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The story tells of a plain-looking little bird (the Ugly Duckling) born in a barnyard. His brothers and sisters as well as the other birds and animals on the farm tease him for being plain and ugly, so he runs off to live with a flock of wild ducks and geese until hunters shoot down the flock. Alone again, the Ugly Duckling finds a home with an old woman, but her cat and hen also tease him, so he doesn't stay there long.
In his wanderings, the Ugly Duckling comes across a flock of migrating swans, and he wishes to join them but can't because he's too young and can't fly well enough. When winter sets in, a farmer rescues the Ugly Duckling, but the farmer's children and other animals frighten him with their noise and teasing, so again, he flees. He spends a cold and lonely winter hiding in a cave until springtime, when the flock of swans comes to the lake near his hiding place.
When the Ugly Duckling approaches the swans, he's delighted to find that they accept him and treat him like one of them. When he looks at his reflection in the lake, he realizes, to his astonishment, that he's matured into a beautiful swan himself. When the swans fly off from the lake, he spreads his wings and joins them, finally having found a family who accepts him.
This story is about Mary Maloney and her husband Patrick who was a detective. It seems that she loved her husband dearly. But shockingly she killed him when he told her that he was going to leave her. As she had lived with a detective husband, she knew the ways to prove herself innocent from the charge of murdering him. She went to a grocery shop to buy some edibles and behaved as if nothing had happened. She told the grocer, Mr. Sam that she was buying those edibles for her husband. After coming home, she rang up the police and the detectives and informed them about the murder of her husband, Patrick. Investigations went on, but in vain. Nobody could raise a finger of suspicion on Mary Maloney as there was no evidence against her. Thus, a murderer moves freely in the society.
I liked the story very much. It reflects the changes and colours of human nature. It is quite unpredictable. Human feelings such as love, faith, affection and loyalty can be blown away with any fit of a cruel wind. They are not deep rooted in human nature and can be uprooted to enact any heinous crime. We lie to ourselves when we say that we love someone from the core of our heart. Heart is only a biological organ and has nothing to do with our feelings. It is a bitter truth that we love ourselves the most. Our feelings change with circumstances. We love others as long as we receive reciprocation from the other side. Otherwise everything is finished. As in the story Mary who loved a lot her husband and always thought and waited for him with anxiety, wasted no time to kill him cruelly. Even after committing the dreadful crime, she had no regrets and worked out a plan to set herself free from any charge
Every coin has two sides. Same here with the story also though the plot of the story is strong. It sometimes loses the grip on the reader. The writer elaborates Mary Maloney’s love and anxiety for her husband, Patrick a lot. But when Patrick told Mary that he was going to leave her forever, the writer had failed to show the struggle of thoughts in Mary’s mind. Instead of giving any resistance or reaction, she went in the kitchen to prepare the supper. It is also not very clear whether Patrick also loved Mary as deeply as she did. Apart from this, the writer did not mention clearly why Patrick wanted to leave Mary even when she was pregnant.
To conclude, it is a soul touching story reflecting the variations in human nature. It is awful that man is more dangerous than animals. He only loves himself and if his wishes and feelings are not reciprocated he can do any heinous crime and with no repentance.