Aesop's Fables are the more popular didactic stories in the American course of literature (didactic means "teacher-like"--this definition is a freebie, so have a dictionary on hand for future words). Those stories personify animals to teach lessons to humans. They are part of an older tradition of oral storytelling that many cultures used to teach their youth and remind their elders of how to live a good life. Somerset Maugham's tale is not a fable as it does not use animals, but it still tells a tale to teach a lesson. Maugham's version of "The Appointment In Samarra" is very eerie. The first point of eerie tone is the opening, "Death speaks" (45). Death as a speaking, breathing, moving entity is scary.
Though short, this story has enough insight into the facts of life that cause chills. When Death tells the merchant that she had planned to meet the servant later on in a place the servant is running to, Maugham offers his moral. Perhaps more than one moral exists.
Maugham, W. Somerset. "The Appointment In Samarra." Literature: An Introduction. 5th Ed. Ed. X. J. Kennedy. NY: Longman, 2008. 45. Print.
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Please click on Comments to categorize this story. Is it a fable, an allegory, or a parable? (One paragraph is good; more than one is better). You may also refer to any outside sources you may have come across. Remember, cite properly and sign your comments with your first name and last initial.
I would categorize this short story as a allegory. Websters dictionary would define an allegory as a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one (Websters). The hidden meaning behind this story was that you can not escape your fate. The servant tried to run from death meanwhile death is meeting him at the place he is running to.
ReplyDeleteAshley H.
This short story can be categorized as a parable. A parable is a story or verse that illustrates an instructive lesson or principle. The principle in this story is that you cannot escape death and that you must live your life as you are. Destiny will always play out no matter what you do, which is exemplified in this story.
ReplyDeleteJake G.
This story would be categorized as a parable because it illustrates an informative lesson which is that you can’t run from your own destiny. The lesson from this story is that you cannot run away from death if you’re destined to die then you’re destined to die one way or the other. “I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra” (Maugham). No matter what you try to escape from, it will eventually come back to you. – Vanessa G
ReplyDeleteThe short story "The Appointment in Samarra" retold by W. Somerset Maugham is considered to be a parable. A parable is a type of story that is used to convey a specific message to the reader. Usually, parables will have many themes such as fate, gluttony, lust, etc. The author clearly states that the servant tried to escape his fate by running to where the servant believed death could not be found. In the end of the story, readers found out that the servant had not escaped death, but ran to it. The underlying message in this parable is that it is impossible for person to defeat fate. A person's fate in uncontrollable.
ReplyDelete-Marisa R
The short story above should be listed as a parable. It is a parable because it teaches a specific lesson about death and destiny. The story shows that no matter what happens, destiny will always find it's way to you. The theme of this story is that no matter what you do, you will not be able to escape death.
ReplyDelete- James L.
"The Appointment In Samarra" by W. Somerset Maugham can be characterized as an allegory. An allegory is a work of literature which illustrates a lesson. The moral of this story is destiny cannot be escaped.
ReplyDelete-Dana N
This story was very interesting. The authors use of irony really worked well in it. The servant tried to escape his fate but in the end death found him. This would definitely be classified as a parable because it teaches u a lesson in the end.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to cite my name.
ReplyDeleteMatt. H
Based off my understanding of the definition of the word parable from Webster dictionary. The short story "The Appointment in Samarra" retold by W. Somerset Maugham is a parable. The short story shows you how even though the servent thought he was running away from his own death he was really running to it. If its your time it is is your time. The story shows us that even though we think we are in control of our lives and when we die, but wer are really not in control of anything at all.
ReplyDelete-Greg D.
Maugham, W. Somerset. "The Appointment In Samarra." This story is definitely not a fable because it does not use animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters to teach a lesson. Allegory is a literary, visual, or musical art form to represent or symbolize ideas and concepts； therefore, Maugham's story is not a allegory. Maugham's tale is a didactic story and has human characters to instruct lesson in prose, so it is a parable. Death is one of the things that people cannot escape or avoid it, so they need to learn to accept and to face the reality. Even though people have no control over death, they can now choose a better lifestyle to live on.
ReplyDeletePeng Q
This story can be categorized as both a parable and an allegory. An allegory is a story where an idea or ideas are symbolized as people, which in this story, death was the girl. While a parable is a story that teaches the reader a lesson or a moral. The moral being that you cannot escape your fate.
