The Old Man

In "The Old Man with No Name," the old man is the individual who begins renting Mrs. Casper's attic room shortly after the narrator moves into Mrs. MacMillan's attic room. Because the narrator is unable to leave his apartment due to poor weather conditions, he turns his attention to the street and thus to the lives of his neighbors. Mrs. Casper, Mrs. MacMillan, and Mrs. Nolan have such dull and predictable lives, that the narrator is immediately intrigued when he notices the old man across the way. The old man is not simply curious to the narrator because he offers the narrator someone new to watch, but because his activities and behaviors appear inexplicable. The first time the narrator sees him, the old man is leaning out his window and pretending to shoot his pistol down below.

Desperate to know more about the man, the narrator...