![]() ![]() ![]() Despite the already preposterous nature of this request, the Miller refuses to give Hans his lantern for guidance during the storm, indirectly causing Hans’s death. The Miller’s final request is for Hans to fetch the doctor for the Miller’s son during a storm in the middle of the night. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Wilde may be exploring the theme of innocence. ![]() The Miller’s requests grow more and more unreasonable as the story progresses, showing there is no limit to how much he is willing to exploit little Hans. In The Devoted Friend by Oscar Wilde we have the theme of selfishness, innocence, trust, friendship and self-importance. And though he offers Hans a broken wheelbarrow-openly applauding himself for his generosity-this object never manifests in the story. The Miller not only freely takes flowers and produce from Hans’s garden, but also requests Hans to perform difficult chores for him throughout the story. While little Hans suffers through the winter with very little to eat, the Miller stays in his comfortable home with his wife and son, with a pinewood fire and plenty of food and drink. The Miller is an incredibly wealthy man-“he had a hundred sacks of flour stored away in his mill, and six milch cows, and a large flock of woolly sheep”-but he doesn’t share his wealth with his so-called friend. ![]() He is a rich, exploitative merchant who manipulates Hans into performing labor in the name of friendship. The Miller is the antagonist in the Linnet’s tale. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |