who was phillip sletherby in chapter a shot in the dark?
Answers
Answer: "A Shot in the Dark,"
Explanation: In "A Shot in the Dark," as is often the case in his short stories, Saki is satirizing the upper echelons of the British class system. The hapless Philip Sletherby is off to Brill Hall, hoping to impress a powerful political patron by the name of Honoria Saltpen-Jago. Mrs. Saltpen-Jago's kind of a big deal in Chalkshire, so she's just the kind of VIP that Philip needs to impress if he's to have a shot at being the governing party's candidate in the forthcoming by-election. Unfortunately, the young man blows his chances by insulting Honoria's son Bertie on board a train, wrongly believing that he was a con artist trying to scam him out of a few quid.
The satire here is that someone of such remarkably bad judgment and immaturity was genuinely in with a good chance of being elected to Parliament. This tells us a lot about the inner workings of the British political system, in particular the extensive powers of patronage that the old aristocracy still exert. Before one can be admitted to the inner sanctum of Parliament, before the people have actually had their say at the ballot box, it's necessary to pass a number of social tests set down by the relevant movers and shakers in the locality.
Unfortunately for the hapless Sletherby, he's fallen at the very first hurdle. So no matter how agreeable and socially confident he may be during his forthcoming stay at Mrs. Saltpen-Jago's he has wrecked his chances of being the next Honourable Member for the local constituency. In this neck of the woods, it's the great families who make the rules, and if one breaks those rules, albeit inadvertently, then there is no chance of being chosen to represent them and their interests.
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In "A Shot in the Dark," Philip Sletherby hopes to get the position of member of Parliament for the eastern division of the fictional county of Chalkshire in England.
For this reason, he has boarded a train and is heading to the country estate of Mrs. Saltpen-Jago. She is a prominent person in the county, and Sletherby hopes she will use her influence to help him secure the nomination for the parliamentary seat he hopes he will be able to win in the election.
Sletherby is a calculating and self-interested human being who is only interested in helping people who can help him in return. He wants to get into Mrs. Saltpen-Jago's good graces. However, his unwillingness to help anyone without an ulterior motive means that he has probably blown his chance to gain her goodwill.
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Explanation:
Philip Sletherby leaves for Chalkshire to meet Mrs. Saltpen Jago as she was an influential woman in Chalkshire and London. It was very important for Philip Sletherby to impress her so that he wins her support and benefitted by her influence.
He is met by a club acquaintance at the platform who talks good about Mrs. Saltpen Jago. He meets a stranger in train who calls himself as Bertie: second son of Mrs. Saltpen Jago. Bertie checks all his pockets multiple times for his coin purse but he was unable to find it. He asks small help of 3 pounds from Philip Sletherby as he was his mother’s friend. He tells Philip Sletherby that as he was travelling to Brondquay for 3 days fishing so he will return home (Brill Manor) on Monday and then will return his 3 quids. Philip Sletherby tries to confirms Bertie’s crest with crest of Mrs. Saltpen Jago which not only mismatches but also Bertie is not able to tell the correct color of her mother’s hair. Thus Philip Sletherby is not convinced that Bertie is the real son of Mrs. Saltpen Jago and hence denies to help Bertie. Bertie gets down furiously and later Philip Sletherby thinks highly of himself that how he will discuss this train’s incident with other guests in the dinner and will be appreciated for his astuteness. This will increase his chances for being chosen as a Party Manager.
On reaching Brill Manor he is received by Claude People who is a professional lawyer working for Mrs. Saltpen Jago. He was a tall but talkative man with a sumptuous car. On his way to Brill Manor he talks about all the luxurious features of his expensive car. Philip Sletherby suddenly looks at the two crests kept in a box at the car window and on further enquiry he gets to know that they both belongs to the Saltpen family. Claude also tells him about recent change in Mrs. Saltpen Jago when she electrifies everyone with blonde hair and her old hair were brown like Bertie. This makes Philip Sletherby silent and speechless in the end of the story.
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