Analysis Of The Short Story 'Hop-Frog'

Are Hop Frogs Actions Justified?

Have you ever been mad at your boss, so mad that you just couldn’t take it anymore? Well in the short story “Hop-Frog” by Edgar Allan Po, that was pretty much the case. There are three distinct points why Hop-Frogs actions are justified. One of the biggest points is that the King never showed Hop-Frog the respect that he deserved. Another point would be that Hop-Frog was sent to the King as a present. The last point would be that Hop-Frog simply had nothing to lose anymore. Throughout the story Hop-Frog, Poe is really trying to highlight the King’s personality. His personality is very dreadful toward Hop-Frog. He is never really that nice to him. For example, when the King made Hop-Frog drink wine. The King knew that Hop Frog did not like or want the wine, but he made him drink it anyway. He was just trying to make a joke of him. Hop-Frog knew what was going on the entire time. This was the king’s way of pulling a practical joke on Hop-Frog. The king loved practical jokes as represented in the text as, “practical jokes suited his [the kings] taste far better than verbal ones” (Poe). Hop-Frog is very tolerant of most

However, it was diffidently a gradual increase of rage over a long period of time. He just had nothing left to lose, so he just lost his edge. It is hard to blame him; after all he was a crippled dwarf. His original name was surely not “Hop Frog”. It is to be believed that several ministers gave him that nickname because he was a cripple. When he walked he had a little hop in each step, hence the name Hop-Frog. I believe the name ‘Hop-Frog’ was not that given to the dwarf by his sponsors at baptism, but it was conferred upon him, by general constant of the several ministers, on account of his inability to walk as other men do (Poe). Hop-Frog was also a jester. Jesters were not treated very well during the time period