The Grifters Literary Analysis

Crime, money, and con artists of every kind. Jim Thompson is an avid writer whose stories depict a wide variety of literary elements superior in quality in his story The Grifters. The application of literary elements allows the reader to further comprehend the story and allows for the story to continue being intriguing. In addition, The Grifters is a novel written about about betrayal and shows how various con men live their lives from day to day with money being the main incentive. As a matter of fact Thompson throws twists and turns throughout the story, the story is an utter page turner. Nevertheless, the reader is assured to perceive three specific literary elements that allow for the story to prosper and carry on. In The Grifters the

The reader obtains a clear image of the characters which allows for the reader to be more involved in the novel. Of course, the characters are what construct the story into what it is, without the reader knowing what the characters are like then the story would be nothing but merely boring. In The Grifters, Thompson allowed for the actions of the characters to be more touching or shocking. As the reader learns in the beginning Lilly is nothing but malevolent to absolutely everyone including her own son. Therefore, “her nominal heartlessness” that the reader becomes familiar with, allows for the reader to feel compassion for Roy (Thompson 10). The reader is able to secure an exceedingly clear idea of the relationship between mother and son right from the beginning. Since Lilly killed Roy at the end, the reader feels pity for Roy since Thompson chose to identify him as the victim to Lilly’s neglection. Thompson chooses to establish this characteristic evident through direct characterization for the reader to gain the understanding quickly that the mother is someone whom may be considered as a villain. Thompson uses indirect characterization to show Roy Dillon is a sneaky, mysterious person. When the reader first encounters Roy as a con man, Roy is in a store about to pay and decides to perform tricks on the cashier. Furthermore, “Dillon absently picked [money] up” that the cashier was counting without the clerk taking any notice at all (Thompson 6). Roy Dillon is sneaky which allows the reader to obtain a much clearer image of who Roy Dillon as a matter of fact is. Other elements, of course, helped the story continue being