The Midnight Visitor

**THE MIDNIGHT VISITOR BY ROBERT ARTHUR**

**AUTHOR BACKGROUND**

• Robert Arthur (1909-1986): American author known for mystery and suspense stories

• Specialist in writing short stories with clever twists and unexpected endings

• Famous for creating surprising plot turns through character intelligence rather than action

**COMPLETE STORY SUMMARY**

Fowler, a young writer, visits secret agent Ausable in his small, sixth-floor hotel room in Paris. Fowler is disappointed because Ausable doesn't match his romantic expectations of a spy—he's fat, wheezy, speaks with an American accent, and lives in a dull setting. Ausable understands Fowler's disillusionment and explains that despite the ordinary appearance, he deals with important secret documents that can affect history.

Suddenly, when the light switches on, a man named Max appears with a loaded pistol. Max demands a secret report about new missiles that Ausable is expecting to receive. Max claims he entered through a passkey. However, Ausable mentions he's been having trouble with someone entering through a balcony attached to the neighboring room—a structural quirk from when the rooms were part of one large unit. Ausable describes the balcony in detail, explaining how it can be accessed from an empty room two doors down.

Max becomes anxious when someone knocks on the door. Ausable calmly announces it's the police, sent to protect the important document. Panicked, Max backs toward the window, threatening to shoot if Ausable doesn't send them away. As Max climbs onto the window sill to escape to the balcony, he drops down and screams.

The door opens to reveal Henry, a waiter with the ordered drinks—not police. Fowler is confused and alarmed about Max. Ausable reveals the shocking truth: there is no balcony. Max fell to his death from the sixth floor because the balcony Ausable described so convincingly doesn't exist.

**CHARACTER ANALYSIS**

**Ausable**

• Fat, wheezy, speaks with Boston accent despite 20 years in Paris

• Intelligent and quick-thinking secret agent who uses his mind, not muscle

• Calm, analytical, and brilliant at improvisation

• Understands human psychology and can manipulate people's beliefs

• Appears ordinary and unmemorable—his greatest asset

• Represents the idea that true strength lies in intelligence and presence of mind

**Fowler**

• Young, romantic writer seeking authentic thrills and espionage stories

• Initially disillusioned by Ausable's ordinary appearance and dull lifestyle

• Gains his "first authentic thrill" when Max appears with the gun

• Serves as the reader's proxy—through his perspective we experience the tension

• Represents how reality often differs from imaginative expectations

**Max**

• Enemy spy, described as slender, fox-like features, crafty appearance

• Dangerous but not exceptionally intelligent or prepared

• Relies on conventional methods (passkey, gun, threats)

• Easily manipulated by a detailed, convincing lie

• Represents the stereotypical spy who underestimates his opponent

• Becomes victim of his own panic and assumptions

**Henry (The Waiter)**

• Minor but crucial character

• Represents normalcy and routine interrupting danger

• His timely arrival becomes the perfect tool for Ausable's plan

• Never speaks beyond delivering the drinks

**CENTRAL THEMES**

• **Intelligence > Strength**: Ausable defeats an armed opponent using only his mind and quick thinking, not physical force

• **Reality vs. Expectation**: Fowler expects spies to be glamorous; instead, Ausable is ordinary—showing that real danger doesn't match fiction

• **Power of Imagination and Storytelling**: Words and descriptions can be more powerful than weapons; a well-told lie becomes more believable than truth

• **Presence of Mind**: The ability to think quickly, stay calm, and improvise under pressure is the greatest weapon

• **Appearance Can Deceive**: Ausable's ordinariness is his strength; Max underestimates him fatally

• **Cleverness Over Brute Force**: The story celebrates intellectual victory rather than physical confrontation

**LITERARY AND RHETORICAL DEVICES**

**Irony (Situational and Verbal)**

• Fowler expects danger but finds boredom; danger arrives when he least expects it

• Max enters with a gun but is defeated by words and a non-existent balcony

• "The police" who never existed become more terrifying to Max than actual armed forces would be

• Ausable's complaint about the balcony becomes the tool of his victory

• Example: "Instead of having messages slipped into his hand by dark-eyed beauties, gets only a prosaic telephone call"—the mundane is presented as disappointing yet becomes the setting for real espionage

