The Blue Cross: A Detective Story Analysis

The Blue Cross

ORDER

1. h) A boat arrived in Harwich.
2. g) A police chief had breakfast.
3. a) A bowl of soup was thrown at a wall.
4. c) An apple cart was knocked over.
5. f) Three policemen took a ride on a bus.
6. b) A window was broken.
7. d) A parcel was left at a sweetshop.
8. e) Two priests took a walk in a park.

Plot Analysis

2. Some key actions in the plot are only referred to later in the story. When do you think the following actions took place? Is it important to know exactly when? Why (not)? It is not important to know what happens at the moment because otherwise the end would not surprise you so much.

a) Valentin found out about Father Brown and the blue cross. At the end of the story, when Flambeau ends up discovering what Father Brown has done and the police are behind him.

b) Flambeau swapped parcels with Father Brown. When they are in the confectionery.

c) Father Brown swapped the parcels back again. When he returns to the confectionery to ask if he had left anything.

Character Analysis

3. There are three main characters in the story. What do you know about them?

BROWN: He is a short, stumpy (well-built) Catholic priest from Essex, who wears priests’ clothes and carries an umbrella.

VALENTIN: Is the head of the Paris police and the most famous investigator in the world.

FLAMBEAU: A famous French criminal. He is an expert in disguise and goes unnoticed, of gigantic stature, great physical rush, and extraordinary strength.

What do the three men have in common? Throughout the story, the writer explores the ways in which appearances can be misleading. Valentin, the French head of police, tries to travel unobserved. Flambeau, the great French criminal, is a master of disguise. Father Brown does not try to change his appearance in any way but still manages to mislead people.

4. Think about Father Brown. This is the first story he appears in and as such is an introduction to his detective skills. How does he know so much about crime and criminals? He knows so much about crimes because he has learned it by hearing confessions. How does he react to danger? What impresses you most about him as a detective? He is very clever because he is leaving clues for Valentin, the police, to follow.

Narrative Perspective

5. Who is telling the story? Whose point of view is given? The narrative is in the third person; therefore, we do not know who the narrator is.

6. What do we know about what happened before the story started? Why is it important in understanding the story? At first, he explains that Flambeau is difficult to catch; this exalts the cunning of Father Brown.

7. A lot of action is re-told second-hand by the waiters and shopkeepers who noticed the two priests on their journey through London. What effect does this have on the narrative? How much of the action is described first-hand by the narrator? It plays with the uncertainty of the reader. The narrator describes firsthand what happens to Valentin.

Atmosphere

8. When Valentin and the two policemen eventually arrive at Hampstead Heath, there is a dramatic change of atmosphere. Previously, they had been rushing through narrow streets, then the suddenly wide open space of the park stretches out in front of them. Look at the extract below and underline the adjectives used. What is being contrasted? What effect is created?

The street they threaded was so narrow and shut in by shadows that when they came out unexpectedly into the void common and vast sky they were startled to find the evening still so light and clear.

They pass from narrow and dark places to open and clear, a perspective game that helps the reader to enter the story and recreate the scene described by Chesterton.