58 pages • 1 hour read
Morley CallaghanAll the Years of Her Life
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1936A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Literary Devices
Point of View
Narrative point of view refers to the perspective a story’s narrator takes—e.g., first person, third person, etc. Callaghan’s “All the Years of her Life” uses third-person limited narration, depicting events through Alfred Higgins’s eyes. This choice not only highlights Alfred’s immature characterization but also supports the related themes of The Development of Empathy and The True Meaning of Maturity. Readers come to understand the story’s circumstances and its other characters based on how Alfred sees them, which is mostly as either helps or hindrances to himself. This narrative point of view also helps to build suspense and add impact to the story’s concluding scene; while readers may read between the lines and guess that Alfred’s view of his mother is incomplete, they’re unlikely to recognize the full weight of her anxiety and sadness until Alfred himself does.
Contrast
Contrast is a literary device in which a writer highlights differences between characters, scenes, settings, ideas, etc. This is usually done to show or teach something concerning the significance of these differences. Contrast may be either explicit (e.g., point-by-point) or implicit. Callaghan’s approach is on the subtler side and works to support the story’s themes and develop its characterizations.
For example, Callaghan presents character contrasts between Alfred and those whom his immaturity impacts (namely, Mr. Sam Carr and Mrs. Higgins). This contrast is sometimes obscured by Alfred’s narrative point of view, but it is nevertheless significant, heightening the uncertainty regarding whether Alfred will grow up and discover his capacity for empathy. Moreover, the contrast between Alfred and Mr. Carr’s expectations of Mrs. Higgins and the way she actually behaves amplifies The Selflessness of Maternal Love and empathy she brings to the scene. Finally, Mrs. Higgins’s weakened and weary state cuts an important contrast with her composure at the drugstore.
Epiphany
At the end of the story, Alfred experiences a crucial moment of revelation; this device is also referred to as an “epiphany” and is a common convention in modern storytelling. It refers to a character’s sudden moment of clarity—usually a split-second experience through which a character is suddenly able to see or understand something about themself.
The sight of his mother’s hand trembling as she pours and drinks her tea is such a moment for Alfred. He suddenly appreciates not only his mother but also the ways he has complicated her life. In this concluding moment of sudden clarity, Alfred recognizes Mrs. Higgins’s strength, patience, and unconditional love, as well as the draining fatigue that his recurrent recklessness has caused her, and this sparks his determination to grow up.
In Medias Res
In medias res is a Latin term that translates to “in the middle (or midst) of things.” This is a literary device by which an author opens a story with its action already ongoing. In other words, the writer offers little contextual information or conventional narrative exposition (e.g., introducing characters, their backgrounds, etc.), instead requiring readers to connect the dots based on descriptions, context clues, setting, and so on. In medias res also helps to build suspense and tension in a story.
Callaghan employs this technique in “All the Years of Her Life,” which opens at a vital point (e.g., the last time Alfred will get into trouble with an employer) before which significant action has presumably already taken place (e.g., Alfred’s previous run-ins with employers) (17).
