The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

The last of our stories. This one seemed to have a bit more wit in it.

How does imagination effect common sense?

There is a recurring theme throughout these stories. What is it?

This story reminded me of the Andersen stories about inanimate objects, in a good way. Wilde's story has more depth and humour, and a fitting ending for the vain rocket.

I almost felt sorry for the silly little rocket! It is good that his opinion of himself was so inflated that he had no idea how far he had fallen... It was nice to read a Wilde fairy tale that didn't make me want to cry. This one was a hilarious satire of the upper crust, especially the bit about how persons of his importance are never useful, just accomplished. I wonder if the story was a dig at upper society in general, or if the rocket was modeled after someone specific.

I agree, Suki. This story made me smile instead of cry.

This story reminds me a lot of the Andersen tale about the fir tree (recently re-translated and reissued: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...). But Andersen’s story is more effective and touching, I think: it’s told in the first person from the tree’s point of view, so the reader sees the self-delusion and the coming disaster, but also feels the tragedy more. Andersen focuses less on arrogance and more on the perils of always wanting what you don’t have, but the arc is similar.

This is probably the story that engaged me the least of these five stories. However, since I see the stories as a set and not independent, it plays a vital part. The stories seem to be organized in a chiastic structure, ABCBA, where the last two stories are the counterpart to the two first, and the middle story holds the central point. This story can then be paired with the first; i.e. The Happy Prince.

There are several funny parts in the story. The page gets his salary doubled. It is correct math, but since he did not get any salary, it does not do anything for the page. Is it just a joke or is Oscar Wilde poking fun at something specific?

There must have been people who did the talking for others back then also. The king always answered questions posed to others!

The self-centeredness in this story is encountered time after time until it practically nauseating. This is a stark contrast to the selfless sacrifice of the swallow and statue in the Happy Prince.

Brit wrote: "This is probably the story that engaged me the least of these five stories. However, since I see the stories as a set and not independent, it plays a vital part. The stories seem to be organized in..."

Yes the impact of selfishness to those around the selfish person if throughout the stories

I think this was my favourite of the stories, perhaps as Suki points out, because it is more amusing than sad and because it is the only one in which the characters get, to some extent, what we feel they deserve. We see the remarkable rocket, so convinced of his own greatness, ruin his real chance to achieve that greatness through his own pomposity and foolishness without even realizing it.

If Wilde wrote these stories for his sons, it would have been interesting to hear the discussions around them between parent and child!

His two sons were born in 1885 and 1886. These stories were published in 1888, so his kids were probably on the young order for deep discussions. However, this last story could have been fun or silly for the older one.