In "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket" the events are told in chronological order, but on page 13, Tom and the reader are shocked to discover that...

Have you ever had a heart-racing moment of excitement when you're so hyper-aware that time seems to slow down? This is the phenomenon that Jack Finney is trying to reflect in "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket." One of the reasons this story is often anthologized is because of its sequential nature (if you're a fast reader, it's almost like you're experiencing the events with Tom Benecke, the protagonist, in real time).

There are several stylistic features that Finney uses in his writing to make time crawl. One is an extreme level of specific detail. For example, when Tom's papers initially fly out the window, Finney writes,

"Turning, [Tom] saw a sheet of white paper drifting to the floor in a series of arcs, and another sheet, yellow, moving toward the window, caught in the dying current flowing through the narrow opening. As he watched, the paper struck to the bottom edge of the window and hung there for an instant, plastered against the glass and wood. Then as the moving air stilled completely, the curtains swinging back from the wall to hang free again, he saw the yellow sheet drop to the window ledge and slide over out of sight."

In this scene and throughout the entire story, Finney provides many sensory details to the reader, so that we can mentally put ourselves in Tom's shoes. Through the extensive description, we hear the noises of the city, see glimpses of the neighbors through their apartment windows, and read about Tom's inner monologue as he struggles to make it back inside his apartment without falling to his death. Just like in real-life, Tom's near-death experience causes him to be hyper-aware of his surroundings and situations.

One of the other methods that Finney uses to make time "slow down" within the prose is his careful detailing of cause and effect. Each decision and action that Tom makes causes a new set of complications. He opens the window (which sticks), and when his wife leaves (leaving him alone), the draft from the door blows his paper out the window (inciting event). Then, he decides to climb out onto the ledge to retrieve his paper. In doing so he looks down, which causes vertigo, and as he scrambles back to the window, he accidentally pulls the window (which sticks) shut when he slips, trapping him outside. This pattern of cause and effect continues until the climax of him breaking the window to get back inside. So much happens in such a short amount of time that the prose is almost longer than reality, but it seems that Finney's goal was to capture this sequence in real time so that readers could almost experience it live, as if they were Tom.