**Characterization (Indirect)**

• Ausable's physical appearance, speech, and environment reveal his character

• Example: "fat. Very fat" and the "wheezed" dialogue tag show him as unheroic yet capable

**Foreshadowing**

• The earlier mention of someone entering through the balcony plants the idea in reader's mind

• Ausable's detailed complaints about the balcony prepare us to believe it exists

• Max's nervousness hints at his eventual panic

• Example: "This is the second time in a month that somebody has got into my room through that nuisance of a balcony!"—sets up the crucial detail

**Suspense and Tension**

• Knocking at the door creates sudden tension

• Max's gun creates immediate danger

• The revelation that Max will escape on a balcony builds anxiety

• Example: "What will you do now, Max?" as Ausable calmly presents an impossible choice

**Imagery (Visual)**

• The small, ordinary room described in detail

• The night "pressing blackly" against the window

• Max's "fox-like" features suggest cunning but also vulnerability

• Example: "halfway across the room, a small automatic pistol in his hand, stood a man"

**Dialogue**

• Ausable's speeches are detailed and convincing—he paints pictures with words

• His calm tone during crisis contrasts with Max's panic

• Dialogue reveals character: Ausable is witty; Max is direct and threatening

• Example: "I thought you were in Berlin. What are you doing here in my room?"—casual tone despite obvious danger

**Plot Structure (Twist Ending)**

• Classic mystery structure with unexpected reversal

• The entire story is a setup for the final revelation

• Example: The final line "there is no balcony" completely recontextualizes everything that came before

**Contrast**

• Ausable (fat, ordinary, wheezy) vs. typical spy images (sleek, glamorous, athletic)

• Fowler's expectations vs. reality

• Max's conventional weapons vs. Ausable's psychological warfare

• The mundane setting vs. the life-or-death stakes

**IMPORTANT QUOTES AND SIGNIFICANCE**

**Quote 1**: "You were told that I was a secret agent, a spy, dealing in espionage and danger. You wished to meet me because you are a writer, young and romantic. You envisioned mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols, drugs in the wine."

• Significance: Ausable directly addresses the disconnect between reader expectations and reality; establishes the story's central irony

• Shows Ausable's self-awareness and psychological insight

**Quote 2**: "Instead, you have spent a dull evening in a French music hall with a sloppy fat man who, instead of having messages slipped into his hand by dark-eyed beauties, gets only a prosaic telephone call making an appointment in his room. You have been bored!"

• Significance: Emphasizes the ordinariness of real espionage; demonstrates Ausable's humor and ability to read others

• Sets up the contrast when genuine danger arrives moments later

**Quote 3**: "Presently you will see a paper, a quite important paper for which several men and women have risked their lives, come to me. Some day soon that paper may well affect the course of history. In that thought is drama, is there not?"

• Significance: Foreshadows that genuine drama is coming; the real tension of the story is about to begin

• Shows that importance doesn't require Hollywood theatrics

**Quote 4**: "I'm going to raise the devil with the management this time, and you can bet on it. This is the second time in a month that somebody has got into my room through that nuisance of a balcony!"

• Significance: This is Ausable's crucial lie; the detailed complaint makes it sound authentic

• Everything Max believes about the balcony stems from this carefully constructed complaint

• Shows Ausable's ability to improvise and turn a complaint into a weapon

**Quote 5**: "If I do not answer the door, they will enter anyway. The door is unlocked. And they will not hesitate to shoot."

• Significance: Ausable creates a psychological trap; Max panics not because of actual danger but imagined danger

• Shows how words can be more powerful than weapons

**Quote 6**: "There were no police. Only Henry, whom I was expecting."

• Significance: Reveals Ausable's deception; he created a false threat to force Max toward the non-existent balcony

• The simple sentence holds the shocking truth

**Quote 7**: "No, he won't return. You see, my young friend, there is no balcony."

• Significance: The final twist; recontextualizes the entire story

• The ordinariness of the solution (no balcony, just a sixth-floor window) makes it darkly ironic

• Shows that Ausable's weapon was simply reality disguised as fiction

**TONE, MOOD, AND ATMOSPHERE**

• **Tone**: Sardonic, matter-of-fact, darkly humorous

• **Mood**: Builds from boredom to tension to horror

• **Atmosphere**: Claustrophobic (small room, sixth floor), menacing (gun, spy), then grotesque (fake balcony, real death)

