Reflections 1
Short Story-The Donkey, by Guy de Maupassant
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/donkey.html
My first reaction to this story: gross. Who in the world would write such a sick story? Two men living a wandering life, illegally killing rabbits, torturing a donkey, stealing boats. In a word: perverted. And what is it with that crazy Labouise, calling everyone his "sister". Its as if he wanted everyone else in the world to be a woman. Talk about gender discrimination.
Upon reading that these two men lived a wanderer's life, my first reaction was: oh, that kind of person. And when they killed those poor grey rabbits illegally, I really got mad. But yet somehow, I was compelled to read on and see just how mean these men could get.
Then I read the part when they killed the donkey. That was terrible! They didn't just kill it, they tortured it! Instead of just dealing a death blow, they shot it with smaller pellets just to see it bray and get hurt. And when the woman tried to save the donkey, they threatened to shoot her as well. How sadistic. When I read that part, I was hoping somehow that someone would come and save the donkey. The writer even described how the donkey twitched before it died, and its "mournful cry". Yuck. I don't think I've ever read such a sadistic story.
But yet, even as wanderers, Maillochon and Labouise are no fools. By the way they killed the rabbits one by one carefully and patiently, I doubt if they've ever been caught. Even when they are greedy, they are still able to fool others cleverly and make a quick buck. For instance, in the case of the donkey, Labouise managed to fool the innkeeper by describing the animal as large, grey and with no horns, making it sound so mysterious when it was only an ordinary donkey. Everyone knows donkeys can't be eaten, yet Labouise had the tack to say, "I don't know what it is!--but it's there. I'll give you back your money if you find nothing" meaning that even if the innkeeper found the donkey, he could not get his money back from Labouise as he did not promise that it would be anything, just that it would be there.
This story is indeed different from anything I've ever read. For instance, this is one of the rare stories where men who do evil actually get away with it. I was hoping that the donkey wouldn't die, and that the men would be repayed for their evil deeds, and I was disappointed. Yet if things had turned out the way I had hoped, this story would be no different from all the others, and I guess you could say this is what makes this story unique.
P.S. Guy de Maupassant suffered from syphillis, a disease that caused increasing mental disorder. At the height of his illness, he tried to commit suicide and was admitted to a private asylum as Passy, in Paris. I suppose that accounts for the "uniqueness" of this story. Surprisingly, he was once a civil servant in the ministry of education.
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/donkey.html
My first reaction to this story: gross. Who in the world would write such a sick story? Two men living a wandering life, illegally killing rabbits, torturing a donkey, stealing boats. In a word: perverted. And what is it with that crazy Labouise, calling everyone his "sister". Its as if he wanted everyone else in the world to be a woman. Talk about gender discrimination.
Upon reading that these two men lived a wanderer's life, my first reaction was: oh, that kind of person. And when they killed those poor grey rabbits illegally, I really got mad. But yet somehow, I was compelled to read on and see just how mean these men could get.
Then I read the part when they killed the donkey. That was terrible! They didn't just kill it, they tortured it! Instead of just dealing a death blow, they shot it with smaller pellets just to see it bray and get hurt. And when the woman tried to save the donkey, they threatened to shoot her as well. How sadistic. When I read that part, I was hoping somehow that someone would come and save the donkey. The writer even described how the donkey twitched before it died, and its "mournful cry". Yuck. I don't think I've ever read such a sadistic story.
But yet, even as wanderers, Maillochon and Labouise are no fools. By the way they killed the rabbits one by one carefully and patiently, I doubt if they've ever been caught. Even when they are greedy, they are still able to fool others cleverly and make a quick buck. For instance, in the case of the donkey, Labouise managed to fool the innkeeper by describing the animal as large, grey and with no horns, making it sound so mysterious when it was only an ordinary donkey. Everyone knows donkeys can't be eaten, yet Labouise had the tack to say, "I don't know what it is!--but it's there. I'll give you back your money if you find nothing" meaning that even if the innkeeper found the donkey, he could not get his money back from Labouise as he did not promise that it would be anything, just that it would be there.
This story is indeed different from anything I've ever read. For instance, this is one of the rare stories where men who do evil actually get away with it. I was hoping that the donkey wouldn't die, and that the men would be repayed for their evil deeds, and I was disappointed. Yet if things had turned out the way I had hoped, this story would be no different from all the others, and I guess you could say this is what makes this story unique.
P.S. Guy de Maupassant suffered from syphillis, a disease that caused increasing mental disorder. At the height of his illness, he tried to commit suicide and was admitted to a private asylum as Passy, in Paris. I suppose that accounts for the "uniqueness" of this story. Surprisingly, he was once a civil servant in the ministry of education.
a dancing munchkin @ 10:01 PM
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