The Fable Of The Mermaid And The Drunks Summary

The short story The Fable Of The Mermaid And The Drunks by Pablo Neruda shows what it's like to be an outsider and being alone and how people aren't respectful.

In our current society men drink, part of a social ritual and it can skew the perception of good or bad, which can create these negative situations. It doesn't allow people to see their morals and ethics clearly. Being drunk legitimises doing the wrong thing for the consumer. Within a society being drunk is seen as a situation out of control. I see people drunk and think we need to help them, to stop them from doing something wrong. But the mermaid had entered a room full of men “all these men were there inside… they had been drinking” showing how all their actions are influenced by alcohol.
The mermaid is seen to me as a innocent person when she is described as “she understood nothing” which makes me feel bad for the mermaid since she doesn't understand

I see all these innocent people around me and see how even if they are innocent, humans can be cruel to anyone it doesn't matter who you are. And not knowing it, her opposites these disrespectful men are indecent and are obnoxious since they taunted her “taunts flowed over her glistening flesh” it exposes the human nature of the men and shows how these drunk men chose to just insult this innocent mermaid that lost her way. The mermaid is described against precious and beautiful items “her arms were matching topazes” and how this makes me feel that she doesn’t deserve to be hurt “they pocked her with cigarette ends and with burnt corks” these men chose to blacken this mermaid that has come from the river and the earth itself. I feel as if we have to treat nature with gentle hands because these drunks are still human and so am I, but I never want to treat anything like these drunks did and it makes me think how we are also from nature and