ReplyDeleteDarwin U
"The Appointment in Samarra" by W. Somerset Maugham can be categorized as a parable. By definition "The typical parable uses human agents. Parables generally show less interest in the storytelling and more in the analogy they draw between a particular instance of human behavior" (Maeno). This story parallels this definition perfectly. All characters in the story are physical humans. It could not be a fable due to the fact it does not personify animals which is at the core definition of a fable, "The fable is usually a tale about animals who are personified and behave as though they were humans" (Maneo). Lastly, it could not be an allegory based on the lack of unique shape, length and complexity (Maeno). Although arguable to be an allegory or a fable the story is more pronounced as a parable.
ReplyDelete"I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me" (Maugham). Death is described as human, not an animal or an earth element. This further pushes the argument towards a parable. Furthermore, the lesson is entirely derived from humans. The lesson being, the inability to run from death. Although there is some irony "That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I
was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra" (Maugham) , there is simply not enough complexity to be an allegory. Through studying the story it is has become apparent that it is a parable.
-Doug C
"The Appointment in Samarra" retold by W. Somerset Maugham is a allegory. Allegory is a literary device in which characters or events symbolize ideas or hidden messages within a story. Death is symbolized as a woman who had planned to meet the servant later on in Samarra but was startled to see him because she knew they had an appointment later. The message within the story is you cannot escape your fate. So in other words when your time comes its no way to escape it which also deals with real life situations.
ReplyDelete-Omari G
"The Appointment in Samarra" retold by W. Somerset Maughm would be classified as a parable. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. I believe that this story is a parable because it teaches a lesson. The lesson is that no matter what you try to do you can never escape death. If it's your time there is no way to run away from it.
ReplyDelete- Khadijah D.
First of all, "The Appointment in Samarra" can't be categorized as a fable because it doesn't have any animal character described as a person. In terms of using a certain character that stands for the death, which is not tangible, this story can be categorized as an allegory. Also, this story gives us the lesson that we can't avoid the death. Therefore, it could be a parable, too. I think this story could be categorized as both a parable and an allegory. -Donghwan K
ReplyDelete"The Appointment in Samarra" by W. Somerset Maugham would be categorized as a parable. I believe that the story is a parable because it is teaching the reader a simple life lesson that no matter what you do you cannot change your faith. In the story the servant ran from the city of Bahgdad to the city of Samarra because he was frighten by Death. No matter what he did he was destined to meet Death in Samarra. "I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra"(Maugham). The moral of the story is that you can not run away from death and if you do death will still catch you.
ReplyDelete- Christian G.
"The Appointment in Samarra" is an allegory. It teaches a lesson that death is a fate that is inescapable. The eerie truth behind it confirms the allegory's literal meaning and attributing human characteristics by naming death a woman the author is using her as a symbol of conveying this message.
ReplyDelete-Ashleigh N.
"An Appointment in Samarra" can be categorized as a parable. A parable, according to dictionary.com is a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson. The lesson that is taught in this short story is that death is inevitable. The quote "I was jostled by a woman in the
ReplyDeletecrowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me" (Maugham). supports that this is a parable because death is an actual person and the lesson is illustrated by "having an appointment," since you can not escape your own death.
-Nicole R.
Somerset Maugham’s “Appointment in Samarra” can be categorized as a parable. A parable is when a story shows a spiritual moral and a lesson that can be learned. The lesson learned is that you can never escape death and your fate is already predetermined. “I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me” (Maugham). While going to Samarra to escape Death, he only went towards it. The irony is that you cannot outrun death. A person’s fate is inevitable and a way of life.
ReplyDelete-Anthony C.
The short story "The Appointment in Samarra" by Maugham W. Somerset would be categorized as a parable. This is because the main purpose of the story is to teach the reader a "spiritual lesson". Death is something that cannot be avoided. You cannot run or hide from it despite any efforts you do. When the servant was jostled by Death in the marketplace he was obviously instantly terrified and he thought that running to another location would change his fate. However it is clear that Death cannot be outsmarted.
ReplyDelete-Christina H
"Appointment in Samarra" as retold by Somerset Maugham can be classified as an Allegory. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, and Allegory is "a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life". Though the character death posses human like qualities it is not real and symbolizes actual death. Death is just an idea. She is not a character she symbolizes the servants ultimate fate. This symbol support the theme that you cannot change your destiny.
