The narrative “ The Knife Thrower ”, by Steven Millhauser, presents an instead distressing subject. We are shown, through the storyteller, the patterned advance of Hensch’s accomplishment and so come closer and closer to pulling blood, until, at last, a person dies.
Through the storyteller, we see that the audience is at that place for one reason-to see blood. “ It was here that he had introduced into the chaste subject of knife throwing the thought of the disingenuous lesion, the grade of blood that was the grade of the maestro … without such doubtful temptations we ’ vitamin Ds have been improbable to go to the public presentation at all. ” This was recounted to the reader early on, while waiting for the public presentation to get down.
Hensch brings us rapidly to the first bloody act. The helper comes away and declares she is traveling to be “ marked ”. The audience’s reaction is one of expectancy. “ Hensch chose a knife from his box, held it for a minute, so raised his arm and threw. The knife struck beside her cervix. He had missed-had he missed? -and we felt a crisp jerk of letdown, which changed at one time to dishonor, deep shame, for we hadn’t come out for blood; merely for-well something else! ” They say this and yet when they see her blood they applaud and, in the following two Acts of the Apostless, Hensch pierces an adolescent ’ s arm and pins your adult male’s manus to the wall.
The subject of “ The Knife Thrower ” is that people who try to do themselves come across as the image of virtuousness, nevertheless, they truly want to see or take part in violent Acts of the Apostless. When faced with the truth people will make anything to deny it. We are shown this in the last act when the helper asks the audience-an audience member, to do the ultimate forfeit. “Of class, the concluding act had likely been an apparatus, the miss had likely leaped smiling to her pass every bit shortly as the drape closed, though some of us recalled unpleasant rumors of one sort or another, quarrels with the constabulary, charges, and countercharges, a murky business.”
We as a group do non hold with the subject. We think that if we were in this state of affairs, a person from the audience would talk up. Peoples do nonhunger blood and walk around denying it. If we do, so we reject it so good we don’t even cognize it exists. We feel that adult male has become hypocritical of this desire for blood. “ And it was surely true that an adult male in Hensch ’ s place had every right to better his art, to woolgather up new Acts of the Apostless with which to offend wonder, so such progress was perfectly necessary … Like the remainder of us he had to gain his life, which true wasn’t easy in times like these. But when all was said and done, when the pros and cons were weighed and every issue carefully considered, we couldn’t assist feeling that the knife throwster had truly gone excessively far. ”
The narrative “ The Knife Thrower ” has shown us a slightly controversial subject: people are seeking to do themselves the image of virtuousness. We do not hold with this and happen it to be contemptuous.
