Under the Lion's Paw - Hamlin Garland

Language

Common folk speech

Man against nature

Garland deliberately chooses to place his story during winter. This time of the wear, farmers have to deal with snow, rain and freezing cold. All these natural phenomena made Haskins, his wife and their son struggle. Moreover, at the beginning of the story, we find out that Haskins' land was destroyed by grasshopers. We come to the conclusion that a man could slave over his work from sunrise to sundown, but could never be ready for or prevent natural disasters

Man vs himself

Haskins, even though he finds himself in a dead-end, he does not act out of anger and impulse, and he decides not to kill Butler. The moment before the potentialmurder, Haskins sees his baby daughter passing by and he imagines how his family would end up,if he commited the act. His love and his devotion to his family is admirable

Weak vs strong

In the short story, the idea of social darwinism - that only the strongest and fittest can survive- prevails and it is strengthened by the ending of the story. Butler, who is a ruthless profiteer is symbolized by a lion, which is the king of the animal kingdom. Haskings, who is a physicially & mentally weak person, is represented by the mouse which is under the lion's paw. At the end of the story, the lion, the strongest of all animals , the ruthless capitalist wins the poor farmer, who is helpless and desperate.

Time

Late autumn and early winter ( second hald of the 19th century)

Characters

Mr & Mrs Council Mr & Mrs Haskins Jim Butler

Which are the 3 types of conflict evident in the story

Strong vs weak Man vs himself Man against NAture

Setting

The American prairie farm

Theme

The impact of the exploitative capitalistic system and the impact of the natural environment on the poor and hard-working people (struggle for survival)

Point of view

third person, objective,he is an outside observer