“The Body Snatcher”, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, tracks the life of the character Fettes from his mental manipulation from his two mentors, and a buildup of internal guilt as a young student. From this and a use of different literary devices, I was able to draw the conclusion as to why he behaves the way he does and what we are left with, a shattered fraction of a man, broken, and in shambles.
As the reader, the theme I got from this short story was to look at life through your own lenses. As humans, we give advice left and right, judging someone else's situation in proportion to what we would do in their shoes. However, what we may not always realize is that there is bias within an opinion. As much as we would love to see life from a completely different point of view, our subconscious viewpoint always tends to mix with the suggestions we are giving someone else. Now speaking vice versa, when we are given advice from someone else, we must be able to come to the conclusion as to what is the best option for us. In the long run, we would be more efficient at living with our own bad decisions because at a point in time, they were the best choices for us. On the other hand, if we were to be swayed into doing something by another person and that decision doesn’t pay off in the long run, it would eat you from the inside out knowing that the choice you made wasn’t really yours.
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A prime example of the mental manipulation that Fettes experienced would be the worst kind of manipulation that there is. This manipulation comes from someone you know, you trust, or you may even look up to/idolize in a certain aspect. I consider this pain the worst because you would never expect the person to do such a thing, but when it happens it hurts deep inside. In this case, the fact that he was persuaded to keep quiet about the dead bodies that he knew ate Fettes alive from the inside out. Here Fettes was, a fairly educated student now made to look like a lost and unguided little boy following someone else's orders, only a pawn in Mr.K and Dr. Macfarlane’s plan. Completely disillusioned, for years this feeling of abandonment stuck with Fettes. The narrator slightly hints at not only the mental toll, but also the physical toll it has taken on him, stating “He's not a young man, to be sure, and his hair is white; but he looks younger than you.' He is older, though; years older” (Stevenson, pg. 2). Also following this quote was Fettes describing Dr. Macfarlane as having an easy conscience and a good digestion. This ties directly back into the theme, this good digestion that Fettes describes is the willingness of Macfarlane to live with his decision because at the end of the day, his reputation is intact, and he wasn’t majorly affected by anything. On the other hand, Fettes struggles to live with himself and its clearly showing from the inside out. He looks older than Macfarlane who is actually years older than him because he has had a bigger burden to carry all of these years unlike Macfarlane.
The other topic I wanted to cover was how guilt changed Fettes and led to him becoming the man he was when we were introduced to in the beginning of the story. The verdict that I came to was that the guilt of not speaking up for what he knew was right drove him into picking up the liquor bottle and becoming what seems to be an alcoholic. I think of the alcoholics that I know and none of them have just picked up a bottle for no specific reason. Fettes struggling to come to terms with himself and the decision he was persuaded to make would be a perfect reason for a man to form such a habit as this one. Not only does Robert Louis Stevenson exemplify guilt through Fettes’ newly formed habit of drinking, he also physically personifies it as Gray’s returned, dead body. In this specific part of the story, Gray is a representation of the injustice that the victims of Mr. K and Macfarlane faced due to Fettes’ incapability to speak out. This truly puts the cap on all the traumatic experiences that he has been through and makes sure that it will follow him and haunt him for the rest of his life. He references Grays body in fright as he asks Macfarlane about it saying, “Have you seen it again?” (Stevenson, 5)
In conclusion, this short story has taught me about the effects that guilt can have on an average human and how it can change your behavior and even some habits. It has also taught me about the importance of being able to make your own important decisions and if advice is taken, then to recognize the biased opinions that come with it.
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