Dr. Eggleston is an English instructor at Okanagan University College, in Kelowna, British Columbia. In the following essay, he examines Bates's use of description over action and his choice to leave key issues unresolved to heighten tension in "The Daffodil Sky."

Critics often praise H. E. Bates for his ability to describe the world at large in generous detail. He is renowned for creating decidedly visual stories featuring unfailingly accurate descriptions that immediately impress themselves upon the reader's mind. This quality is repeatedly remarked upon not only because Bates is acutely observant of nature and precise and sure in his use of color but also because he is aware of and draws attention to the finer distinctions between nearly indistinguishable objects. Yet for all his lavish, almost lyrical treatment of scenes, Bates also tends to be what Edmund Fuller has termed "an artist of indirection"; Bates might...