Child By Tiger Literary Anal Essay Research

Child By Tiger Literary Anal Essay, Research Paper

An unknown source once wrote, For evil to succeed it is sufficient that good men do nothing . This quote ties into the theme of The Child By Tiger , written by Thomas Wolfe. The Child By Tiger leaves its readers with proof that evil and innocence are in every aspect of life. Thomas Wolfe develops this theme through his use of a child s perspective, character development, setting and symbols. Thomas Wolfe uses these elements to portray a powerful message that a reader cannot forget.

The Child By Tiger is a story about a black man, Dick Prosser. Dick was the Shepperton s man as they called him. He always knew how to do everything, from boxing to football. The children in the neighborhood found him to be a friend and a mentor who taught them more than just skills, he taught them about life. On a cold winter night Dick went to Pansy Harris house, another servant within the town. Pansy s husband arrived at home and a fight broke out and Dick shot Pansy s husband. When police arrived on the scene Dick shot them promptly and began running through the town. Dick continued to shoot people that tried to stop him, until the posse of men from the town surrounded him. Dick dropped his weapon and was shot 330 times and then brought into town to put on display.

Wolfe tells this story of obviously adult content through the perspective of a child. Wolfe does this to illustrate the theme, it shows the innocence and the evil within the mind and heart of a child. In the beginning of the story we see the admiration that the narrator holds for Dick, He knew about football too, and today he paused, a powerful, respectable- looking Negro man . . .and watched us play (Perrine, 25). A reader can see the excitement and enthusiasm that only a child can hold for his role model in this quotation. Using this child s perspective the reader finds it easy to believe the narrator in most everything he says. The narrator is pure in his thoughts; after all he is a child. The mind of a child can be easily affected by the thoughts of others, which is shown in the way the children act once Dick is killed. They immediately develop a hate for the man they once considered great and wonderful, We saw it[Dick s dead body] and tried wretchedly to make ourselves believe that once this thing had spoken to us gently, had been partner to our confidence, object of our affection and respect . . .and we were sick with nausea and fear (Perrine, 37). Through this quotation one can see how the narrator s thoughts changed within an instant because of one event. This sudden change of heart is amplified by the fact that it is a child holding these thoughts. Through life one learns to judge a situation using all the facts, but a child s mind is not capable of that. The perspective of a child leads back to the theme, there is both good and evil in everything that is perceived. Even a child cannot escape the evil of the world and yet that child is innocent.

Using the child s perspective Wolfe develops Dick s character, a character that was respected for good reasons and then forgotten on the account of one event. Dick was portrayed as a gentle and religious man. He read his Bible very night. Everyone in the town was proud of Dick, we were all so proud of him. Mr. Shepperton had said himself he was the best man he had ever had. . . the best man he had ever known (Perrine , 26). Mixed into the descriptions of the gentle, pure, and kind Dick there was always another description lying in the shadows:

He went too softly, at too swift a pace. He was there upon you

sometimes like a cat. Looking before us, sometimes, seeing nothing

but the world before us, suddenly we felt a shadow at our backs and,

looking up we would find Dick was there. And there was something

moving in the night. We never saw him come or go. Sometimes we

would waken startled, and feel that we had heard a board creak . . .

All was still(Perrine, 26).

This quotation reflects the theme directly, there is good and evil in everything one perceives. Dick had a character flaw, as do most people. The flaw was not that there was evil inside of him, but that other people saw it. Other people saw the way his eyes flashed red when he became angry. He always remained calm, but the anger was there. This can tie into the theme his evil and his good were both apparent at many times. His outside appearance reflected the man he was on the inside, he was strong. His military training was apparent in everything he did. His actions reflected the strict order that the military held him to and that he held himself to, He did it[split the kindling]with a power, a military order, that was astounding (Perrine, 25). This shows how Dick did exactly what he was taught to do because he thought that was right, he also killed many people because he thought he was doing the right thing. Dick did not perceive his actions as evil, but others did. Dick s character is reflective of the theme in that all things can possess good and evil.

The setting of the story seems relatively unimportant, but certain elements give great meaning to the story. At one point in the story there is said to be, a smell of smoke . . . burning in the air (Perrine 24). This smoke can represent how the town covered up it s flaws, like a blanket of smoke. It can also signify ho