Example of Short Story Analysis
– an analysis of the short story "A Fable" by Mark Twain
"A Fable" is a short story written by Mark Twain, first published in 1909. The text explores the relationship between an artist’s intention and the audience’s reaction. This analysis will study the short story closely and explore how literary devices contribute to making the text’s theme clear.
"A Fable" starts with a description of an artist who has painted a picture he is very pleased with. To experience the work of art fully, it must be looked at in a mirror: “This doubles the distance and softens it, and it is twice as lovely as it was before.” The artist’s cat tells his friends about the painting. Hearing that it is very beautiful, the animals are eager to see it. One by one they come and look in the mirror, but not knowing where to stand, they only see themselves, not the picture. It seems clear from the story that the theme of the text is art and how an audience perceives a work of art in a different way than the artist intended. The animals all come to see the picture with the expectation that they will see a work of unusual beauty, but they only see themselves.
Among the animals that hear the cat’s story are Baloo the Bear and Hathi the elephant. This is an allusion to Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, where we find the same animals with the same names. By using the allusion, Twain places his text in the universe that Kipling created. The readers will accept this world of animals that can talk and communicate across species because they have accepted it before. By making the allusion to The Jungle Book, Twain helps the audience suspend disbelief and accept the story. It is also possible that Twain regards Kipling’s story as one of the works of art that is misunderstood by the audience, and that he has included it so that the reader will think about whether they have understood the story fully. Perhaps he is saying that The Jungle Book is also a fable, and that the audience should learn a moral lesson from it.
Contrast is used as a literary device in the text. We see a contrast between the cat and the other animals. The cat is a household pet, while the other animals are farm animals or wild animals. The cat has more knowledge than the others; he is providing both the information about the painting and the moral of the story. However, he does not have enough knowledge to help the other animals see the painting correctly. The use of contrast makes the cat seem superior to the other animals; he offers the moral of the story and therefore seems to have wisdom. This makes the reader pay extra attention to what he has to say.
On the other hand, the different groups of animals may be intended to be understood symbolically. The cat may represent people who belong to the upper classes; they don't have to work but are provided food and shelter. They have knowledge of art and have defining power over morality. The working class is represented by working animals, such as the ass, the cow, and the camel. These are animals kept by humans to work for them, in the same way that working-class people work for employers. The wild animals can be seen as representing the middle class. Living in the wild, they are not dependent on humans (employers) to survive. They are ignorant of art but interested in it. The different groups of animals are recreating a class-divided society. If we look at the groups of animals as representing society, we realise that Twain is being satirical. He is making a comment on society, saying that just because you belong to a higher class, it does not mean that you understand art any better.
At first glance, it seems that this story is intended for children. The text makes extensive use of anthropomorphism: we meet animals that talk, have friendships, and care about art. In other words, they are given human characteristics. This is something we are familiar with from children’s stories, such as The Jungle Book or Disney’s Mickey Mouse. There is also an eclectic mix of animals: a cow, an ass, a bear, an elephant, a tiger, a leopard, and a camel. This is reminiscent of picture books for very young children, used to teach children about different animals.
However, the theme of the story is very grown-up: it discusses how an audience reacts to a work of art, and how their experiences and reactions are very different from what the artist first intended. The diction also supports the understanding that this is a story for adults, since words like "sesquipedalian adjectives", "unappeasable", and "ethereal" would not be understood by most children. All in all, the text seems to be a story for adults disguised as a story for children. This is a method often used to discuss a complex issue in a simple way.
The story ends with a moral provided by the cat: "You can find in a text whatever you bring, if you will stand between it and the mirror of your imagination. You may not see your ears, but they will be there." This shows us that the theme of the text is related to writing in particular, rather than art in general. The animals in the story represent us, the readers. The author is suggesting that when reading the story, we bring so much of ourselves to it that we cannot understand the text as it was intended.
The puzzling part of the cat's moral is the line "You may not see your ears, but they will be there." This line seems intended to confuse the readers. It makes us unsure whether we have in fact interpreted the story correctly when we assume it is about the relationship between an artist/author and their audience. The line suggests that the author is poking fun at the audience: We are ignorant animals, who cannot see his writing as he intended because we are too busy studying ourselves. This underscores the author's point that the audience will not understand a work the way the author intended.
In sum, it seems clear that Mark Twain's story "A Fable" is meant to make us think about the way an audience perceives a work of art, whether it is a painting or a literary work. We may believe that we are smart enough to understand the work the way the artist or author intended, but in reality, our perception is coloured by who we are, and what we bring with us when we see a painting or read a story.
Twain, M., 1909, "A Fable".
Masterclass, 2021, "Writing 101: What Is a Fable? Learn About the 4 Central Characteristics of a Fable and 4 Famous Fable Examples". Retrieved from: Link to article about fables on the Masterclass webpage.
Mark Twain House & Museum, "About Mark Twain". Retrieved from: Mark Twain House & Museum webpage.
Short story analysis checklist:
Title: Have a title that is relevant for the text you have written. Original titles are more likely to make the reader want to read your text.
Introduction: Introduce the work you are going to analyse by naming the author, year of publication, and perhaps something about the context in which the work was written. Then go on to explain what your analysis will focus on. You learn more about the text the deeper you go into the analysis, therefore it may be a good idea to wait a while before you write the introduction.
First paragraph: Give a short plot summary of the text you are going to analyse. In an analysis, you can summarise all parts of the text, and you don't have to worry about spoilers. Make sure the summary is no more than a paragraph long.
Next paragraphs (minimum three more): Look at text features or literary devices you have noticed in the text. Give each text feature or literary device its own paragraph. Point out where in the text the feature/device is used and explain what is achieved by using the feature/device in the text.
Conclusion: Draw a conclusion. You have looked at text features and literary devices: What do they in sum tell you about the text? Avoid writing an ending where you just repeat what you have already said.
Source list: Remember to include the text you are analysing. You should also include other sources you have used. You can use Kildekompasset to find out how to make a source list. Link to the webpage Kildekompasset.