Notes

The provided text is an excerpt from the short story “The Part-Time Job” written by P.D. James in 2010. The story revolves around a male narrator and his childhood, significantly influenced by a fellow student at St. Chad’s School named Manston-Green.

In the subsequent outline, I will detail how the narrator portrays the victim of the murder, Manston-Green. Manston-Green’s father is a wealthy businessman, and the narrator depicts him as the school bully, highlighting his cleverness in various aspects. Despite being smaller than the narrator, Manston-Green exploits the narrator’s trust multiple times, significantly shaping the narrator’s six crucial years at St. Chad’s School. The detrimental impact is such that, after a year of attending school together, the narrator embarks on a path of killing Manston-Green.

Later in the short story, when both characters are adults, the narrator describes Manston-Green as a successful man, serving as the captain of a golf club and having entered into a second marriage. Additionally, Manston-Green is now a father.

Overall, the narrator characterizes Manston-Green as the most destructive force in his life, responsible for ruining his childhood. Manston-Green is portrayed as exceedingly affluent and powerful in comparison to the narrator.