Thesis: Saki, in The Interlopers says, We are trapped by our own ill will; to be free of it we need to put aside our violence by making peace and realizing the unimportance of it.
We focus on ill will and let it consume us. As did Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym did, “as boys they had thirsted for one another’s blood, as men each prayed that misfortune might fall on the other.” (Saki 7) They were raised into despising one another due to their family’s feud (that started generations ago over a piece of land), and always waiting for the chance to see the other in pain. It only became worse from that point on, “The neighbor feud had grown into a personal one since Ulrich had come to be head of his family”. (6-7) The ill will between the …show more content…
Mentally, the two men can only truly help themselves out. After all the fighting, hatred, ill will, violence, and being trapped (both physically and mentally) these men have experienced, they start to realize that it would be better to make peace with one another. “Neighbor,” he said presently, “do as you please if your men come first. It was a fair compact. But as for me, I’ve changed my mind. If my men are the first to come, you shall be the first to be helped, as though you were my guest.” (9) Ulrich starts putting his anger aside and starts to act civil. This is due to him actually looking at his neighbor, “An idea was slowly forming and growing in his brain, an idea that gained strength every time that he looked across at the man who was fighting so grimly against pain and exhaustion. In the pain and languor that Ulrich himself was feeling, the old fierce hatred seemed to be dying down.” (9) He felt pity for the men he once hated because of the pain he sees in him that he is also experiencing. They decide to stop fighting and make peace, “Neighbor, if you will help me to bury the old quarrel, I—I will ask you to be my friend…. Ulrich von Gradwitz, I will be your friend.” (9) As they become friends and make peace they become free of all their violence caused by their ill will. The feud ended and they became free because they realized how insignificant they were acting, “We have quarreled like devils all our lives over this stupid strip of forest, where the trees can’t even stand upright in a breath of wind. Lying here tonight, thinking, I’ve come to think we’ve been rather fools; there are better things in life than getting the better of a boundary dispute.” (9) Both men became brighter and finally escaped their bad blood. You free yourself of violence by realizing that there are more important things in life than just focusing on all the
We focus on ill will and let it consume us. As did Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym did, “as boys they had thirsted for one another’s blood, as men each prayed that misfortune might fall on the other.” (Saki 7) They were raised into despising one another due to their family’s feud (that started generations ago over a piece of land), and always waiting for the chance to see the other in pain. It only became worse from that point on, “The neighbor feud had grown into a personal one since Ulrich had come to be head of his family”. (6-7) The ill will between the …show more content…
Mentally, the two men can only truly help themselves out. After all the fighting, hatred, ill will, violence, and being trapped (both physically and mentally) these men have experienced, they start to realize that it would be better to make peace with one another. “Neighbor,” he said presently, “do as you please if your men come first. It was a fair compact. But as for me, I’ve changed my mind. If my men are the first to come, you shall be the first to be helped, as though you were my guest.” (9) Ulrich starts putting his anger aside and starts to act civil. This is due to him actually looking at his neighbor, “An idea was slowly forming and growing in his brain, an idea that gained strength every time that he looked across at the man who was fighting so grimly against pain and exhaustion. In the pain and languor that Ulrich himself was feeling, the old fierce hatred seemed to be dying down.” (9) He felt pity for the men he once hated because of the pain he sees in him that he is also experiencing. They decide to stop fighting and make peace, “Neighbor, if you will help me to bury the old quarrel, I—I will ask you to be my friend…. Ulrich von Gradwitz, I will be your friend.” (9) As they become friends and make peace they become free of all their violence caused by their ill will. The feud ended and they became free because they realized how insignificant they were acting, “We have quarreled like devils all our lives over this stupid strip of forest, where the trees can’t even stand upright in a breath of wind. Lying here tonight, thinking, I’ve come to think we’ve been rather fools; there are better things in life than getting the better of a boundary dispute.” (9) Both men became brighter and finally escaped their bad blood. You free yourself of violence by realizing that there are more important things in life than just focusing on all the