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 b
e 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 environm
ent that he or she is placed in. 'Tears, Idle Tears', by Elizabeth Bowen, is about a young child an
d 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 wo
rld on their shoulders. By examining the two stories, it can be seen that both authors use the symb
olism, setting, and character to prove these main ideas of the stories.
The two storie
s both use symbolism to clarify their themes. 'Tears, Idle Tears' uses a duck to represent Frederic
k'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 realis
ation 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', W
olfe 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 t
he tiger. Similarly, in Bowen's story when Frederick's mother comes back for him, he is cheerful an
d confident. 'She quickly turned her frank, friendly glance on
Pottern 2 the lake, down which, as t
hrough to greet her, a swan came swimming...Frederick gave a great skip, opened his mouth wide, shou
ted:' Oo, I say, mother, I nearly caught a duck''(88). The swan that returns symbolises the new Fre
derick that his mother finds when she returns, bold and beautiful. It seems apparent that both auth
ors use symbolism to help portray the personality of their main characters.
Although t
he 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 pu
blic park, Bowen is given many new options and characters to work with. Because Frederick and his m
other 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 unders
tand why. In 'Child By Tiger' the events that occur to Dick Prosser happen because of the type of e
nvironment he is placed in. He is surrounded by a town that does not have high regard for African A
mericans: 'What happened, what passed between them, was never known. And, besides, no one was grea
tly 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 unt
il he snaps. Both Wolfe and Bowen use their settings to their advantage in creating the theme becau
se, 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 th
is gun away twill Christmas Day'(29). Eventually the reader finds out what Prosser really intends t
o do with the gun on Christmas; he runs around town shooting everyone. Because the author used chil
dren 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 wou
ld 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 ca
n'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 enoug
h to figure out the impact that these experiences have and why he consequently ends up in tears. Th
e 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 prejudgme
nts 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 enviro
nment. The fact that Dick Prosser is an African American has a large impact on the story because hi
s 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 hav
e a preconception about his personality or behaviour. Although his mother, as an adult, was embarra
ssed 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 Tear
s', both use many different writing techniques to develop their themes. By using these techniques t
he authors are allowed to create main characters that can fully emphasise the point that they are tr
ying to get across to the reader. Thomas Wolfe wants to convey the message that Prosser, like all m
en, has both good and evil sides. However, it is because of different environmental factors that br
ing out his evil side, eventually making Dick Prosser go ramped throughout the town. Elizabeth Bowe
n also proves her point through the character of Frederick which exemplifies that some people instin
ctively take on the grievances of others. Because of the technique and style utilised by both autho
rs within their stories, each has been able to produce excellent pieces of literature.many writers
have found writing about human psyche very interesting story child tiger thomas wolf about african a
merican servant initially seems very skilful moral turns very vengeful eventually running around sho
oting town people have hidden side them which brought type environment that placed tears idle tears
elizabeth bowen about young child mother during park young cries seemingly reason story develops rea
der finds that cries because mother consequently experiences grief some people life seem carry burde
ns grief world their shoulders examining stories seen that both authors symbolism setting character
prove these main ideas stories stories both symbolism clarify their themes tears idle uses duck repr
esent frederick alteration personality when first tries duck duck runs down pond swims away after fr
ederick talks with girl meets pond comes realisation alone there someone else there problem with cry
ing seems find sense self esteem because this knowledge story child tiger wolfe often refers prosser
tiger these symbolic references help convey author message wolfe implies prosser cunning sneaky ven
geful which qualities similarly bowen when frederick mother comes back cheerful confident quickly tu
rned frank friendly glance pottern lake down which through greet swan came swimming gave great skip
opened mouth wide shouted nearly caught swan returns symbolises finds when returns bold beautiful se
ems apparent both authors symbolism help portray personality their main characters although settings
completely different they important because they groundwork events unfold since idle takes place pu
blic park bowen given many options characters work with park they have access meeting great variety
different people this coincidentally meets girl also knows cries time doesn understand events occur
dick prosser happen type environment placed surrounded town does high regard african americans what
happened what passed between them never known besides greatly interested crazy nigger another nigger
woman just allows certain events happen bigotry town slowly eats away until snaps wolfe settings ad
vantage creating theme cases could happened setting been different large portion narrative relies st
rong presence character help clarify point author trying make type character used children innocence
creates characters randy shepperton friends description dick main example this pottern found childr
en find room incident foreshadows future just fiction hide away twill christmas eventually reader fi
nds what really intends christmas runs around shooting everyone author used children natural innocen
ce able share piece information without realising significance used adult adult would evaluated goin
g unlike just accept friend tear also brings into play innocence understand much after reading howev
er realises reason inability understand emotional problem hasn deal many troubles problems life dole
s sophisticated enough figure impact these experiences consequently ends authors also innocent offer
unbiased view having told through makes possible prejudgments made before unfold crucial allows dev
elop idea evil side them brought environment fact dick african american large impact ethnic backgrou
nd race treated reason ends shooting everyone similarly meets does preconception personality behavio
ur although adult embarrassed crying young girl pond merely accepts perspective only could bring pot
tern conclusion writing techniques develop themes using techniques allowed create fully emphasise po
int trying across reader thomas wants convey message like good evil sides however environmental fact
ors bring evil side eventually making ramped throughout elizabeth proves point through exemplifies s
ome instinctively take grievances others technique style utilised within each been able produce exce
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