Two Fishermen Literary Paragraph
Sabri, Ruhma
ELA A30
Mrs G. Stoner In the short story Two Fishermen by Morley Callaghan, the main character K. Smith reveals the author's view against capital punishment through the contradiction of his affable nature and small appearance with his role of executioner. One of the first questions that are asked about Smith is "Did he look like the hangman?" This indicates that the author wants us to focus on Smitty's physical appearance and compare it to that of a hangman. At the beginning of the story, he is described as "a mild, harmless-looking little guy" who is "awfully polite". When Michael first sees Smitty, he is observed to be a "little fellow without a hat....a very small man with little grey baby curls on the back of his neck..." Callaghan uses words such as "little fellow", "very small", and "little grey baby curls" to make his physical appearance resemble that of a child which is dissimilar to what a hangman would be visualized like. Smitty seems to have a very friendly nature as he smiles a lot and really appreciates Michael's company. Moreover, he talks about his wife and children, which shows that he has a family he loves and cares about. Not only Smitty’s physical appearance, but also his neighbourly nature goes against the stereotypical image of a hangman. Callaghan uses this irony to give his readers the message that capital punishment should not be supported. According to Smitty, he works as an executioner because he believes that "somebody's got to do the job". Due to the existence of capital punishment, a man as warm and pleasant as Smitty finds the need for a hangman to be important. He also seems to be deluding himself into thinking that capital punishment is essential to eliminate the criminals from the society. When Michael asks him if he has heard about Thomas Delany, he responds back saying "I never read about them". He does not want to read about the people he is to execute so that he does not sympathize with them. This suggests that he
ELA A30
Mrs G. Stoner In the short story Two Fishermen by Morley Callaghan, the main character K. Smith reveals the author's view against capital punishment through the contradiction of his affable nature and small appearance with his role of executioner. One of the first questions that are asked about Smith is "Did he look like the hangman?" This indicates that the author wants us to focus on Smitty's physical appearance and compare it to that of a hangman. At the beginning of the story, he is described as "a mild, harmless-looking little guy" who is "awfully polite". When Michael first sees Smitty, he is observed to be a "little fellow without a hat....a very small man with little grey baby curls on the back of his neck..." Callaghan uses words such as "little fellow", "very small", and "little grey baby curls" to make his physical appearance resemble that of a child which is dissimilar to what a hangman would be visualized like. Smitty seems to have a very friendly nature as he smiles a lot and really appreciates Michael's company. Moreover, he talks about his wife and children, which shows that he has a family he loves and cares about. Not only Smitty’s physical appearance, but also his neighbourly nature goes against the stereotypical image of a hangman. Callaghan uses this irony to give his readers the message that capital punishment should not be supported. According to Smitty, he works as an executioner because he believes that "somebody's got to do the job". Due to the existence of capital punishment, a man as warm and pleasant as Smitty finds the need for a hangman to be important. He also seems to be deluding himself into thinking that capital punishment is essential to eliminate the criminals from the society. When Michael asks him if he has heard about Thomas Delany, he responds back saying "I never read about them". He does not want to read about the people he is to execute so that he does not sympathize with them. This suggests that he