ReplyDelete- Julianna C.
"The Appointment in Samarra" is an allegory based on the fact of what the definition is. An allegory is the underline meaning or message in a poem, picture or story that can be political or a moral. A synonym that is sinonimos with allegory is parable. The moral of this short story was you can't change your fate. For the servant who left to Samarra in order to avoid death, actually wound up happening was he went to death.
ReplyDelete-Amanda F
The story "The Appointment in Samarra" rewritten by W. Somerset Maugham is an allegory because it is a short story that uncovers a hidden meaning and or moral. In this case, the hidden meaning in the story "The Appointment in Samarra" is that one can not escape their own fate.
ReplyDeleteWhen the servant went to the market and was jostled by death, he assumes that by running away to Samarra will save him, but in actuality, he ended up running towards death which is explained when "death" says to the merchant "I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra" (Maugham). This statement also exemplifies irony, which is the opposite of an expected outcome, in this case, when the servant runs towards death, rather than away like he wanted to. "The Appointment in Samarra" clearly expresses an underlying message which is why it makes it an allegory. -Jordan C
I do not believe that “The Appointment in Samarra” by W. Somerset Maugham is an allegory, for it is a story about death. Death is literally personified in the story, meaning that Maugham did not desire to shroud the meaning of the tale. Seeing as how the characters are all human, it is also not a fable, as fables employ animals. “Samarra” is most definitely a parable, and it's message is quite clear; Death is inevitable, it comes to all. Death is inescapable, as is illustrated when Death reveals her intention to visit the servant in Samarra.
ReplyDelete-Kyle B.
I believe "The Appointment in Samarra" can be categorized as a allegory. Allegory is a story that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning (Websters). This story had a hidden meaning. The hidden meaning was don't run from your fate. The servant tried running from death but little did he know that he was running to it. He couldn't change his fate.
ReplyDelete-Megan S
Behind the the story "The Appoinyment in Samarra" I believe that somerset was trying to portray the idea of the only thing to fear is fear itself. The lesson behind it would be that it is self destructing to let your fear influence your decisions. The servant from the story let fear cloud his judgement and led him to his own death, if he had not run, he would have been able to live his life as he choose to.
ReplyDeleteThe short story “The Appointment in Samarra” as retold by W. Somerset Maugham would be categorized as a parable. The dictionary definition of a parable is a simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson. These stories are used to convey a moral lesson to the reader and are similar to fables in that they teach the reader a life lesson. The underlying message or moral lesson that this story is trying to convey is that one cannot escape fate or their destiny. This is shown in the short story when the servant goes to Samarra to escape death, when in fact he is only inching closer to his fate.
ReplyDelete-Tyler P
Behind the the story "The Appoinyment in Samarra" I believe that somerset was trying to portray the idea of the only thing to fear is fear itself. The lesson behind it would be that it is self destructing to let your fear influence your decisions. The servant from the story let fear cloud his judgement and led him to his own death, if he had not run, he would have been able to live his life as he choose to.
ReplyDelete-Louis D
The short story "The Appointment in Samarra" is a very interisting parable, in which the athour tries to teach the reader that as much as a person thinks theyre excersising free will all the things that take place are predestined and ultimatelly controlled by fate. In the story the servant thought he was running away from death but he was actually running towards it.
ReplyDelete-Christian C
I would categorize this story as an parable. It is a parable because it teaches a lesson to the reader. The lesson is that you cannot escape fate. - Victoria G
ReplyDeleteThe short story “The Appointment in Samarra” by W.Somerset Maugham is a parable. A parable is a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesion. The Servant in the short story was confronted by the character Death at the market. The servant was spooked and tried to vanish but Death was already a step ahead. The Servant had an appointment with Death and there’s nothing he could do to avoid her. The Merchant went to see Death and asked “ Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning “?(Maugham) Death in replied “That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra”(Maugham), meaning that the Servant was going to die tonight regardless. The tone of the story was gloomy. The theme of this story is that fate is inevitable. George P.
