Summary: The Savagery Of Wolves In 'The Interlopers'

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"Who are they?" asked Georg quickly, straining his eyes to see what the other would gladly not have seen. "Wolves." The savagery and thievery of wolves are symbolized in two characters in the short story, “The Interlopers” by Saki. Wolves will take anything, regardless of who it belongs. They do not honor any human-made boundary lines. The story’s antagonist, Ulrigh, also did not respect the boundaries of Georg’s land rights. The wolves’ savage instinct for blood is similar to Ulrich and Georg’s fight for land at any cost. The savagery and thievery of wolves symbolize two characters in the short story, “The Interlopers” by Saki. The two main characters Ulrich and Georg, who are neighbors, have been fighting over a plot of land for …show more content…

Ulrich would not let go of how wronged he felt and what he would do to get what he thought was his. The author parallels the hunt not for four-footed prey but the two-footed thief from across the land. “… to watch the dark forest, not in quest of four-footed quarry, but to keep a look-out for the prowling thieves whom he suspected of being afoot from across the land boundary.” (Saki Page 2). The author, Saki, wanted to draw tension between the 2 main characters. He implied four-footed quarry, as prey. As well as prowling thieves setting foot across the land boundary. This relates thieves setting foot across the boundaries, to wolves setting foot across the boundaries. Four footed quarrel are not the only animals that are thieving, but also Ulrich, who snoops around to claim something that is rightfully his. The forest was not abandoned,nor claimable, but instead is passed down generationally. “The neighbor feud had grown into a personal one since Ulrich had come to be head of his family; if there was a man in the world whom he detested and wished ill to it was Georg Znaeym, the inheritor of the quarrel and the tireless game-snatcher and raider of the disputed border-forest.” (Saki Page 2). The ongoing dispute between Ulrich and Georg has intensified with the inheritance of the land. Ulrich tried to take what was rightfully his, even though the land belonged to Georg. …show more content…

The thoughts of Ulrich protecting his land and how tired he is of Georg trying to steal his land; produces a conclusion in Ulrich’s mind, that murder is the only solution: “The two enemies stood glaring at one another for a long silent moment. Each had a rifle in his hand, each had hate in his heart and murder uppermost in his mind.” (Saki Page 3). The feeling of savagery in the two main characters, foreshadows how the quarrel is to be finalized. The planned response to this quarrel does not end in meeting the other and killing the other with a shot, but is instead compromised. The compromise of the quarrel is them waiting for whoever's foresters come and return for them first: “We fight this quarrel out to the death, you and I and our foresters, with no cursed interlopers to come between us. Death and damnation to you, …” (Saki Page 4). When Georg says that they will fight out their quarrel to the death, the savagery in their tone is strong, and will not be pushed away. In Ulrich’s mind murder is the choice to solve this problem, no matter the cost. As you can see, Wolves are to savagery as, Ulrich is to

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