Arghya Jana Literature Guide

Beowulf is a primary epic. It arose out of an oral tradition like Iliad and it is not literary in origin. Beowulf embodies the general characteristics of an epic in its special way.          As all epic poems are expected to be, Beowulf is a record of the national life of the period depicted in it but only to a limited extent. At best, we can say that Beowulf is a record but a mutilated one of the ancient Teutonic life.          In Beowulf, characterization is broad and bold as is found in all epics. Beowulf has his love of glory, iron resolution, fearlessness, loyalty and dutifulness which are not shaken even he has the presentiment of his own doom in his last adventure. He has been described as ‘a king of the world of men, the middlest to his people, the most kindly   and gentle and most eager for praise.’          Beowulf is heroic in spirit, chivalr...

      Symbolism implies a deeper sense, underneath a plain external account. The writer achieves manifold purposes by using symbols. It helps to build up the theme according to the complexity of the subject. ‘ The Ox’ symbolizes the beast of burden and in the short story ‘ The Ox’, it symbolizes the painstaking life of Mrs Thurlow. From the very beginning of the short story the author has not failed to show the analogue of the ox in Mrs Thurlow’s physical feature--- she had a bulky and rather robust body, with her flat, heavy feet, that ‘pounded painfully’ along ‘under mud-stained skirts’. Her face and body looked unseemly with her lumpy angle of bone. She is appeared as ‘a beast of burden’. Moreover, when she works in the field-to plant and pick potatoes and peas, to dig for cabbages and roots, she pinned up her skirt on the back that seemed to be ‘a thick stiff, tail’. She appears like ‘some bonny ox. Mrs Thurlow has a bicycle which is never ridden. I...

      In the truest sense a short story is a short prose with some characteristic features. In a short story a significant event is taken as the subject matter of the story. A small number of characters are introduced and a short story can easily by read out in a single sitting. From this point the ox never fully satisfies the requirements. Inspite of that we have to judge “The ox” as a short story.       Bates’s ‘The ox’ is a labeled as a short story, although this is not a very short story. ‘The Ox’ is a simple narrative with a single plot that deals with the life and hardship of a rustic woman Mrs. Thurlow. The story is no doubt a tragedy—the tragedy of a poor humble ambition of a woman who saved money desperately for the future of her sons. She wanted to establish them beyond her world. But her little ambition was all sadly shut out. Her husband was involved in an act of murder and died in the police custody. Her hard-earned ...

Generally the title of any literary work is derived either from its main character or from its central theme. From this point of view the ox has no relation as its symbolically refers the character of the heroine of this story who is hardy, sturdy, patient and painstaking as an ox. The title directly refers to her.       From the very beginning of the short story the author has not failed to show the analogue of the ox in Mrs Thurlow’s physical feature--- she had a bulky and rather robust body, with her flat, heavy feet, that ‘pounded painfully’ along ‘under mud-stained skirts’. Her face and body looked unseemly with her lumpy angle of bone. She is appeared as ‘a beast of burden’. Moreover, when she works in the field-to plant and pick potatoes and peas, to dig for cabbages and roots, she pinned up her skirt on the back that seemed to be ‘a thick stiff, tail’. She appears like ‘some bonny ox. Mrs Thurlow has a bicycle which is never ridden. It remains a...