"Godfather Death" is one of the most interesting short stories I have ever read with the twists and emotions that are portrayed in the story. In the story, a man must choose a godfather for his son. The man first comes across Jesus, then Devil, and he finally chose Death as the Godfather. The reason for choosing Death was because Death does not discriminate. Death made the godson a famous doctor with the herb he offered him, but it had to be sued according to Death's conditions. The godson once broke the condition for healing a King, and he was forgiven, but on the second occasion Death did not forgive him, and the godson dies, (Jacob and Grimm, Wilhelm, 2014). This essay discusses the literacy styles and concepts such as theme, point of view, the tone, setting, and symbolism in the story.
Let us first look at the point of view of the story. By analyzing the author's writing, we can conclude that he is writing in the present form. The author narrates the story timeline as if it is happening right away. The point of view in the story is the third person's point of view. This can be seen throughout the narration of the story. In the story, the author uses phrases third person pronouns such as him and him while referring to characters in the story. For example, the phrase, "he knew not what to do in his trouble." The concept of the third person point of view cannot only be seen in the narrator of the story but also an omniscient third person who seem to know all the thoughts of the characters in the story.
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The author of the story uses the three main characters in the story, which are Godfather Death, the Poor man, and the Boy who turns out to be the godson to Death. The poor man is portrayed as a good father who works very hard to ensure that his twelve children get their basic needs. In page one, the narrator says, "He worked day and night to give them (his children) even bread." Also, the poor man is portrayed as a wise person since he came across Jesus AND Devil before settling to Godfather Death. He had clear reasons for rejecting them and settling on Death. The boy is a physician and becomes a rich man. He is a type of person who does not follow instructions as portrayed on page 2 of the story, "if I could but cheat Death for once." He becomes greedy and disobeys Death by healing the princess, and this leads to his Death. The Godfather Death is seen as a person who keeps his word. This can be proven by the following line on page 2 of the story, "now shall you receive your Godfather's present, I will make you a celebrated physician. For sure, he makes the boy a famous and rich physician. Also, the Godfather gave his godson a second chance after he broke the given conditions.
The setting of the story is in a place where life is hard. From how the author portrays the poor man, we can assume that the story takes place in the 19th century in a low land country. The poor man has so many children, twelve of them, and this makes him work day and night for his children not to starve and survive. The story also talks about kingdoms and greed for power, which are issues that were prevalent in the 19th century.
The major theme that can be seen throughout the story is betrayal. Based on the story, we can see that betrayal has its way of getting back. Godfather Death made the boy a famous physician was given conditions on how to use a herb to heal people. Because of the greed for power and money, the boy betrayed his Godfather. The Godfather was merciful and gave him a second chance, but the son having the betrayal engraved in him betrayed him again. The godson had to suffer consequences for his betrayal, including his Death. The story tries to portray the importance of trust and that we should always value a second chance. Betrayal is something that occurs in various contexts, and thus we should know who to trust and share our secrets with. The boy did not only betray his Godfather but also his family, which depended on him. There are other themes, such as greed and freewill vs. circumstance that the other is passing. The ultimate lesson is that we should accept the consequences of our decision.
The author used different styles in the story, such as symbolism. Symbolism is portrayed in different ways in the story. The boy was number 13 in his family. This number is associated with negative believes and him being a godson to Death strengthens this belief. The number is associated with bad luck and bad things, which eventually happen when the boy betrays his Godfather. Symbolism can also be seen at the moment where the boy is taken to the cave and is shown candles. The burning candles had different length and flames to portray the different lengths of people's life. The candles have also been used to represent how the days of our life reduce as with the passing days. The author has used symbolism well to pass his intended message.
References
Blamberger, G., & Kakar, S. (Eds.) (2018). Imaginations of Death and the Beyond in India and Europe. Springer.
Goritsas, H. (2017). The Politics of Magic: DEFA Fairy-Tale Films.
Grimm, Jacob and Grimm, Wilhelm. (2014). Folk and Fairy Tales of the Grimm Brothers. Princeton. New Jersey.
Scoggins, J., & Two, C. (2018). The Godfather. Critique, 2, 20.
