The Themes of “How Sharp Snaffles got his Capital and Wife”
Romance, ‘The Big Lie’, humor, and Moral, “How Sharp Snaffles got his Capital and Wife” contains all of these in a wonderfully written story by William Gilmore Simms. Sit back and enjoy a “potation”(423) from a “corpulent barrel of Western uisquebaugh ”(422) while I argue my truths or is that ‘Lie’.
This romantic story is about the trails and tribulations Sam Snaffles endured to capture the affections of Mary Ann Hopson. Sam describes Mary Ann as “, and so all over beautiful! O Lawd! When I thinks of it and them times, I don’t see how ‘twas possible to think of buck-hunting when thar was sich a doe, with sich eyes shining me on!” (426) After Sam is denied Mary Ann’s hand in marriage, because he has no capital, they meet in the forest outside of Mary Ann’s home she tells Sam “I’ll be true to you, Sam. I loves nobody in all the world so much as I loves you”(434) Sam gets the capital needed to satisfy her father and marry his true love in the end.
The Webster’s definition of ‘Big Lie’ is “a deliberate gross distortion of the truth used especially as a propaganda tactic” and this is well illustrated in the story. The story opens at the end of a week of hunting and the group is sitting around the fire awaiting “The Lying Camp!” The main character Sam Snaffles is requested to tell the story of how he found ‘Capital ‘ so he could marry his true love, Mary Ann Hopson. As Sam begins his story he is called down by the ‘Big Lie’ saying, “All you’ve been a-saying is jest nothing but the naked truth as I know it.”(426) Sam’s reply is “And how’s a man to lie decently onless you lets him hev a bit of truth to go upon? The truth’s nothing but a peg in the wall that I hangs the lie upon.”(426) Sam’s story of how he got the ‘capital’ is amazing and just to show how big it grew, here’s a description of the total capital Sam got, “From the b’ar . . . First, thar waur the hide, $20; then 450 pounds of meat, at 10 cents, was $45; then the grease, 14 pounds, $14; and the tallow, some $6 more; and the biled marrow, $11.” The geese “2700 wild-geese, at 50 cents, you sees, must be more than $1350.” The honey “got something over two thousand gallons of the purest, sweetest, yellowest honey you ever did see.”
Humor is located throughout this story. One of my favorite parts is when Mary Ann’s father asked Sam’s horse if Sa...
... middle of paper ...
... look in the mirror and asked him what he saw:
that won’t edzactly do. I tell you now, look good, and ax yourself ef you’re the sawt of looking man that hes any right to be feyther-in-law to a fine, young, handsome-looking fellow like me, what’s got the “capital?”
Then he laughed out at the humor of the situation; and he says, ‘Well, Sam Snaffles, you’ve got me dead this time. You’re a different man from what I thought you. But, Sam, you’ll confess, I reckon, that ef I hedn’t sent you off with a flea in your ear when I hed you up afore the looking-glass, you’d never ha’ gone to work to git the “capital.”(461)
This is a humorous story that tells of romance and gives us a lesson in life and full of honesty (lies). This merging of all these themes has created a wonderful story that will make me read more of William Gilmore Simms stories. I wonder what Bald Head Billy Baldly did during the Flurriday War?
Work Cited
Simms, William Gilmore. “How Sharp Snaffles got his Capital and Wife”. The Writings of William Gilmore Simms Vol V Stories and Tales. Columbia, SC: Guilds, John C. 1st ed. University South Carolina Press, 1974.
“Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen” (“Brainy Quotes” 1). In Edith Wharton’s framed novel, Ethan Frome, the main protagonist encounters “lost opportunity, failed romance, and disappointed dreams” with a regretful ending (Lilburn 1). Ethan Frome lives in the isolated fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts with his irritable spouse, Zenobia Frome. Ever since marriage, Zenobia, also referred to as Zeena, revolves around her illness. Furthermore, she is prone to silence, rage, and querulously shouting. Ethan has dreams of leaving Starkfield and selling his plantation, however he views caring for his wife as a duty and main priority. One day, Zeena’s cousin, Mattie Silver, comes to assist the Frome’s with their daily tasks. Immediately, Mattie’s attractive and youthful energy resuscitates Ethan’s outlook on life. She brings a light to Starkfield and instantaneously steals Ethan’s heart; although, Ethan’s quiet demeanor and lack of expression causing his affection to be surreptitious. As Zeena’s health worsens, she becomes fearful and wishes to seek advice from a doctor in a town called Bettsbridge giving Ethan and Mattie privacy for one night. Unfortunately, the night turns out to be a disastrous and uncomfortable evening. Neither Ethan nor Mattie speaks a word regarding their love for one another. Additionally, during their dinner, the pet cat leaps on the table and sends a pickle dish straight to the floor crashing into pieces. To make matters worse, the pickle dish is a favored wedding gift that is cherished by Zeena. Later, Zeena discovers it is broken and it sends her anger over the edge. Furious, Zeena demands for a more efficient “hired girl” to complete the tasks ar...
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She then moves on to describe each of the characters, and in doing so, their surroundings and how they fit in: "He was cold and wet, and the best part of the day had been used up anyway. He wiped his hands on the grass and let the pinto horse take him toward home. There was little enough comfort there. The house crouched dumb and blind on the high bench in the rain. Jack's horse stood droop-necked and dismal inside the strand of rope fence, but there wasn't any smoke coming from the damned stove (28)."
Rochette-Crawley, S. (2004) James T. Farrell. The Literary Encyclopedia. April 2, 2004. Retrieved on May 13, 2009 from http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1487
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Clements, Victoria. Introduction. A New-England Tale. By Catharine Maria Sedgwick. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
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The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Sixth Edition Volume1. Ed. M.H.Abrams. New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Inc., 1993.
Evans, Robert C., Anne C. Little, and Barbara Wiedemann. Short Fiction: A Critical Companion. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill, 1997. 265-270.