The point-of-view in Wolfe's short story "The Child By
Tiger," is first person singular. The character who tells the story, Spangler, is told
exclusively from his experiences, recounting events that happened some twenty-five years
prior, in the late nineteenth century. We only know how events occurred and what was
said through Spangler. The way that you know it is first person is that he refers to
himself as "I."
Spangler is telling the story of Dick
Prosser. Spangler is white; Prosser was a negro servant of the Shepperton family. As a
child, Spangler and the other boys greatly admire Prosser. He is interesting and
engaging. He treats the boys with respect. Spangler remembers that, “One of his chief
attributes is the respect and humility of the southern darky- he calls even the boys
‘mister.’" However, unbeknownst to the boys, Prosser harbors a dark side, probably due
to the years of racism and discrimination he has
endured.
Prosser snaps one day and goes on a killing spree.
He takes the lives of several police officers and other Negroes. The reaction of the
white populace is swift and brutal. They shoot Spangler some three hundred times, then
hang his mutilated body in the mortuary
window.
Understandably, this horrific event marks the young
Spangler for life. No longer is his world safe. He has recognized the capacity of human
beings for both good and evil. He understands that their is an interior life that may
remain hidden but can become deadly. Man exists in "two worlds together-- the child and
the tiger."
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