ipl-logo

Conformity In Callaghan's Short Story 'Two Fishermen'

1072 Words5 Pages

Man vs. Society

The short story "Two Fishermen" by Morley Callaghan depicts an important message about the relationship that conformity has with morality. Callaghan illustrates that the true nature of an individual 's being is only revealed when they are put under pressure. This message is portrayed through the characters Michael Foster, Billy Hilton, and K. Smith. In Michael Foster 's case, he is given a choice to stand up for and protect an innocent man with whom he had become acquaintances with. With reference to Billy Hilton, his choice to cast a blind eye to the law go against the very book that he swore an oath to. And K. Smith with his character being defined by choosing to accept a contract to execute an innocent man. When Michael …show more content…

Smith, a "mild, harmless little guy" (Callaghan 1); these descriptions of Smitty do not instill a sense of fear, authority and courage. Callaghan uses a sense of irony to describe the so-called "hangman" as one would expect the hangman to be a large, scary, and horrifying person. The initial picture of the hangman gives a feeling that this man is not self-confident as he is described to be "sitting down with his knees hunched up to his chin, a very small man" (Callaghan 1); these are opposite traits in which one might expect a hangman to be described as. Smitty also displays conformity as he takes the job as a "hangman" and agrees to execute Thomas Delaney, a man sentenced to death for killing of Mathew Rhinehart, the molester of his wife. He comments that he doesn 't "know anything about him" (Callaghan 2) which suggests that he has no moral feelings against who he is executing. Smitty is a harmless man that thinks of his job not as pleasure but as his duty. Smitty is quoted saying "Somebody 's got to do my job. There 's got to be a hangman" (Callaghan 2); he does not necessarily like his job, but he doesn 't dislike it either. He simply conforms with what he is and simply does what he has agreed to do. K. Smith just came to a small town to execute a man where the town was convinced that he was innocent. Even though Smitty had nothing to do with the crime, the townspeople end up blaming him for the

Show More
Related
404 Words | 2 Pages

In 1998, Timothy Lee Hurst was tried for first-degree murder and robbery. It was said that Hurst stabbed and slashed Cynthia Harrison at least sixty times, on top of extremely deep cuts penetrating down to her bones. While the murder was being committed, Hurst robbed the Popeye’s location it was being committed in, which happened to be the location where he worked. Hurst ended up being convicted of first-degree murder, but the case turned into a penalty phase trial to figure out which sentence would best suit Hurst’s crime. After the penalty phase, the jury came back with an eleven to one vote and suggested Hurst be put to a death sentence.

Read More
1137 Words | 5 Pages

In the 1890's, a man named George Painter was hanged for the death of his wife. Although Painter claimed he was innocent, not much investigation was put into the case. During the execution, two ropes were tied around Painter's thighs, and a hood placed over his head. When the noose was around his neck and he had said his last words, the ropes were cut, and Painter plummeted down. Instead of killing him, the rope went tight and snapped, sending Painter to the ground.

Read More
832 Words | 4 Pages

Characters serve as the metaphorical foundation upon which a story is written. In fact, the personalities of characters often reveal the outcome of a story’s plot before the author explicitly states it. In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the self-indulgent grandmother portrays the outcome of her attempted evangelism through her sanctimonious nature. Through her illegitimate Christian appearance based on deceit and self-elevation, her failed attempt to persuade the Misfit can be attributed to her hypocritical personality.

Read More
588 Words | 3 Pages

The Clutter family was very peaceful. Herb Clutter, the 48 year old owner of the Clutter ranch. Herb’s wife Bonnie Clutter, was bedridden and had severe depression. Nancy Clutter, daughter of Herbert and Bonnie Clutter, was the town's sweetheart. She was loved by everyone.

Read More
1274 Words | 6 Pages

During a group therapy session, a quarrel between Harding and Taber provided foreshadowing on the discussed theme. It was stated “Harding, why don 't you knock off the bullshit and get to the point?” “This is the point. This is the point, Taber. It 's not bullshit.

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

THE THEME AND THEORY This case will be about Man's hatred towards another and how he abused his power to do wrong against Tom Robinson.

Read More
1642 Words | 7 Pages

The book “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee and the article “Scottsboro Boys Trial” both contain controversial court cases. For “To Kill a Mockingbird” a black male named Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. In the “Scottsboro Boys Trial” nine young black men and teenagers are accused of raping two white females named Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. Both cases transpired in the 1930s in Alabama. This is bad for the accused as racism was at an all-time in the 1930s especially in the deep south.

