By far the biggest piece of irony in this whole tale comes
at the very end. Remember, work-obsessed Tom Benecke has gone out onto the ledge to
retrieve a very important piece of paper that he needs for his work. To focus on his
work he has let his beautiful wife go out by herself to the cinema. It is clear that
things have changed for Tom during his outdoor escapade and his near-death experience,
as is shown by the end paragraph:
There he got out his topcoat and hat and,
without waiting to put them on, opened the front door and stepped out, to go find his
wife. he turned to pull the door closed and warm air from the hall rushed through the
narrow opening again. As he saw the yellow paper, the pencil flying, scooped off the
desk and, unimpeded by the glassless window, sail out into the night and out of his
life, Tom Benecke burst into laughter and then closed the door behind
him.
This is a very clever
piece of situational irony, as the note that Tom has gone through so much to rescue and
has risked his life for is now lost again, through the same window, but this time Tom
laughs, completely welcoming its departure from his life, and walks out of the door to
join his wife. He has clearly learnt where his priorities should be - and they should
not be with work alone.
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