The Dark Ones:
1. The protagonist in the story is the
male sea creature because the story
follows this character around. The
antagonists of the story are the
humans, because they oppose the
protagonist.
2. The mood of the story is depressing
because the whale’s family is being
split up and the protagonist dies a
tragic and lonely death. The imagery
reflects this mood through the words
‘dark’, ‘painful’, and ‘agony’.
Another mood that is experienced in
The Dark Ones is fear. This story is
fearful because the whale is viciously
hunted down by gleeful villains.
3. This story is set in the ocean at
nighttime.
4. The central conflict of this story is
person vs animal. The sea creature
is persecuted by humans, and the
humans try to kill the sea creatures.
5. The weather reflects the mood in
this story when it begins to rain
when the sea creature gets
harpooned.
6. This story is ironic because the
human beings in the story are more
animalistic than the animals. We
expect humans to have virtues and
morals, but instead they are ruthless
and vicious predators. This affects
meaning as it shows that humans
have a dark side, and we need to
show more compassion toward our
animal friends.
7. Yes, I had sympathy for the main
character because he experiences
loss and pain, and I can relate to
this. I would not want to lose my
family.
UNIVERSAL (applies to everything and
everyone) THEMES:
Appearance vs. Reality – Things are not
always what they appear to be.
Reality of evil and suffering – human life
is plagued with suffering, and every
person has a dark side that they must
fight against:






Anger
Desire
Greed
Jealousy
Pride
Lust
Point of View: Third person limited
At the end of the story, the perspective
shifts from the father to the mother, as
she witnesses her husband’s dead body
lifted out of the water and into the boat.
This increases sympathy for the whale
characters.
Symbol:
Darkness – represents evil
Light – represents goodness