From the last line of the paragraph you get the impression that Craven has bad days quite often ' it was one of his bad days'. The use of the word 'one' makes me think that this kind of day must have happened before. This is the climax of the paragraph, and the tension is starting to build up.
Craven sexuality is questionable. Graham Green makes the question of Cravens sex ambiguous, this is a deliberate effect. Green wants to leave the question of Cravens sexuality up to the reader. When Craven is walking through the park he refers to 'the memory of ugly deeds committed on park chairs'. These ugly deeds could be committed by other people or they may have been committed by him. I personally think that they were committed by him. I say this because when Craven is later in the cinema the bearded man laid his hand onto Craven,' He laid a hand suddenly and confidently on Craven's it was damp and stinky'. Firstly Craven doesn’t try and remove this guys hand from his leg, it is as he doesn’t mind having another man hand on his leg. Another strange thing about that quotation is how the man's hand is wet and sticky. Early on in the story 'Barclays Bank Dramatic society' is mentioned, this possible has something to do with why the mans hand is wet and sticky. The word bank is used I think this is cockney rhyming slang for wank. This is what the bearded man has been doing he has been masturbating. I think that Craven has been involved in gay-sex or something of that nature on the benches. When Craven is walking through the park he is looking back of his memory of this, Craven describes these events as 'ugly deeds', this is Craven feeling guilty. Craven knows what he did was not right (at this time period) and how it was not normal. Craven hates feeling odd and lonely so this makes him feel guilty about what he did.
The reader is now beginning to think is this man crazy because of his theory of what happens when you die, no real action has happened yet and the reader is now wondering what is going to come next. While Craven is walking through the park he passes some Guardsmen, Craven does not like these men for many reasons, one of those reasons though is because ' were out in couples'. Later on when Craven enters the cinema he sees more couples ' a few couples whispering with their heads touching'. Both times when Craven sees these couples he feels jealous. When Craven is in the cinema and he sees the couples It makes him feel guilty, ' and a number of lonely men like me'. Craven feels guilty because he is on his own and how he does not have a partner. The couples in the cinema are heterosexual. I think that Craven feels guilty because they are strait and not gay like him. He feels like an outcast because he is gay.
Craven fears what might happen to his body when he dies. He has no pride in his body; he sees it as something that he carries with him. When Craven walks by the statue it reminds him of his body. It brings back his dreams, or for him nightmares of how his body will never rot when he dies and how he will always have the same body, 'Anew a horrifying fact that the body doesn't decay' this quote is a reference to how the body does not rot when you die. When Craven is looking at the statue it is raining and the rain drops would have made the statue shine and the area all around would have been quiet. The atmosphere created is just like in his dream, and he is reminded of all the dead bodies under the ground and with the statue standing tall and proud it looks like it is waiting to rise again. The statue is also wet from the rain, which Craven described earlier as just like ' glittering tinselly rain'. This atmosphere would have contributed to Cravens anxiety and brought back all his nightmares. Craven's mind would be telling him this is what it is going to be like when he dies and there will be statues all around him not rotting, but just waiting to rise. Craven's other problem is that the statue or corpses have a good body, with muscles and look proud. Craven must be feeling worried and anxious that he is going to be the only person with such a horrible body when he dies and does not want to have to live in it forever.
The reader at this stage starts to think that Craven is possibly gay and how he is a very insecure person. Shortly after Craven is describing his dream he finds himself talking about his crime. The "crime" would not see seen as a crime these days because nowadays most men use scent, the time when the story was set if you used scent you would be seen as slightly peculiar. Craven is obsessed with his body and his appearance. Craven feels guilty that he is not being normal and how he is using scent, ' Sometimes he secretly touched himself here and there with scent' and also, 'it was one of his ugliest secrets'. The use of the phrase here and there makes the action sound it is a frenzied action, it makes it sound like he just throws some scent on quickly then puts it away, it shows that there is no control. Craven just wants to get the scent on as quickly as possible without people seeing. Even thought Craven puts the scent on to make himself smell nice he still seems it as a ugly deed, this is slightly odd because he contradicts himself.
Craven now enters the theatre. When Craven enters the theatre an atmosphere is created, 'In the dead darkness' and 'Piano tinkled'. The piano seems very inappropriate, it is very annoying. Dead darkness is a simile that tells the reader that the cinema is very quiet not many people are in there, there is just a piano tinkling in the background. It is a very lonely atmosphere, this view is backed up by ' there were not twenty people in the place'. Craven feels very lonely in this cinema. The main reason for this is how some people are there with a partner and how Craven is on his own, ' a few couples'. When Craven enters he sees there are many other men just like him wearing the same uniform, ' wearing the same uniform of cheap mackintosh'. The men in this 'Uniform' help to create a very sleazy perverted atmosphere, is makes you feel like this because the image is created of men all dressed the same sitting down thinking dirty thoughts. Craven has enough problems with his own appearance without having to see other people who are just like him, or even his reflection. Craven feels uneasy in the cinema, the darkness makes him feel insecure, the darkness signifies unknown.
The reader now would be wondering what is the significance of Craven going into the cinema. Whenever Craven feels insecure he seems to start thinking about death and his nightmare of the bodies never rotting. Craven in the cinema uses a simile to describe what the people are like, this is 'corpses'. Craven does not meant that the people are actually dead he just means they are acting like they are. The reader can tell from this that the people inside are very quiet and not moving much. After Craven has used the simile of corpses to describe the people inside he realises he is doing it again, he is once again relating things to death and bodies waiting for resurrection ' Craven's obsession returned: the tooth ache of horror'. Craven knows doing something like this is not normal so he starts to question his sanity, ' I am going mad: other people don't feel like this'. Craven feels guilty because he is not the normal person and how everyone else is normal and how he is so odd and feels things that normal people don’t feel.
Now the reader is thinking that Craven is in a cinema sitting next to a mad man, a murderer. The reader may even think that this man may try and kill Craven. When the bearded man comes in and lays his hand on Craven's leg he says ' I know,' the little man said 'A man in my position gets to know almost everything'. When Craven heard this he would have thought it was referring to Craven being gay. He would thought that the man knew that he was gay, this would have made Craven extremely anxious, he would not have wanted people to know that he was gay because it make him an outcast even more. The little bearded man is said to have sprayed Craven with his breath when he talks to him,' he sprayed him with damp breath'. Craven doesn’t think much of this at the time, he thinks that it is just a bit unpleasant. Towards the end of the story Craven thinks that he has been sitting next to a killer. He then leaves the cinema and phones the police and says he was sitting next to the murderer of the bay waters tragedy. After Craven phones the police he realises that once again he is thinking about his dream and bodies. Craven then realises that he cannot stop himself thinking about this. Craven now is extremely anxious because he knows that he may be going crazy. The last thing before Craven goes over the edge is when he sees blood on his face, 'own face sprinkled by tiny drops of blood'. This pushed Craven over the top he know he thinks he is crazy and starts screaming that he wont go mad. Craven may also be very anxious because he sees that there is blood on his face from a dead man, this would incriminate him. Craven may be thinking that he is going to jail because people may think that he killed the bearded man.
