The Knife thrower Essay Example
The Knife thrower Essay Example

The Knife thrower Essay Example

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The Knife Thrower is a short story written by Steven Millimeter and appeared in Harpers Magazine for the first time, in 1997. The story is about a well-known knife thrower, named Hens, who is visiting a small town for a single Saturday night. There are a lot of rumors about Hens and the people in town are excited to see if they are true. Young women want to bear the knife masters wounds proudly, and rumor is that he once wounded an assistant badly.

At the beginning of the show, his only victims are butterflies and his assistant, whom he marks with the master's mound.

Later on he picks out an unknown girl named Laura, as a volunteer. When the knife settles, people are unsure about whether Laura is dead or not. So the audience leave the show with the fe

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eling of guilt and pleasure.

The author has described the characters mostly by physical appearance. A first person plural narrator, who represents the thoughts of the audience, tells us the story of "The knife thrower". The word "we" Is repeated throughout the story, so we can easier identify with the audience.

The genre Is short story because the story egging very close to the climax and we don't get as many details on what has happened before the current events. The setting Is very dull and dark because we don't get any details on how the stage Is set, except the waist-high table and mahogany box, and we are Informed that there are dark partitions around the stage. The composition of the story Is chronological, because It builds up the suspense before the show, and th

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climax Is at the show and the suspense fades out after the show and leaves us with a weird feeling.

The mall character In the story Is Hens.

He Is a knife thrower and a very mysterious man. He doesn't speak a word throughout the story. He seems very dark, because he Is described as a brisk unsmiling man In black tails. There Is also a woman In a white loose-flowing gown, with pale hair that's pulled tightly back. She's Wench's assistant.

Then there Is Susan Parker. A high school girl that gets the masters wound, on her forearm. She Is wearing loose Jeans and a tight black short-sleeved sweater and has reddish-brown hair. Then there Is Laura, the girl who gets the final wound. She Is a tall mournful-looking girl In Jeans ND a dark blouse.

It Is uncertain whether she died or not. We've all heard about the term "guilty-pleasure". When you enjoy something although you know It's wrong. But some guilty-pleasures are different than others. Entertainment has been the same throughout the years. People Like the mysterious and dangerous.

Whether we Like to admit It or not, we Like to watch other people suffer or make a fool of themselves. Entertainment has had many shapes throughout the society, there are so many reality-shows that make the contestants look like idiots and they make them put up with a lot of things. And we enjoy watching them fail. TV- shows like Fear Factor, where they have to eat all kinds of gross things to win money.

Or the reality-show called "Bad Girls Club", where they literally do nothing but fight each other and call each other bad

names. We enjoy the violence and it's the same feeling when we watch shows like knife throwing. We know it's dangerous, but we keep watching because it manages to excite us. A lot of AMA and wrestling matches have also been under question. People are still wondering if it's staged or not, when the blood spills down the fighters faces.

It may be wrong, but when you volunteer to participate in such cruel acts, it may seem right. Because people are thinking to themselves: "No one forced them to, they choose to be a part of it? " That's why you can watch these shows with a clear conscience. In The knife Thrower, people leave the show with an uncertainty of whether Laura died or not. But they didn't protest, because she volunteered for the show. If she had been forced on stage, it would probably have been a different story. The story of "The knife thrower".

The word "we" is repeated throughout the story, so e can easier identify with the audience. The genre is short story because the story happened before the current events.

The setting is very dull and dark because we don't get any details on how the stage is set, except the waist-high table and mahogany box, and we are informed that there are dark partitions around the stage. The composition of the story is chronological, because it builds up the suspense before the show, and the climax is at the show and the suspense fades out after the show and leaves us with a weird feeling.

The main character in the story is Hens. He is a knife thrower and

a very mysterious man. He doesn't speak a word throughout the story.

He seems very dark, because he is described as a brisk unsmiling man in black tails. There is also a woman in a white loose-flowing gown, with pale hair that's pulled tightly back. She's Wench's assistant. Then there is Susan Parker.

A high school girl that gets the masters wound, on her forearm. She is wearing loose Jeans and a tight black short-sleeved sweater and has reddish-brown hair. Then there is Laura, the girl who gets the final wound.

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