The Mummy's Foot Theophile Gautier

This paper discusses Theophile Gautier’s life, along with his short story “The Mummy’s Foot”. Theophile Gautier’s work introduces a 27 year old French man whose on the quest to find a paper weighter. The young man whose name is unknown enters an old antique store and buy’s a mummy’s foot that is supposedly a real mummy’s foot. The young man enters the luxurious word of Egyptian pharaohs and the dead, with a pinch of humor. Gautier’s education began in Paris at the prestigious College Louise le Grand. Voltaire, Charles Baudelaire, Victor Hugo, and Marquis de Sade were all classmates of the young Gautier, whom all become important writers in the future. The opportunity of living in a medium class society gave Gautier the opportunity to learn

This quote taken from the short story is an example of foreshadowing. It gives the reader the idea that something bad might happen to the young man once he gets home. Gautier’s use of foreshadowing gives the reader mixed feelings of what is to come. In the story, Gautier doesn't provide any evidence as to how the young man physically appears. However, his use of characterization is heavily used when describing the old man and even more with the mummy. The reader is only given one name, which is the name of the mummy, Hermontis. In the story the old sales man at the Parisian store is described by the young man as coming from Jewish decent because of “the big and curved nose, along with a big skull with white hair sticking out” (eBooks Adelaide, 2014). This is the first time the reader gets an idea of who the young man is interacting with. The next characterization that Gautier gives life to is the mummy Hermonthis. She is described as being “cold, fragile and dead” (eBooks Adelaide, 2014)! “She gave me her hand, which felt soft and cold, like the skin of a serpent” (eBooks Adelaide, 2014). Even though a dead mummy is standing in front of the young man, he seems very calm and seems fascinated by what he has before of his