by Thomas Wolfe
The story, "The Child By Tiger" written by Thomas Wolfe, is primarily interpretive literature, not escape literature.
"Escape literature" is written purely for pleasure, while
"interpretive literature" is written for pleasure and to help us understand the world around us. Interpretive literature educates, asks questions about life and presents some aspects of life that we may not want to face. "The
Child by Tiger" is interpretive literature because of the way the author presents the story, the way it ends, the way it educates us, and especially how it helps us understand man's darker nature. This work is interpretive rather than escape literature because of the way the author presents the story. Thomas
Wolfe has the protagonist looking back on the events that occurred twenty-five years earlier. Even though he has had a very long time to reflect on them, he is looking back in the hope that he can make some sense out of it all. The author uses this situation to his advantage. On the second page of the story where the author writes, "He had, he said, only recently received his discharge from the Army", shows that the protagonist is second guessing what Dick
Prosser had said. This reflective outlook is a good position from which to teach the audience. The reader learns about death the same way as the protagonist. This is an ideal way to catch the attention of the audience and to educate them at the same time as the protagonist, which is a characteristic of interpretive literature. Another reason this story is interpretive is the way it ends. In "The Most Dangerous Game," which is an example of escape literature, the reader is left with a playful ending and has the opportunity to decide if Rainsford becomes the hunter or if he just leaves. No such ending is left in "The
Child by Tiger." In addition, the story does not end with the death of Dick
Prosser. The author wants to impart a