Ben Hecht “The Rival Dummy”

　　This is a scary story depicting jealousy. The narrator, Joe Ferris, talks about Gabbo, once a famous ventriloquist, and his dummy called Jimmy. Gabbo in the end destroys Jimmy, quarrelling over a stage assistant named Rubina. The final page sees Gabbo, repenting of having “killed” his beloved partner Jimmy. 　　The plot is so catching that you can’t stop reading. The dialogue between the two is excellent, too. The anger both possess against each other is well described in the dialogues. The relation between a mere dummy and Gabbo is depicted as if it were between a real human being and Gabbo. Since Jimmy is a part of Gabbo, he fights against himself. It is persuasive that Jimmy loves Rubina as much as Gabbo, because Jimmy and Gabbo are the same person. 　　Ben Hecht’s making of the story is successful. He describes the mere doll as if it were a living human being who has as much evil as a human being. (September 27, 2009)