Post by Zachary Lloyd on Sept 23, 2015 15:59:23 GMT
Hello friends,
My read on The Interlopers left me wondering something: why does the author contrast the concepts of being civilized and savages. For one, Saki, the author, uses words such as 'sportman', 'lawful' and 'proper' in the first paragraph- all of which are terms I feel personify being civilized- in contrast to, later down, saying the men 'thirsted for another's blood'. From a face value, it may just represent their conflict over a possession as a deeply rooted man to man struggle. However, I propose that the contrast of these subjects refers more to a wild, crazy feeling that permeates the text and is found in the wintry, wooded setting or is described in the savagery of mother nature. The Interlopers uses the imagery and the contrasting themes of Civilized versus Savage to put the reader in another world, another time, and to make them feel as if they can experience the tense action found in the novel firsthand. Allow me to present another example. The line 'a man who has been brought up under...civilization cannot...shoot down his neighbor in cold blood' is a clear depiction of the contrast of themes found in the novel. Here, the author directly evokes how civilization limits the men to solve their conflict in a lawful manner, but their innate desire to kill another person pulls them towards violence and away from the natures of a civilized world. The intense conflict and storied histories of these men and their families is felt intimately in connecting the contrasts discussed above, and I surmise that this is why the author decided to implement it.
As with anything else, I would love feedback to see if anyone else felt a similar way, and I hope I may have even began to convince people of my opinion, thanks for reading!
My read on The Interlopers left me wondering something: why does the author contrast the concepts of being civilized and savages. For one, Saki, the author, uses words such as 'sportman', 'lawful' and 'proper' in the first paragraph- all of which are terms I feel personify being civilized- in contrast to, later down, saying the men 'thirsted for another's blood'. From a face value, it may just represent their conflict over a possession as a deeply rooted man to man struggle. However, I propose that the contrast of these subjects refers more to a wild, crazy feeling that permeates the text and is found in the wintry, wooded setting or is described in the savagery of mother nature. The Interlopers uses the imagery and the contrasting themes of Civilized versus Savage to put the reader in another world, another time, and to make them feel as if they can experience the tense action found in the novel firsthand. Allow me to present another example. The line 'a man who has been brought up under...civilization cannot...shoot down his neighbor in cold blood' is a clear depiction of the contrast of themes found in the novel. Here, the author directly evokes how civilization limits the men to solve their conflict in a lawful manner, but their innate desire to kill another person pulls them towards violence and away from the natures of a civilized world. The intense conflict and storied histories of these men and their families is felt intimately in connecting the contrasts discussed above, and I surmise that this is why the author decided to implement it.
As with anything else, I would love feedback to see if anyone else felt a similar way, and I hope I may have even began to convince people of my opinion, thanks for reading!
