Two Short Stories By William Faulkner

A detailed Summary of Two Short Stories By William Faulkner

"Spotted Horses" and "Mule in the Yard" are two short stories by William Faulkner that deal with comedic animal chases. Although both provide entertaining examples of Faulkner's work in very similar settings, on the scale of literary value, "Spotted Horses" rises above "Mule in the Yard" in depth and insight. This superiority is result of both it's narrative style and character development, which causes "Spotted Horses" to produce an overall more powerful effect than "Mule in the Yard".

The most notable and important difference between the two stories is the contrasting narrative style. In "Spotted Horses", the story is told in first person point of view by a narrator who observes the major events of the story but is involved in only a minor fashion. His narration provides the audience with a look at the town and it's inhabitants through the eyes of someone living in the county of Mississippi. This adds a realistic dimension to the image of the story. It is also through this narrative style that Faulkner weaves humor into "Spotted Horses". The narrator shows the story in a comic light simply through his words right from the introductory paragraph. For example, the audience is introduced immediately with a casual "Yes, si

Both "Spotted Horses" and "Mule in the Yard" are very entertaining stories by William Faulkner. Despite their common theme of animal chase, setting, and character, a more powerful story is found within "Spotted Horses". While "Mule in the Yard" is well written and full of comedy, it does not delve as deeply as "Spotted Horses" does. "Spotted Horses" proves broader in scope due to it's in depth narration style which provides particularly effective humor and development of characters.

This different character development can be seen in examination of the character that the two stories have in common, I.O. Snopes. In "Mule in the Yard", the objective narrator shows us I.O. Snopes by describing him as "a squat, pasty man perennially tieless and with a stained, harried expression" (365) who buys unruly mules from Memphis and brings them to the town where Mrs. Hait and old Het live, where they constantly get loose. While this description serves it's purpose of description and a small development of I.O. Snopes, the version through the eyes of the narrator in "Spotted Horses" is witness to a more subtle but more realistic I.O. Snopes. In "Spotted Horses", the narrator places Snopes in Varner's with his back against the wall, his hair parted, in conversation with his cousin and a few other townsmen. The narrator continues the story as "I.O. cackled, like a hen, slapping his legs with both hands. 'You boys might just as well quit trying to get ahead of Flem.' He said." (361) Direct observation of I.O. Snopes reveals a broader type of character than does the one detailed in "Mule in the Yard". The development is particularly effective in "Spotted Horses" because there are a great many characters for a short story, and through their characteristic role in the scheme of the narrator, certain characters become individuals more than others. This is because the reader views the story t

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Approximate Word count = 1280
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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