Dr.+Heindegger's+Experiment

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: Dr. Heidegger's Experiment

Point of View: 1st person, limited omnitscient

Protagonist: Dr. Heindegger

What type of character is the Protagonist?

Antagonist: Dr. Heidegger (himself)

Describe the setting:

I think the story is set in the early 1900s. It's a bright happy afternoon but as it progresses it probably passes into early evening. Dr Heindegger sounds a little odd but with the four friends there I'm sure the atmosphere was quite friendly, comfortable, and familiar. Type of Conflict: Man vs. Self

Describe the main conflict:

The doctor decides to do an experiment involving four close friends and the events that unfold around said experiment.

Describe the Climax of the Story:

I think that the climax is mid battle when the three "young" gentlemen are fighting over the Widow Wycherly. They all want her for themselves and the situation illustrates perfectly why the doctor doesn't want to drink from the fountain of youth under any circumstances.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?

I don't think Dr. Heindegger changes, although he does prove what he believed at the beginning of the story, that he did not want to be young again, or re-live his life.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.

The title is "Dr. Heindegger's Experiment" and the entire story is based around his experiment and the effects that it has on his subjects.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?

I think that the main conflict is the three men and the widow repeating their mistakes once they're young again: exactly what the doctor was worried about. The theme is about aging and the idea of having the option to be young again and it's downfalls. The main conflict illustrates the issues with being able to control age and how we can still repeat prior mistakes.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?

The climax, when the gentlemen are fighting over the, now young, widow, shows the downfalls of their regaining their youth again. As I said I believe the theme is "//about aging and the idea of having the option to be young again and it's downfalls//". The climax is a perfect of this, with the men making the exact same mistake as in earlier life.

Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

Simile:

"instead of the ashen hue that had made them look so corpselike." He was comparing their skin tone to that of a corpse using like.

Metaphor:

"a dark shade deepened among their silvery locks..." He is comparing the colour of their hair, the grey of their hair to silver.

Personification:

"time buriued him from the knowledge of the present generation, and made him obscure instead of infamous." It is impossible for time to physically bury him.

Symbol:

I think that the rose is a symbol. It is the first thing to become young and then it was the first thing to grow old once again. It represents all the changes the four people went through. "They looked at old Dr. Heindegger who sat in his armchair, holding the rose of half a century... ...Even while the party were looking at it, the flower continued to shrivel up, till it bacame as dry and fragile as when the doctor had first thrown it into the vase."

Foreshadowing (give both elements):

I think the most evident foreshadowing was is when the narrator says : "It is a circumstance worth mentioning, that each of these three old gentlemen... ...were early lovers of the Widow Wycherly, and had once been on the point of cutting each others throats for her sake." foreshadows the effects of their being young again: "But they were young: their burning passions proved them so. Inflamed to madness by th coquetry of the girl-widow, who neither granted nor quite withheld her favors, the three rivals began to interchange threatening glances. Still keeping hold of the fair prize, they grappled fiercely at one another's throats. As they stryggled to and fro, the table was overturned, and the vase dashed into a thousand fragments."

Irony:

It's ironic that the three gentlemen seemed so certain that, if given the chance to be young again they would not mess up and yet when they were actually young again they wseemed just as careless as made the same mistake again, fighting over the widow. "had once been on the point of cutting each other's throats for her sake."

Imagery:

It was a dim, old-fashioned chamber, festooned with cowebs, and besprinkled with antique dust.

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.

The theme of the story shows true human nature, humanity, in that we are doomed to repeat our past. It was human nature that lead to the mistake the first time, and it is human nature that will lead us there again.

Questions:

1. It is to test the results and efects of the water from the fountain of youth when consumed by human beings.

2. They were all sometimes thought to be a little beside themselves. After consuming the magic water they began to act rather immature, the same way they acted when they were young. The widow became once again obsessed by her looks and beauty and the men bagan to bicker over as they had in the past. They were all rowdy, loud and energetic.

3. Dr. Heidegger wouldn't stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain of Youth because he's already experienced youth and he knows that he is bound to make the same mistakes as he did in his youth if he goes back. He's suffered through the outcomes of all these mistakes (like the death of his fiance) and feels no need to suffer through them again. His friends on the other hand, are quite shallow and would do nearly anything to feel the carelessness and joy of youth no matter what the reprocutions. I think that they didn't put much thought into this dicision and that the doctor is correct. Why suffer through the errors of the past again?

4. I think it was perhaps a close friend of relative, for they seem to know Dr. Heindegger and his study quite well. He may have recounted the story of them because it is clear that he not 100% certain of ALL his facts. If he was a close friend or relative it makes sense that he'd know the facts, though he's not certain of them, if the doctor had told him of his experiment and what had happened. It would have to have been the doctor who told the story for otherwise it would have been told from a completely different view.

5. I think there are good points made about aging. As we age we all make mistakes and have regrets, and given the option many of us, including myself, would love to gop back and change certain things but in general it seems that we are doomed to make the same mistakes again and again. For this reason I agree with Dr. Heideggers views that it is not worth being young again and we should just take life as it comes.

7. I think that extended life could be desireable, yes. Not eternal life but a longer life if you physically aged slower. With the extra years it would just give you more time to get and do everything you want to do in life and you still have all the same risks as life as we know it now. There may be issues with over population but in theory I think it's a good idea.

COMPLETION 4.5/5

EFFORT 5/5

CONTENT 5/5

QUESTIONS 12/12

TOTAL 26.5/27