Many writers have found writing about the human
psyche very interesting. The story,
"The Child by Tiger", by Thomas Wolf, is about an African American
servant who initially seems to be very skilful and moral but who turns out to
be very vengeful, eventually running around, shooting up the town. People can have a hidden side to them which
can be brought out by the type of environment that he or she is placed in. "Tears, Idle Tears", by Elizabeth
Bowen, is about a young child and his mother during a day in the park. The young boy cries a lot, seemingly for no
reason. As the story develops, the
reader finds that the boy
cries because his mother can't cry and, consequently,
he experiences her grief for her. Some
people in life seem to carry the burdens and grief of the world on their
shoulders. By examining the two stories,
it can be seen that both authors use the symbolism, setting, and character to
prove these main ideas of the stories.
The two stories both use symbolism to clarify
their themes. "Tears, Idle
Tears" uses a duck to represent Frederick's alteration of
personality. When he first tries to pet
the duck, the duck runs down to the pond and swims away. After Frederick talks with a girl that he
meets at the pond, he comes to the realisation that he's not alone, there is
someone else out there that has a problem with crying. He seems to find a new sense of self-esteem
because of this knowledge. In the story
"The Child By Tiger", Wolfe often refers to Prosser as a cat or a
tiger. These symbolic references help
convey the author's message. Wolfe
implies that Prosser is cunning, sneaky, and vengeful which are the qualities
of the tiger. Similarly, in Bowen's
story when Frederick's mother comes back for him, he is cheerful and confident.
"She quickly turned her frank, friendly glance on
Pottern 2
the lake, down
which, as through to greet her, a swan came swimming...Frederick gave a
great skip,
opened his mouth wide, shouted:' Oo, I say, mother, I nearly caught a
duck'"(88). The swan that returns
symbolises the new Frederick that his mother finds when she returns, bold and
beautiful. It seems apparent that both
authors use symbolism to help portray the personality of their main characters.
Although the settings of both stories are
completely different, they are both very important because they lay the
groundwork for the events of the story to unfold. Since "Tears, Idle Tears" takes
place in a public park, Bowen is given many new options and characters to work
with. Because Frederick and his mother
are in the park they have access to meeting a great variety of different
people. This is how Frederick
coincidentally meets a girl who also knows a man who cries all the time but
doesn't understand why. In "Child
By Tiger" the events that occur to Dick Prosser happen because of the type
of environment he is placed in. He is
surrounded by a town that does not have high regard for African Americans: "What happened, what passed between
them, was never known. And, besides, no
one was greatly interested. It was a
crazy nigger with 'another nigger's woman'"(33). Just as the park allows for certain events to
happen to Frederick, the bigotry in Prosser's town slowly eats away at him
until he snaps. Both Wolfe and Bowen use
their settings to their advantage in creating the theme because, in both cases,
the story could not have happened if the setting had been different.
In both of the stories a large portion of the
narrative relies on the strong presence of character to help clarify the point
that the author is trying to make. The
type of character that is used in both stories is children because of their
innocence. In the story, "Child by
Tiger", Wolfe creates the characters of Randy Shepperton and his friends
to help in the description of Dick Prosser, the main character. An example of this can be
Pottern 3
found when the
children find Prosser's gun in his room.
This incident foreshadows the
future events of
the story: "I was just fiction' to hide this gun away twill Christmas
Day"(29). Eventually the reader
finds out what Prosser really intends to do with the gun on Christmas; he runs
around town shooting everyone. Because
the author used children and their natural innocence, he was able to share a
piece of information about Prosser without the children realising the
significance of it. If Wolfe had used an adult, the adult character
would have evaluated what was going on, unlike the children who just accept it
because Prosser is their friend. In
"Tear, Idle Tears" Bowen also brings into play the innocence of
children. Frederick can't understand why
he cries so much. After reading the
story, however, one realises that the reason for Frederick's inability to
understand his emotional problem is his innocence. Because he hasn't had to deal with many of
the troubles and problems that life doles out, he isn't sophisticated enough to
figure out the impact that these experiences have and why he consequently ends up
in tears. The two authors also use innocent
children because they offer a unbiased
view of the main character. Wolfe, by
having his story told through one of the children, makes it possible to have no
prejudgments made before the events of the story unfold. This is crucial for Wolfe because it allows
him to develop the idea that people have a evil side to them and that it can be
brought out by their environment. The
fact that Dick Prosser is an African American has a large impact on the story
because his ethnic background and the way that his race is treated is the main
reason why he ends up shooting everyone.
Similarly, in the story "Tears, Idle Tears", Frederick meets a
character who does not have a preconception about his personality or
behaviour. Although his mother, as an
adult, was embarrassed by his crying, the young girl at the pond merely accepts
it. Both Wolfe and Bowen understand
that the innocence of their young characters add a perspective that only young
children could bring.
Pottern 4
In conclusion, the two stories, "The Child
By Tiger" and "Tears, Idle Tears", both use many different
writing techniques to develop their themes.
By using these techniques the authors are allowed to create main
characters that can fully emphasise the point that they are trying to get across
to the reader. Thomas Wolfe wants to
convey the message that Prosser, like all men, has both good and evil
sides. However, it is because of
different environmental factors that bring out his evil side, eventually making
Dick Prosser go ramped throughout the town.
Elizabeth Bowen also proves her point through the character of Frederick
which exemplifies that some people instinctively take on the grievances of
others. Because of the technique and
style utilised by both authors within
their stories, each has been able to produce excellent pieces of
literature.
No comments:
Post a Comment