Read More
655 Words | 3 Pages

Proof of this shows in the attitude of the audience during the executions who refer to the “festivities” of the hangings (338). These investigators and witnesses casually chat and laugh about Hickock’s sense of humor, what the prisoners chose for their last meals, and the rain in an extremely disrespectful fashion considering that killings, acts that they considered so vile when they transpire in relation to someone they loved, were about to take place before their eyes. Another instance of the severe compassionless intentionality of the hangings is evidenced by head investigator of the Clutter case after Perry makes his confession when the text explains, “He found it possible to look at the man beside him without anger….[His] sympathy, however, was not deep enough to accommodate either forgiveness or mercy. He hoped to see Perry and his partner hanged….”(246). Consequently, a hypocritical lack of mercy and explicit desire for their deaths reveals how the murders are

Read More
1671 Words | 7 Pages

The Scottsboro Trials and To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the famous father named Atticus says “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it (Judith 2).  This quote is said during a time of intense racism. “Not long after Obama took office, the National Urban League released its 2009 State of Black America report. The findings showed that racial inequities continued in employment, housing, health care, education, criminal justice, and other areas” (Buckley 1).  This essay will primarily focus on the criminal justice area of this when discussing the Scottsboro trials and comparing the trials to the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

Read More
1068 Words | 5 Pages

When coming across someone who doesn 't fit the profile of a "normal human", assumptions and or inferences can be made unconsciously. In the story Two Fishermen, Smitty was known as the hangman, creating instant images, and or assumptions that he could be a savage, intimidating looking man just based by his title. However ironically he happened to be a: " A very small man with little gray baby curls of the back of his neck.." Instantly causing doubts to all images created. Creating this empathy forming within; especially when Michael came across Smitty for the first time.

Read More
868 Words | 4 Pages

Why do people make an initial judgement about a person they have only seen or heard about? Without any information at all, the brain formulates an answer to the question they were pondering: who is that person? One of our greatest sins is to place people into boxes, defining them into one shape, into one dimension. Stereotypes are a very predominant part of reality as well as fictional works. In the novels The Hangman’s Daughter and The Dark Monk , by Oliver Pötzsch, one of the most prevalent themes presented is the idea that people do not necessarily reflect what society expects from them, either because of their role or position within the community.

Read More
1612 Words | 7 Pages

Paper Assignment Sociology 100 Del Blake Dr. Whitaker 1. The film that I chose to analyze was Shawshank Redemption. The movie Shawshank Redemption was released September 23, 1994 and told the story of Andy Dufresene. A hot shot banker who finds himself convicted of a crime he said he didn’t commit, the murder of his wife and her lover. In 1947 he was sent to Shawshank Prison where the story revolved around Andy’s transformation to prison life and his journey as an inmate in the prison.

Read More
830 Words | 4 Pages

As can be seen, Lee’s usage of Tom Robinson’s trial and the racial discrimination and prejudice seen throughout it helps reinforce the theme of social injustice throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. Another encounter that the

Read More
432 Words | 2 Pages

From the time of hanging to the time their hearts ceased beating, it took nineteen and twenty minutes, respectively. Also, in preparation for the trial of the Clutter family murderers, doctors did psychiatric evaluations of the pair. Capote includes what the doctors would have said had they been allowed to elucidate during the trial. The evaluations suggest that Hickock and Smith might have been better off in a mental institution. By including the conversation at the hangings, the elapsed time before death, and the doctors' unspoken evaluation, Capote suggests that neither the death penalty nor hanging is always the best course of action for a person's crime.

Read More
1067 Words | 5 Pages

The novel, The Old Man and the Sea, is a story about an old man, Santiago, who experienced great adversity but did not give up. The author, Ernest Hemingway, describes how an old man uses his experience, his endurance and his hopefulness to catch a huge marlin, the biggest fish he has ever caught in his life. The old man experienced social-emotional, physical, and mental adversity. However, despite the overwhelming challenges, he did not allow them to hold him back but instead continued to pursue his goal of catching a fish with determination. Santiago’s character, his actions and the event in the novel reveals an underlying theme that even when one is facing incredible struggles, one should persevere.

Read More

More about Conformity In Callaghan's Short Story 'Two Fishermen'

Related Topics

Open Document