Gladiator matches in the Roman Colosseum. Jousting matches. Modern day Mixed Martial Arts. Action packed movies. For nearly all of recorded history, humans have been apprehensively infatuated with viewing high-stakes, dangerous endeavors. While civilized society has taught people to quell these desires, the thrill and excitement that comes from seeing an individual toe the line between life and death is part of basic human nature. The short story “The Knife Thrower”—which follows an infamous as he visits a small town and leaves his audience internally questioning themselves—explores this idea of humanity’s inherent interest in viewing dangerous shows. Steven Millhauser’s short story “The Knife Thrower” provides insight into the conflicting
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Millhauser develops the spectators as having malevolent interests in order to establish the dynamic between the malevolence and benevolence that he employs to make a comment on basic human nature. From the beginning of the story, there was a certain aurora and sense of forbiddenness surrounding Hensch that utterly captivated the small town. As a result of rumors and word of mouth, the town had collectively developed an image of Hensch as a daring showman, a man who stares death in the face—not afraid to push the boundaries of his art. When discussing his potential arrival, the narrator recounts all of the rumors people have heard, stating that if it had not been for the “dubious enticements, we'd have been unlikely to attend the performance at all” (Millhauser). It is evident with this quote that a large part of getting the audience to attend was in fact the rumors of danger and death that they had all heard about. There was something about these rumors that …show more content…
While giving a play by play of one of Hensch’s throws, the narrator states that the spectators “felt a sharp tug of disappointment, which changed at once to shame, deep shame, for we [they] hadn’t come out for blood, only for—well” (Millhauser) after he had nearly hit his assistant in the neck. Initially feeling disappointment, the spectators soon felt shame for wanting the assistant to be hit, reconciling their malignant desires by stating that they had not come for blood. Millhauser’s abrupt end to this though, marked by the dash he used, serves to show the continuing intertwining of the malignant desires with an interest in remaining benevolent. After trying to justify their desires by stating that they had not come for blood, Millhaueser ends the sentence, not actually stating what they had come for. Further, at the culmination of the show after a girl had been struck by a knife, the spectators—as a collective—attempted to justify and make excuses for the situation. They fabricated a story that the final act in which the girl had been hit had “probably been a set up” and that the girl had “probably leaped smiling
Millhauser develops the spectators as having malevolent interests in order to establish the dynamic between the malevolence and benevolence that he employs to make a comment on basic human nature. From the beginning of the story, there was a certain aurora and sense of forbiddenness surrounding Hensch that utterly captivated the small town. As a result of rumors and word of mouth, the town had collectively developed an image of Hensch as a daring showman, a man who stares death in the face—not afraid to push the boundaries of his art. When discussing his potential arrival, the narrator recounts all of the rumors people have heard, stating that if it had not been for the “dubious enticements, we'd have been unlikely to attend the performance at all” (Millhauser). It is evident with this quote that a large part of getting the audience to attend was in fact the rumors of danger and death that they had all heard about. There was something about these rumors that …show more content…
While giving a play by play of one of Hensch’s throws, the narrator states that the spectators “felt a sharp tug of disappointment, which changed at once to shame, deep shame, for we [they] hadn’t come out for blood, only for—well” (Millhauser) after he had nearly hit his assistant in the neck. Initially feeling disappointment, the spectators soon felt shame for wanting the assistant to be hit, reconciling their malignant desires by stating that they had not come for blood. Millhauser’s abrupt end to this though, marked by the dash he used, serves to show the continuing intertwining of the malignant desires with an interest in remaining benevolent. After trying to justify their desires by stating that they had not come for blood, Millhaueser ends the sentence, not actually stating what they had come for. Further, at the culmination of the show after a girl had been struck by a knife, the spectators—as a collective—attempted to justify and make excuses for the situation. They fabricated a story that the final act in which the girl had been hit had “probably been a set up” and that the girl had “probably leaped smiling