The Themes of How Sharp Snaffles got his Capital and Wife Essay exampl

The Themes of â€Å"How Sharp Snaffles got his Capital and Wife† Romance, ‘The Big Lie’, humor, and Moral, â€Å"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 â€Å"potation†(423) from a â€Å"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 â€Å", 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 â€Å"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 â€Å"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 â€Å"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, â€Å"All you’ve been a-saying is jest nothing but the naked truth as I know it.†(426) Sam’s reply is â€Å"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 descripti on of the total capital Sam got, â€Å"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 â€Å"2700 wild-geese, at 50 cents, you sees, must be more than $1350.† The honey â€Å"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... ... 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 â€Å"capital?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  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 â€Å"capital.†(461)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  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. â€Å"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.