The Tough Decisions In Frank R. Stockton's The Lady Or The Tiger?

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In life you develop relationships with people. Some relationships can become very strong. When it comes to these kinds of relationships there are times when you are forced to make very tough decisions. Decisions in which you don’t want to see either outcome happen and they are very difficult to decided upon. There was a tough decision to be made like this in the story “The lady or the Tiger?” by Frank R. Stockton. In this story there is a semi-barbaric king who did something that pleased his fancy when there was a subject accused of a crime. He had them go in his arena and choose a door with one standing behind it a lady he would get married to or a tiger that would kill him. Fate would choose the outcome, and the man would pick the door that …show more content…

The definition of barbaric is savagely cruel or exceedingly brutal. She might want to see her lover get the punishment he deserves if she is barbaric. She might not be phased by her lover getting eaten to shreds if it means not seeing him being with someone else. If she was really in love with him, she would not have such a dilemma whether to choose the lady or the tiger. Her barbarism affected her in her decision making for her lover. The story talks about her barbarism when it says “Had it not been for the moiety of barbarism in her nature it is probable that the lady would not have been there, but her intense and fervid soul would not allow her to be absent on an occasion in which she was so terribly interested.” The author is hinting at us that her barbarism would cause her to choose the tiger. If she wasn't barbaric, we would think that she might be sad or feel regret for her lover dying. The author is showing us that she wouldn't by telling us that she is barbaric. This is another hint that she chose the tiger in that instant with no regret. The princess being semi-barbaric like her father leads me to believe that the prince opened the door with the tiger behind