Spotted Horses Vs. Mule in the Yard <\/p>\n
William Faulkner wrote two short stories, which are alike in many aspects. \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d and \u201cMule in the Yard\u201d are short stories that both involve comic animal chases and financial transactions. Even though the stories are written by the same author, have similar characteristics, and share similar plot features, they are entirely different stories. The stories are both examples of interpretive literature, however \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d is a more interpretive short story than \u201cMule in the Yard because \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d fits Perrine\u2019s profile of interpretive literature, and \u201cMule in the Yard\u201d seems to replicate Perrine\u2019s profile of escape literature.<\/p>\n
According to Laurence Perrine in his seventh edition of Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense he states the definition of interpretive literature is \u201cLiterature written to deepen and broaden and sharpen our awareness of life.\u201d Interpretive literature is not candy coated. It allows its readers to experience the trials and tribulations of life. By using graphically realistic plots and endings, which are consistent to those in real life, interpretive literature achieves a higher literary value than escape literature. Interpretive literature allows its reader too step out of the fantasy world they might be living in and focus on what the world is really about. One might say an interpretive story provides insight to understanding. Not only understanding of ourselves, but our neighbors, friends, family or anyone else we might encounter.<\/p>\n
Escape literature is the complete opposite of interpretive literature. Escape literature is written purely for entertainment. Escape literature takes it\u2019s reader out of the real world and into a fantasy world where everything works and happens just like we want it to. This is a world where the ending always has closure. Escapist authors hardly ever end on a bad note. They want the reader to leave the pages of their story satisfied, and having a sense of contentment. Perrine\u2019s example of escape literature is Cinderella. Cinderella\u2019s life goes from rags to riches in one night. She marries a prince and lives happily ever after. According to Perrine the most common expectations of escape literature readers are the sympathetic heroes or heroines, the suspenseful plot which one exciting event proceeds another, the resolved happy outcome, and the theme. Escape literature themes confirm the reader\u2019s previous opinions of the world. Readers of escape literature read for pleasure not to gather knowledge on how to survive in the real world.<\/p>\n
The difference between escape literature and interpretive literature has nothing to do with the absence or presence of morals, facts, fantasy, or history. The main difference between the two is the purpose for which the story is written. <\/p>\n
\u201cMule in the Yard\u201d by William Faulkner is an interpretive story. However, \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d is a more interpretive story. Even though \u201cMule in the Yard\u201d is interpretive, it has a few escape literature qualities. The protagonist for \u201cMule in the Yard\u201d was Mrs. Hait, and the antagonist was Snopes. The central conflict between the two of them was that Snopes had succeeded in killing Mrs. Hait\u2019s husband and getting away with it. Justice being served resolved the conflict. Snope\u2019s fraud attempts where discovered by the insurance agency, and Mrs. Hait got her revenge by shooting his mule. This explains your typical \u201creader friendly\u201d escapist ending. Where as, in \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d, the ending is more unresolved. \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d uses a more true to life situation where what the reader would stereotype as an unhappy or indeterminate ending because justice was not served and good did not prevail over evil. <\/p>\n
\u201cSpotted Horses\u201d is a more interpretive story than \u201cMule in the Yard\u201d because of the plausibility of the coincidences. The entire passage about the fire in \u201cMule in the Yard\u201d seems impossible. The chances are slim to none of Mrs. Hait leaving the bucket of hot coals and the pile of fire priming pitch pine needles set next to the stairs leading down to the seller, where Snopes just so happened to leave the door opened. None of it really seems possible. \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d has a few coincidences, but they are somewhat debatable. The fact that Eula Varner was pregnant and had to get married, so Flem Snopes married her to be able to take advantage of her family more thoroughly was one instance of coincidence. We know from experience many people use their position on to move up in the world. By manipulating the people in a situation, one can many times either profit or better them as a result. Flem may have just been working to better himself by answering the door while opportunity was knocking. This may have not been a coincidence. William Faulkner may have simply used this instance to aid in his characterization of Flem Snopes. <\/p>\n
Another of Perrine\u2019s expectations of escape literature can be described as a \u201cbusy plot\u201d. This is where something is always happening throughout the story to keep the readers attention. The plot used in \u201cMule in the Yard\u201d resembles the description. There is always something going on between Mrs. Hait and Snopes. Mrs. Hait\u2019s husband gets killed, she and Snopes fight over money, Mrs. Hait\u2019s house burns down, she and Snopes fight over money again, Snopes gets busted for fraud by the insurance company, and Mrs. Hait shoots a mule all this happens in ninety paragraphs. Once again, \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d is proved to be the more interpretive of the two stories because it\u2019s plot was not written for entertainment. There is no suspense in \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cMule in the Yard\u201d is not a bad story. It is actually an interpretive piece of literature. There are some instances where it could be borderline escape literature, but overall it is interpretive. When compared to \u201cSpotted Horses\u201d, it is the more escapist of the two.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spotted Horses Vs. Mule in the Yard William Faulkner wrote two short stories, which are alike in many aspects. \u201cSpotted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n