Comparison of The Spot and A Respectable Woman
Short stories contain important elements that make up the story. These elements include the characters, the plot, the themes, the conflict, etc (Fauzan, 41). Without these elements, the story does not exist. The two short stories The Spot and A Respectable Woman are interesting stories authored by Jack London and Kate Chopin respectively. Each story is written uniquely. For example, The Spot is written from the perspective of the first person. The narrator is also one of the characters in the story. On the other hand, A Respectable Woman is written from the third person who is not a character in the story. Apart from that, the elements that make up the two short stories are also different. In The Spot and A Respectable Woman, the plots differ greatly hence the characters in the stories have different traits that fit within the individual stories to communicate the various messages that the authors wanted to pass.
The plot of A Respectable Woman is very short but communicates very effectively the message that the author wants to pass to the readers. Mr. Gouvernail, a long-time friend of Mr. Gaston comes to visit his friend at his large estate for him to take a break from work. Mr. Gaston always spoke a lot about his friend to his wife that Mrs. Baroda had become tired of hearing about him. In fact, she had already formed a prejudice against Mr. Gouvernail and disliked him immensely. However, when she met Mr. Gouvernail, she was instantly impressed and attracted to him. She even hung around him for several days after he arrived. One night after she argued with her husband about his friend’s visit, she went out to sit outside by herself where Mr. Gouvernail joined her. However, she longs to fulfill the lustful desires she has towards him. However, she restrains herself and is able to overcome the temptation. After Mr. Gouvernail leaves, Mrs. Baroda suggests that he should come and visit again, which comes as a surprise to her husband since she had expressed her displeasure of his friend. Nevertheless, he is delighted (Chopkin, 3).
On the other hand, the plot to The Spot is somewhat longer and gives detailed accounts of the story. The story follows the events that led the narrator and his best friend to grow apart and become enemies. The protagonist and his friend Stephen were headed to the Klondike gold rush. However, since they had started late, the snow caught up with them and they were forced to buy dogs that would help them navigate the rest of the way safely and faster. One of the dogs that they bought was a very fine-looking dog with a unique spot. However, the dog was very lazy (London). Apart from that, it was gluttonous and even went to the extent of stealing food from its owners. They tried selling the dog but it kept coming back to them. They even tried to kill it but they could not carry out the plan (London). They even paid someone to take him from them but to no avail. The protagonist left one day without notice. He left his friend with the dog. After a few years, his friend showed up with the dog and without a word disappeared. The protagonist is now stuck with the dog. He curses his friend as the dog has brought him nothing but misfortunes. In fact, he has lost his appetite because of the stress that the dog has caused him.
The characters in The Spot and A Respectable Woman are very different in terms of their character traits hence they give the individual stories a unique dimension about them. In A Respectable Woman, three main characters form the backbone of the story. These are Gaston, his wife Mrs. Baroda, and his long-time friend Gouvernail. The author has given each of these characters unique character traits that build up the story’s introduction, conflict, and conclusion. Mrs. Baroda, Gaston’s wife, seems to be the center of attention. The couple is very rich, as they own a whole sugar plantation. Mrs. Baroda is brought out to be a lustful woman. The author suggests multiple times that she lusts after her husband’s friend who is a guest in their house for two weeks. First, the author tells us that for the first few days, she would hang around the two as they held their conversations, which may seem a little odd as one would naturally leave old acquaintances to catch up on their own. However, while this may not prove that she lusts after Mr. Gouvernail, it is important to note that the author mentions instances where she openly admits to it.
First, Mrs. Baroda admits that she liked Mr. Gouvernail the very moment she saw him. “She rather liked him when he first presented himself”. Apart from this, Mrs. Baroda also admits that Mr. Gouvernail is very courteous toward her, as any woman would desire a man to be. It is interesting to note that she does not tell her husband that she finds his friend very courteous and presentable. This would show that she has no interest in him. However, she lies to her husband and claims to dislike Mr. Gouvernail to hide her lustful desires. This shows that she does not want her husband to suspect a thing. The most obvious reference that the author makes to portray Mrs. Baroda’s lust is the moment they are alone in the dark together. Mrs. Baroda longs to touch her husband’s friend and even become intimate with him. “She wanted to draw close to him and whisper against his cheek”. In the end, Mrs. Baroda suggests that the next time Mr. Gouvernail visits; she will try to become intimate with him. “This time I shall be very nice to him”.
However, the author also tries to portray her as a woman of virtue. This is because she overcomes the temptation of engaging in her lustful desires. When she says, “This time I shall be very nice to him”, one would wonder whether she meant that she will respect their boundaries and not satisfy her lust towards him. After all, she is a respectable woman. Another significant trait exhibited by Mrs. Baroda is that she is an attention seeker and loves to be the center of attention. This is shown when she stops hanging around Mr. Gouvernail and her husband and is surprised when Mr. Gouvernail does not ask about her. In addition, when she leaves the house until the guest leaves, she thinks that someone will try to plead with her to stay. This could be the reason she wants her husband’s friend to come back. He did not give her any attention while she is used to being the center of attention.
Mr. Gouvernail’s character is also very important to the story. He is shown to be a hardworking man. He also presents himself well, is polite, and is very courteous towards people. This is shown when he brings Mrs. Baroda a scarf with which to keep herself warm during the night. He is also very laid back and is full of mystery. Mrs. Baroda gives up on trying to figure him out. Finally, there is Mr. Gaston, Mrs. Baroda’s husband. He is a wealthy man who owns a large sugarcane plantation. The author portrays Mr. Gaston as a very loving man. He loves his friend and invites him over to stay for two weeks at his house. He is also shown to love his wife as he is constantly kissing her and having light moments with her. However, he is also very naïve. He does not suspect that his wife is attracted to his friend despite some signs that would suggest that. First, his wife hangs around the two all day even as she expresses her dislike for Mr. Gouvernail. It would also seem very strange that all of a sudden, without even spending a lot of time together, since Mrs. Baroda left the house until the guest left, she would want Mr. Gouvernail back to visit them.
The Spot has three main characters. The narrator, his friend Stephen, and the dog. Much of the focus is put on the dog throughout the story. The dog is shown to be very courageous. The narrator says that he had seen it fight up to 50 dogs at a time and came out unharmed (London). He also says that it is very gluttonous as well as a clever thief. He stole their meat as well as raided other people’s camps. On the other hand, the narrator and his friend were kind-hearted as they put up with him for the most part. They were both unable to kill the dog when they had the chance. However, both of them are inconsiderate when it came to how they treated each other. The narrator left Stephen with the dog without any warning, knowing very well that the dog would be a burden to him. Stephen, on the other hand, also did the same. He showed up with the dog to the narrator’s office, left the dog there, and disappeared without a trace (London).
Works Cited
London, Jack. “That Spot.” Americanliterature.Com, 2009, americanliterature.com/author/jack-london/short-story/that-spot
Chopin, Kate. A Respectable Woman. 1984.
Fauzan, Umar. “Structural Analysis of ‘Peanut & Sparky’: A Short Story by Arnie Lightning as A Way in Understanding Literature.” Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics, vol. 1, no. 1, 17 Apr. 2016, p. 39, 10.21462/jeltl.v1i1.21.