The Parable Essay, Research Paper

In The Parable several characters are presented to the reader. Each one has their own behavioral characteristics which one may or my not approve of. The two characters whose behaviors I most approve of are Lee Pai and Hernando. The characters whose behaviors I do not approve of are Sven and John. There are several reasons why I approve of the behaviors of Lee Pai and Hernando and do not approve of the behaviors of Sven and John. All of these reasons I have based on my interpretation of the story, The

Parable.

The Parable is a story about Rosemary, a young woman who is betrothed to a man named Hernando. Rosemary is supposed to meet Hernando for there up coming wedding but she is faced with a dilemma. In order for her to get to her wedding she has to cross a very deep and wide river that is full of crocodiles. Rosemary is clueless on how she is to get across this river, so she decides to turn to people, she knows, for help. The first person she turns to is Sven for he owns a boat. Sven listens to Rosemary’s problem and tells her he will take her across the river if she spends the night with him. Rosemary, surprised and shocked at hearing such an offer, declines and turns to another acquaintance, Lee Pai, for help. Lee Pai tells Rosemary he is sorry but he can’t help her. Not knowing what else she can do, Rosemary goes back to Sven for help. She spends the night with him and the next day he takes her across the river. Rosemary and Hernando are then together at last. The evening before their wedding, Rosemary feels the need to tell

Hernando what she had to do to get across the river. When she tells Hernando, he is very hurt and upset. He calls the wedding off and “banishes Rosemary as a soiled woman” (The Parable). Rosemary is very distraught over this and turns to John (an acquaintance) for a little comfort. After hearing her story John says to Rosemary that even though he does not love her, he will marry her. With this, the story comes to an end.

There are two characters in the story, The Parable, that I approve of . These two characters are Lee Pai and Hernando. Lee Pai is the character I approve of the most. The reason I approve of Lee Pai so much is he is one of the only characters that did not do anything questionable. From the start he was honest with Rosemary. He told her that he was sorry but he could not help her. Hernando is the other character I approve of in this story. His reaction to hearing what Rosemary did to get across the river, was very

understandable. After hearing that his betrothed spent the night with another man, Hernando canceled the wedding and banished her. He was very hurt and upset. Most people would react in the same manner as Hernando.

The two characters I disapprove of the most in the story, The Parable, are Sven and John. I disapprove of Sven the most because he took advantage of Rosemary. Sven saw that Rosemary was very vulnerable and instead of helping her, he propositioned her. His behavior was sick and inappropriate. John is another character whose behavior is questionable. Rosemary went to John for sympathy and all he offered her was a cold shoulder and a little pity. He tells her that he does not love her but he will marry her anyway. John was very heartless and rude for making such a proposal to Rosemary.

The Parable is a story that shows several types of behavioral characteristics. Depending on ones interpretation of the story, some characters’ behaviors are more favorable than others. Lee Pai and Hernando are two characters, from The Parable, whose behaviors I approve of. Sven and John are two characters in the story whose behaviors I do not approve of. There are several reasons why I approve of Lee Pai and Hernando’s behaviors and do not approve of Sven and John’s behaviors. All these reasons I have based on my interpretation of the story.