The Way Up To Heaven Review

A Brief Synopsis

   "The Way Up to Heaven" by Roald Dahl is a suspenseful short story that revolves around a married couple, Mrs. Foster and her husband, Mr. Foster who live in New York. Mrs. Foster is an elderly woman who is obsessed with punctuality and fear of being late. Meanwhile, Mr. Foster who has a opposite habit from his wife where he likes to delay his wife on any occasion on purpose. One day, as Mrs. Foster has a plane to catch in order to visit her daughter in Paris, as usual, Mr. Foster finds a way to delay their trip causing Mrs. Foster immense stress as she's frantic to think that she'll miss her flight. Just before the car leaves, he runs back in the house on the pretense of picking up a gift he forgot for his daughter. While he’s gone, Mrs. Foster discovers the gift box shoved down between the car seat. Quickly, she runs towards the house to retrieve her husband but as soon as she is about to open the door, she freezes because she hears a strange sound from inside the house but she refuses to investigate. In a moment of desperation, Mrs. Foster finally decides to leave her husband behind. She tells the driver to drop her off at the airport and that her husband will get another ride. Once a week, she writes a letter to her husband before she flies home six weeks later telling him to take his meals regularly and he maybe not be doing well without her. Upon her return from Paris, she finds that her husband is not there to meet her. When she enters the house and notices a peculiar smell, she calmly proceeds to call the elevator repairman. This indicates that she is fully aware of what has happened. She finally discovers a way to ensure that she will never be late again, leading to a shocking and unexpected ending.

Likes

      What I enjoyed about this story is it is unpredictable. For example, I’m not expecting Mrs. Foster would leave her husband trapped in the elevator as she is a submissive wife and always obeys her husband. Besides that, I loved this plot's story. The plot story has a clear beginning because the author described who the main character of the story is and the relationship they have. In the middle, here readers can see how the action develops, how Mrs. Foster gets anxious because of the flight and how her husband enjoys emotionally torturing his wife. I also like the story’s ending which is wickedly entertaining as it delivers a form of karma where Mr. Foster falls victim to his own cruelty because of all the years he had been emotionally torturing his wife. Since he is a controlling husband, I feel no sympathy towards him. Roald Dahl's writing style in this story is also good as it makes it easy for reader to understand and the language used is quite simple and easy to follow.

Dislikes

      Personally, I found the story easy to follow but not engaging. I think the plot lacked intriguing elements and although the end was surprising, I didn't get it the first time. I had to read the end several times to fully understand what had happened. Besides that, the plot in the end is a bit hanging because the author does not explain if the wife is getting caught and proves guilty or innocent after what she had done to her husband. I also do not like Mr. Foster’s character because he is generally unkind to his wife, often ordering her around and speaking to her in a condescending tone. Another issue with the story is a plot hole regarding the elevator incident. When Mrs. Foster returns from her trip, she calmly calls for an elevator repair service, implying that Mr. Foster had been trapped inside the whole time. However, it seems unrealistic that no one noticed his absence for weeks since they lived in a well-maintained home so neighbors or delivery workers may have noticed that Mr. Foster had completely disappeared.

Final Thoughts

       All in all, I find this short story to be very interesting and lessonful. That’s why I highly recommend man to read this story in order to learn to treat his wife well especially those who like to disrespect their wives and those who take their wives for granted because anytime the wife would get revenge. Not only that, I also find this story is an enjoyable story especially for readers who like dark humor genre and suspenseful story.