The Child By Tiger Essay, Research Paper
“The Child by Tiger”
In “The Child by Tiger”, Wolfe does a superb job of making the story reveal a truth about human experience. Dick’s killing rampage in the short story showed how the human sole has a tendency to become violent. Characterization and excellent choice of tone and mood used in the story display how the Dick becomes violent.
Wolfe carefully develops Dick’s character in the short story. At the beginning of the short story, Wolfe describes Dick’s actions precisely. Wolfe illustrates anything from Dick’s movements to his talk. Furthermore, Dick is depicted as an honest hard working and notably talented individual. Wolfe does all of this for a simple reason, to show that any human sole can turn evil, no matter how intelligent, honest, or hard working. For this reason, Wolfe’s characterization of Dick is essential to the short story. Without a good characterization of Dick before his sole turns violent, the story would have no meaning and would just be about a mad man. However, with Wolfe’s exquisite characterization, the reader find outs how an innocent god fearing man can turn violent. Overall, Wolfe’s characterization is key to the short stories meaning.
Outstanding tone and mood choice also help show the truth about the weak human sole. First, the Wolfe’s informal tone of the story is significant. I believe Wolfe’s tone help set up the readers for the shock of what Dick does. However, the tone the author sets is important because of the shock we get, we also see how fragile the human sole is and how it can easily change. In this case, the author’s informal and almost ironic tone surprise the reader but also help show the significance of Dick’s experience. Second, the author’s mood for the story is quiet deceiving. Since the plot of the story is to show how any human sole can turn evil, the author sets an ironic mood. Though the mood is informal, the irony of the situation is of a “good” mad turning “evil”. Wolfe sets up this mood by his description and analysis of Dick’s character and actions at the beginning of the story. The mood is ironic because when the violent side of Dick comes out, our mood towards the story changes because we are shocked at what has happened to innocent Dick. Altogether, the choice of tone and mood help show the significance of Dick’s actions.
Characterization and the superb tone and mood of the short story help display how significant Dick’s action was. In addition, it showed how the human sole, no matter how strong, has the tendency to become violent or evil. In “The Child by Tiger” Wolfe uses those three elements of fiction to masterful show the truth about a human experience.