This is an analysis of the story The Stoat, by John McGahern, which may help you understand it better. The first time I read it, I found it quite hard to grasp the whole meaning of the plot, so these questions were very useful. I hope you find them handy too!
Describe the protagonist’s relationship with his father. This story is autobiographical. What does this tell us about the author?
The boy’s relationship with his father is superficial and dull. They only share unimportant, trivial conversations about topics that concern their daily lives. The boy feels he cannot be totally open with his father because he doesn’t care very much about anything that doesn’t concern him. He only shows interest in his son’s opinions if they affect his own life.
This serves as an insight into the kind of relationship the author may have had with his father. He might have seen him as someone with whom he couldn’t share his deep thoughts and opinions. Even though he was his father, he might not have had the kind of father-son relationship he expected.
What purpose does the uncle serve in the story? The uncle is not autobiographical, so why would McGahern invent him?
The purpose of the boy’s uncle may be to give the readers some satisfaction in knowing that after his father leaves, he can go and live with him. Another reason for introducing him in the story might have been to show the author’s own wishes and longings. Perhaps McGahern would have liked to have a relative who could listen to him and support him.
Either way, the uncle serves as a way of showing the readers what his father’s behaviour should have been like and presenting a more accurate version of the boy’s father figure.
What is the father seeking? Why?
The father is seeking to marry again, after the boy’s mother’s death, because he wants to find someone who can occupy her place in his life. He doesn’t want to spend the rest of his days alone after the boy has started his own life, so he starts looking for a companion.
How does he go about getting what he seeks? Does it work?
To get a wife, he publishes an ad in the newspaper explaining his situation. It works perfectly well because he gets a lot of answers from different women. Finally, he finds a woman he likes, Miss McCabe, and sets up a date with her. Later, he tells his son that he wishes to marry her, and informs him of all his plans for the future.
Why does he change his mind?
He changes his mind because she unexpectedly has a heart attack, which reveals his fear of having to bury another wife. Here, the readers get to know what a self-centred person he really is, because instead of communicating his apprehensions to Miss McCabe, he leaves her without explanation. We learn that he only likes her for selfish reasons and doesn’t care at all for her feelings.
Explain the allegorical elements in this story.
An allegory is a story or visual image with a partially hidden meaning behind its literal or visible meaning, i.e. another story hidden underneath.
In this narrative, the allegorical elements are the stoat and the rabbit. As we read the ending of the story, we realize that they actually represent the boy’s father and Miss McCabe.
Like a stoat, the father runs from “warren to warren”, looking for a wife. He finds Miss McCabe and becomes attached to her, but he realizes he is afraid of losing her when she has a heart attack, so he runs. As in any predator-prey relationship, once he escapes, he leaves Miss McCabe hurt and crushed, as the rabbit.
At the same time, his fear of being hurt by the loss of a loved one also chases him, and he becomes the rabbit, running with his fears “on [his] trail”. By using this allegory, McGahern portrays the inevitable fear that chases all humans.
I hope you found this story analysis of The Stoat useful. Here you can read others I wrote. You can also find an analysis of the themes of the story in The Sitting Bee.