• Ausable maintains calm, conversational tone even in life-or-death situations

• The contrast between Ausable's calmness and the danger creates dark comedy

**KEY POINTS FOR BOARD ANSWER WRITING**

**For "How is Ausable different from other secret agents?" Questions**

• He is physically unremarkable—fat, wheezy, American accent—unlike glamorous fictional spies

• He uses intelligence and psychology rather than action and physical prowess

• He is humble, matter-of-fact, and operates in ordinary settings

• His strength lies in his mind, presence of mind, and ability to read and manipulate people

• He defeats armed opponents without violence

• He is realistic, not romantic—he understands that real espionage is often dull

• His ordinariness is actually his greatest asset; people underestimate him

**For "How did Ausable defeat Max?" Questions**

• He used words and psychological manipulation, not weapons

• He observed Max's nervousness and the knock at the door as an opportunity

• He created a believable lie about a balcony through detailed, earlier complaints

• He invented a false threat (police) that forced Max toward his only apparent escape

• He took advantage of Max's panic and assumptions rather than Max's actual intelligence

• He used Henry the waiter's arrival perfectly—timing the knock to coincide with the waiter's arrival

• He essentially defeated Max using Max's own fear and Max's misperceptions

**For "When did Ausable plan this?" Questions**

• He likely didn't plan the exact sequence in advance

• He probably planned general security measures (calling for Henry)

• When Max appeared, Ausable quickly assessed the situation and improvised

• He took advantage of his knowledge of the room's layout and the expected knock

• He showed "presence of mind"—the ability to think on his feet

• His earlier complaints about the balcony weren't necessarily part of a plan; he made them work when Max arrived

• This demonstrates reactive intelligence rather than premeditated planning

**For Character Analysis Questions**

• Ausable: intelligent, calm, perceptive, resourceful, unpretentious, self-aware

• Fowler: idealistic, romantic, seeking authentic experience, naive about real danger, serves as witness

• Max: confident in brute force, underestimates opponents, reactive rather than analytical, panics under pressure

**For Theme Questions**

• Discuss how appearance and reality differ—Ausable is ordinary but dangerous; Max is armed but foolish

• Explain how intelligence triumphs over violence

• Show how storytelling and words can be weapons

• Discuss the value of presence of mind in dangerous situations

• Analyze how expectations (Fowler's about spies) don't match reality

**For "Presence of Mind" Essay Questions**

• Define: the ability to think clearly and act wisely under pressure or in emergencies

• Show examples from Ausable: stays calm, assesses situation, improvises solution

• Discuss how mental preparation helps (knowing the room, expecting Henry's arrival)

• Contrast with Max's panic when unexpected knocking occurs

• Explain why it's valuable: allows quick decision-making in dangerous situations

• Real-life examples: handling emergencies, medical situations, accidents

**STRUCTURE OF THE STORY**

**Exposition**: Fowler visits Ausable, disappointed by his ordinariness

**Rising Action**: Max appears with a gun, demands the report

**Complication**: Ausable explains the balcony problem, Max waits for the report

**Crisis**: Knocking at the door; Ausable claims it's police

**Climax**: Max panics and escapes through the window toward the balcony

**Resolution**: Max screams and falls; waiter enters

**Twist Ending**: Revelation that there is no balcony

**READING COMPREHENSION POINTS**

• The balcony exists in Max's mind through Ausable's words, not in reality

• Ausable's complaint about the balcony serves as exposition and later becomes crucial to the plot

• Henry the waiter is essential—his arrival provides the perfect moment for Max to panic

• The story uses misdirection: readers believe the balcony exists because Ausable describes it and Max believes it

• The ending is shocking but logical—it recontextualizes all previous events

• Ausable's calmness throughout suggests he knows something we don't (that there's no balcony)

**VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT**

• **Espionage**: spying or using spies to get secret information

• **Prosaic**: ordinary, dull, unromantic

• **Wheezed**: spoke while breathing heavily

• **Sloppy**: carelessly dressed (here), not messy

• **Romantic**: imaginative, having fantasy-based views

• **Passably**: well enough, tolerably

• **Shrilly**: in a high, piercing voice

• **Missiles**: guided weapons

• **Presence of mind**: ability to stay calm and think clearly in emergencies