A Literary Analysis of Stephen Leacock’s Short Story “The Thoughts of Jefferson Thorpe”

A Literary Analysis of Stephen Leacock’s Short Story “The Thoughts of Jefferson Thorpe”

Question

Scene from “Mariposa”

1 Write a literary analysis of the short story with your own reasoning and support.

2 Use the correct essay structure as described in the course materials.

3 Use correct academic terminology as indicated in the course materials.

Answer

This article explores how Stephen Leacock emphasizes the essence of his short story, The Speculation of Jefferson Thorpe, which appears in the short story collection Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (Eckert 202). The purpose is to figure out which specific settings were used for In this article, I decided to talk more about how the small-town environment plays a central role in the story, especially the one mentioned above. The fictional town in which the story revolves around a small barber shop, Soap, is called Mariposa. The city is said to lie on the shores of the famous Wissanotti Lake. From the church, the city is not yet real, but the maple trees and hotels in the story do exist (Gonçalves). The depiction of the city’s surroundings in the story therefore not only plays an important role in the construction of structures, but also helps show the integrity and authenticity of the small town. The characters he creates through his visions are almost real and have almost the same identity as a small town dweller. A character’s flaws and weaknesses are portrayed in a way that inspires both humor and pity, ultimately culminating in a love of the character. The narrator flashed the location as a key location, calling it the “storm center” and “central point” of the entire riot. The barbershop in the story is central to the fascination because the barber, Jefferson Thorpe, is the owner of the shop who begins to venture into the mining business (Gordon 40). In this story, greed for mining stock drives everyone insane and insane.

Amidst the chaos, Thorpe manages to make a fortune by sticking to his side. Due to his relentless behavior, he does not part with some of the Northern Star Mine’s mine inventory. He gets rich, but the sooner he gets rich, the sooner he loses his luck. He invested in the wrong place and lost his entire fortune in a fraud case. It is clear from this incident that the image and overall impression of the small town that the story is trying to convey could have been destroyed if the barber had become and remained wealthy. it is clear. Thus, the clever storytelling techniques used in this story show that the fate of a small town determines the fate of those who live there. The story begins with Thorpe not having enough barbershops to collect the required amount. Therefore, a different research method was needed to obtain a large sum of money. The story depicts how the inhabitants play the role of puppets in the hands of the city. The city isn’t afraid to control the lives of its citizens, even if it’s much smaller. Thorpe gets the chance to make money, but loses it at the same time. It shows how one thinks one has an advantage without realizing that one is being deceived about the whole situation (Kiedrovsky). However, at the end of the story, he was proven wrong and confirmed his destiny to become one of the small town dwellers. This character symbolizes honesty and stupidity at the same time. A victim of fate, he is confronted with an ultimatum.

From this we can conclude that stories set in small towns do not unknowingly allow their inhabitants to exceed their expectations. This story shows the limits, veracity and innocence of the characters portrayed in its setting.

References

Eckert, Kenneth. “‘How Strange Life Is!’: Similarities Between Performative Narrator and Chaucerian in Stephen Leacock’s Small Town Sunshine Sketch.” (2019): 199-216.

Goncalves, David Silva. “‘The Movement and Change of Mariposa’: A Literary Analysis and Incredible Translation of the Humor of Leacock’s ‘Sunshine Sketch'” (2017). Gordon, John. “Comic Heroes and the Green Tory: Stephen Leacock and Thomas King Make Ethical Space in Extraordinary Positions.” ESC: British Law in Canada 43.1 (2017): 21-43.

Kiedrovsky, Jonas F. Revolution is Not Satired: The Revolutionary Potential of Stephen Leacock’s Satire. diss. University of Saskatchewan, 2019.