie removed the offending cigar,
knocked off the ash and flipped the butt... where
he ignored it.
Character Analysis
• Second Part:
• 1. (p. 93) Don't play games, lady. ... He
took out a fresh cigar and bit off the end…
• 2. (p.p.93)...Ogilvie waved the unlighted
cigar ...nose.
Character Analysis
• 3. (p.94)He lit the fresh cigar.
• 4. (p.94)...took his time, ... puffing a
cloud…
• (won the first round)
Character Analysis
• 5. (p. 96) He paused to puff again…
• (enjoying himself)
Character Analysis
• Third Part:
• 6. (p. P.103) This cigar bothering you,
Duchess?
• (absolute obedience)
Rhetorical devices
• Metaphor:
• ...the nerves of both ... were excessively
frayed…
• his wife shot him a swift, warning glance.
• The words spat forth with sudden savagery.
• I’ll spell it out.
Rhetorical devices
• Euphemism:
• ...and you took a lady friend.
Rhetorical devices
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Metonymy:
won 100 at the tables
lost it at the bar
they'll throw the book,...
Type of writing
• This kind of novels are called
thrillers.Generally defining, a thriller is a
work of fiction or drama designed to hold
the interest by the use of a high degree of
intrigue, adventure or suspense.
Type of writing
• Others can be called cop-criminal novels,
detective novels. The main purpose is for
entertainment, amusement.
Type of writing
• Very often this kind of novels contain a lot
of action, usu. suspension, not very much
deep thought, without moral intention, not
considered classic.
Type of writing
• The basic technique is to make the whole
story of crime into sth. like a jigsaw puzzle.
You can not see the outcome until the final
part is put in.
Setting:
• The story happened in a hotel named St.
Gregory in New Orleans, Louisiana which
is in the south of US.
Plot:
• Gregory was now at the brink of bankruptcy,
but Peter McDermott, the assistant general
manager, is trying every means he could to
save it. Several events happened during the
week with the present text as part of it.
Plot:
• The Duke of Croydon was an
internationally famous statesman and the
newly appointed British ambassador to
Washington. They occupied the best suite of
the hotel--- the Presidential Suite.
Plot:
• Monday evening, the Duke went to the
gambling house. Later, his wife pursued and
found him. On their way back, the car
Jaguar knocked down a woman and her
child. Both killed.
Plot:
• Then we have the present text.
• ... ...
The end of the story
• At one o'clock Thursday morning, Ogilvie
drove the car north. But he was seen leaving
the hotel by McDermott. Later in the
afternoon, McDermott witnessed the funeral
of the two victims of the accident.
The end of the story
• He suddenly realized the relation between
these two events and contacted police.
• Ogilvie was caught in Tennessee and sent
back to New Orleans.
The end of the story
• The Duke decided to go to the police to
confess his crime (to surrender himself / to
give himself up). But he was hurled out the
elevator due to the breakdown of it. He hit
the cement ground and died instantly.
The end of the story
• Anyway, the novel had a pleasant ending.
• One of the guests, who looked old and sick,
turned out to be a millionaire. Earlier he
was seriously ill and was saved by
McDermott and his girl friend.
The end of the story
• To show his gratitude and to repay the hotel
staffs' kindness, he bought the hotel and
appointed McDermott executive vice
president of the hotel.
•Thank You!