ReplyDeleteThis short story can be said to be a parable.The lesson learned here is that if you encounter death you can not ecsape it." I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate"(servant). With what the servant tryed to do. his efforts would fail in the end because Death new he was going to see him later in Samarra that night. So with this third person point of view, one see's how fate is a theme that is indicated when Death him self says that he will meet the servant. Also with the emotions of the short story one could say its was very scary, and a sense of worry with the servant. But as for Death, he was suprised to see the servant Baghdad. which he was not expecting. As for the Merchant he was concered as to why Death scared him off, but was explained to the reason by Death.
ReplyDeleteRicasso b.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this short story is considered a parable because although it is similar to a fable and allegory, it teaches you a a lesson through normal ways instead of ways such as animals, spiritauality, etc. In this situation, Death is a person and you learn through a human perspective that fate is inevitable. No matter where the servant went, Death was sure to follow because the servants time was up. There was no escaping Death. Brett B.
ReplyDeleteI would categorize the short story, “The Appointment in Samarra” by Somerset Maugham, as an allegory because it symbolically represents death as an inescapable part of life. An allegory is a piece of writing that utilizes symbols about human life and incorporating them to the story to teach some kind of moral lesson. The character, Death, is not only a woman, but a symbol of our fate. There are two narrators, a third person omniscient, who starts the story off with, “Death speaks”(Maugham), which gives the story haunting tone and Death continues to narrate the rest of the story with this eerie mood. The story gives a moral lesson about life and death and how we cannot run away from our chosen destiny. The servant believed Death was threating him and so he thought the safest way to get away from her, was to ride his merchant’s horse all the way to Samarra from the setting of the story, Bagdad. He did not know that Death had no intention of frightening him. Instead, she says, “I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra” (Maugham). This bone chilling discovery reveals that our fate does not lie in our hands and that we cannot choose when and how we are going to die. Death is a character, but Death is symbolically the representation of the theme of fate and destiny and therefore, is why this story is an allegory. - Esther P.
ReplyDeleteI would categorize the short story, “The Appointment in Samarra” by Somerset Maugham, as an allegory because it symbolically represents death as an inescapable part of life. An allegory is a piece of writing that utilizes symbols about human life and incorporating them to the story to teach some kind of moral lesson. The character, Death, is not only a woman, but a symbol of our fate. There are two narrators, a third person omniscient, who starts the story off with, “Death speaks” (Maugham), which gives the story a haunting tone. Death continues to narrate the rest of the story with this eerie mood. The story gives a moral lesson about life and death and how we cannot run away from our chosen destiny. The servant believed Death was threatening him and so, he thought the safest way to get away from her, was to ride his merchant’s horse all the way to Samarra, from the setting of the story, Bagdad. He did not know that Death had no intention of frightening him. Instead, she says, “I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra” (Maugham). This bone chilling discovery reveals that our fate does not lie in our hands and that we cannot choose when and how we are going to die. Death is a character, but Death is symbolically the representation of the theme of fate and destiny and therefore, is why this story is an allegory. - Esther P.
ReplyDeleteI would think that "The Appointment in Samarra” by Somerset Maugham is a allegory and if it is not i would say that it has some elements of allegory because the definition of allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. There was a hidden meaning in the appointment and it was the fact the servant wanted to escape death in Samara when really that's where death was going to meet him and we don't find this information out til the end of the story. For now ill categorize this as a allegory then again i could be wrong
ReplyDeleteAdewale Taiwo
I would categorize “The Appointment in Samarra” by Somerset Maugham, as an allegory because it represents death as a main character and the fear that one would have to face with it. An allegory uses symbols to describe life and death. It teaches the reader a lesson about morality and what to expect in life and how to deal with things. The story also has an ironic ending because while the servant was trying to escape death he ends up going towards it. -Emily Z.
ReplyDeleteThe Appointment in Samarra” by Somerset Maugham can be categorized as a parable. A parable is a short story that teaches a moral or spiritual lesson. The lesson in this story is that death is inevitable and we cannot escape our fate. The servant feels threatened by death and tries to escape it but only ends up where he was supposed to die in the first place.
ReplyDeleteMatt D
I would categorize "The Appointment in Samarra" by Somerset Maugham as a parable. A parable is a short story which teaches a moral or religious lesson. In this short story we are taught that you can not run from destiny/death. The story has an ironic twist because the servant believes he is escaping death, meanwhile he runs to death. Death is surprised to see the servant because she "had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra." (Maugham)
ReplyDelete-Megan H.