#71 The Knife Thrower- Steven Millhauser
The Knife Thrower is a second place prize-winner for the O.
Henry award…welcome to O. Henry Friday here at the short story funhouse. The writing here is in a purposely old
fashioned language, very theatrical and a bit over the top. I guess if you’re
writing about a character named “Hensch the Knifethrower” things naturally tend towards the dramatic. This is a little
bit Kafka, a little bit Poe, and a little bit Twilight Zone.
A carnival knife man comes to town to thrill and dazzle a
worried crowd. They come to see taboo and dangerous deeds. Inside they struggle
with their own macabre cravings: “And so
we admired his daring, even as we deplored his method and despised him as a
vulgar showman.”
As the show goes on, the stunts become more and more gory,
he “makes his mark” upon volunteer members of the audience, cutting deeper and
deeper wounds until someone is willing to make the “ultimate sacrifice.” When that event occurs, the room is stunned
and the show is done. The victim’s reaction to being run-through is a paradox
shared with the blood-seeking public: “Some said that at the moment the knife
struck, the boy’s shocked face shone with an intense, almost painful joy.”
Was it real? Was it show? Was it a commentary on sick human
fetishishism?
Notable Passage: “…the touch of the master, who had crossed
the line, who had carried us, safely, it appeared, into the realm of forbidden
things.”
No comments:
Post a Comment