Summary Of The Palace Thief

To manipulate, to handle or control in a skillful manner, to manage and to influence; Ethan Canin’s “The Palace Thief” showcases these actions in the relationship and interactions between a “sovereign” and a “potentate”. Hundert, the main character and narrator of Canin’s short story, views himself as the sovereign. With this, Hundert was also naïve, weak, and easily influenced. Hundert’s student, the potentate, – a false one in Hundert’s eyes – Sedgewick Bell, uses the stated characteristics to his advantage, manipulating Hundert not once, but thrice over the course of many years. Although Hundert recognizes that a “viper is a viper” (Canin, 173), he never acquired the ability to fully understand what he stated, for its meaning applied not only to Sedgewick but also to himself. Obsessed with Sedgewick and full of himself, Hundert was not able to realize and learn from his mistakes, proving that one does not always change as one grows older, especially when one’s morals no longer exist.
In the beginning of their relationship, Hundert develops sympathy for Sedgewick, “a dullard” and “a roustabout” (Canin, 157), which

Using Hundert’s weakness of not being able to stand up for himself and the lack of a backbone, Sedgewick was able to get away with cheating for a second time. “I realized that the flesh-colored device in his ear was not a hearing aid but a transmitter through which he was receiving the answers to my questions” (Canin, 193). Only this time, Hundert received twice the betrayal. Having thought the competition was more or less for himself, Hundert finds out that Sedgewick’s gathering was to launch his political career. “Why was I [Hundert] surprised?” (Canin, 196). As stated, Hundert realizes that this event was to be expected, considering the experience he had with the original competition. Knowing this, Hundert, with his obsession, walks into, yet, another