Although the story of ‘The Stolen Bacillus’ was not written in modern times, it still has elements of humour that the reader can recognise. The chase through the centre of London consisting of the Anarchist, followed by the Bacteriologist and then Millie, is similar to that in cartoons. The simplistic nature of the ‘thief’ being chased by the ‘good guy’ relates to cartoons such as ‘Wacky Races’. This makes the humour more accessible to a younger audience. The disease that is actually in the test tube is also linked to childish humour, as the contraction of the disease is likely to result in the person turning blue. This creates a vivid mental picture and allows the reader to appreciate the humour more. The author also uses irony to create humour. Towards the end of the story, as the Anarchist walks away expecting to infect London with cholera, the author describes him as a ‘strutting black figure’. This gives the reader the impression of arrogance and confidence. The Anarchist feels confident, as he has just infected himself with ‘cholera’ and is walking into the crowd in order to spread the disease. However, it later becomes apparent that the disease was not cholera and it is therefore ironic, as the Anarchist has no reason to be arrogant. In the same way, the sentence ‘the sense of imminent death gave him a certain dignity’ is also ironic as the Anarchist is not going to die and will therefore appear foolish. Finally, in the last paragraph of the story, the author uses traditional humour to demonstrate the importance of appearance to the Bacteriologists wife. After chasing her husband through London with his hat and coat, Minnie insists that the Bacteriologist must wear his coat in order to please Mrs Jabber, however her husband replies ‘My dear, Mrs Jabber is not a draught’.
The writer also uses tension to make the reader feel more emotionally connected. The author keeps the reader in the dark about the harmless bacteria in order to create tension. Throughout the chase scene, the reader was lead to believe that the test tube contained cholera, therefore making the reader more concerned and tension is created. If the reader had found out that the disease was not cholera, the chase scene would not have been as dramatic and the ending would not have been as effective. Tension is also created in the build up to the Anarchist stealing the bacteria. The reader recognises the strange behaviour the Anarchist is displaying due to the descriptive language used by the author, ‘A slight gleam of satisfaction appeared momentarily’. The reader is therefore expecting something to happen and makes the moments leading up to the theft of the bacteria all the more tense. Using tension in a story will usually make it more interesting and gives the reader cause to continue reading. The tense parts in the story also tend to be the moments the reader will tend to remember.
Along with tension, the author must also use relief. At the end of the story, the author reveals that the bacteria was not cholera but in fact a harmless disease. After tension had been built up leading up to this moment, the reader feels extreme relief when they realize that the population of London is not in danger, ‘like a fool, I said it was Asiatic cholera’. During the story, the reader also feels relief for one of the characters. When the reader realises that the bacteria is harmless, they feel relieved for the Bacteriologist. If the disease had been cholera, the Bacteriologist would have been blamed for the deaths of thousands of people, due to allowing the Anarchist to steal the test tube. Making the reader feel relieved for the Bacteriologist, allows the reader to feel closer to the characters and therefore creating emotional responses.
Finally, the author uses pity to make the reader feel emotionally connected to the characters. The reader is made to feel sorry for the Bacteriologist’s wife, Minnie. When her husband runs out of the house, chasing the Anarchist, Minnie is left thinking that he has gone mad. We also feel sorry for the Anarchist as he fails to complete his mission of infecting London with cholera. The reader feels emotionally connected to the Anarchist after reading about his chase through London, and therefore does not like to see the Anarchist fail.
