Sin Disguised As Virtue In 'A Case Of Maximum Need'

Geneva Bowden

Professor Dillon

ENGL 1188-01

10 March 2017

Sin Disguised as Virtue in “A Case of Maximum Need” “A Case of Maximum Need”, written by Celia Fremlin, is a short story that follows the life of a seemingly normal old woman living with disability in a sheltered housing unit for the elderly. The majority of the plot is driven by two characters in the story: Miss Emmeline Fosdyke, the elderly housing unit resident; and Valerie Coombe, who is the young welfare worker there to offer up the free telephone that Miss Fosdyke has qualified for. Initially, the actions of both of these characters appear to be virtuous - but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that sin is what drives the actions of both individuals. The prideful actions

Emmeline, who had previously been depicted as an old frail woman living in fear - is now seen as far more sinister. The shift happened quickly; in one paragraph Emmeline was trembling in fear from head to foot (Fremlin 351) and then two paragraphs later she becomes someone with cunning and a clear cut plan. “Softly, expertly, making no noise at all, Emmeline Fosdyke reached into the darkness for the long sharp carving knife that always lay in readiness.” (Fremlin 351) It is the word “always” in that sentence that first changes the tone - it implies that the knife is something Emmeline is accustomed to using often. At no point in the story has Emmeline ever mentioned a weapon of any kind - in fact, she has spent a great deal of time emphasizing the fact that she is helpless, essentially a sitting duck in her apartment. Here, readers are beginning to realize that Miss Fosdyke is not the frail, docile, and proper woman she was thought to be. When the male intruder begins to assault Emmeline, readers are shocked when Emmeline’s thoughts turn lustful. “In the deep darkness, the unknown male lips coarse and urgent against her own, she would have her brief moment of glory, a strange miraculous moment when it really seemed that the anonymous, ill-smelling mackintosh of some stranger was indeed a khaki battle dress of long ago, that the blind clutchings in the darkness were the tender caresses of her first love.” (Fremlin

“She’d had to do it - had to stab them all, swiftly and surely, before they’d had a chance to discover how old she was. ‘No, no telephone, thank you. It’s too dangerous’ - for them.” (Fremlin 352) These are the exact same words the story was began with, but now they take on an entirely different meaning. When those words were first spoken by Emmeline, it appeared as though she was exercising self-control. Although a telephone would have been incredibly useful for someone in her condition, readers were led to believe that it was a fear of assault the kept her from accepting the offer. The addition of the words “for them” at the end of the story explain why Emmeline actually didn’t want the phone. She was never afraid for her own safety - it was an attempt to prevent herself from engaging in lustful actions and then later killing the men she lured to her apartment through the telephone. Despite her efforts, sinful desires took hold, and Emmeline stabbed the man to