Tobermory Analyzed from a New Historicist Perspective

Tobermory Analyzed from a New Historicist Perspective

Every story can be analyzed from different perspectives depending on the goal of the reader or the influences from literary criticism this person favors; for instance, a structuralist critic would be more inclined to analyze the form and structure of the literary work by focusing on its syntax, figures of speech, binary oppositions, etc. to understand how the text conveys meaning. A new historicist critic, on the other hand, would aim to analyze the way cultures is presented in the text and the role that the author’s and reader’s biases plays on the process of understanding meaning from a work. As these examples show, different schools of literary criticism a common objective which is extracting meaning from a text, even if they differ in the methods of analysis applied to reach such end. Continuing with the example provided, structuralists claim that the goal of finding a text’s meaning is attained solely through the analysis of a literary work itself; however, from a new historicist perspective, cultural and social complexities also play a role in creating a text’s meaning. The story “Tobermory” written by Saki should be regarded as support for this new historicist thesis because it exposes transindividual subjects as part of a greater social system, their signifying practices, and the struggle of hegemonic groups to maintain its power.  

First, some social complexities can be highlighted in this story by identifying the transindividual subjects and the systems they represent. Transindividual subjects are defined by Meyers and Pacheco as “the perception of an individual (and his/her importance) as representative of a larger social group or groups, rather than as a unique individual” (44); in other words, the sense of individuality is an illusion as every person possesses in fact traits that are representative of a larger social system and these traits are shared at some degree among all individuals that conform this group; therefore individuals are subjected to this wider system. In “Tobermory” many examples of transdividual subjects can be identified; for instance, Lady Blemley and Sir Wilfrid represent the English bourgeoisie as can be noticed by the use of the titles “Lady” and “Sir;” Mr. Appin is a transindividual subjects that stands for a scientific community and who was invited only for the purpose of entertainment, while Major Barfield is a representative of the army as inferred by the title “Major” which is usually employed to refer to an army officer of high rank. Agnes Resker is also a member of this high class group; however, she exhibits the particularity of being considered part of the system although she accepted to go to the gathering narrated in the story only because she was “out of food” (“Tobermory” 4), this means that she does not possess the material resources to be classified in the same rank as some other transindividual subjects, like Lady Blemley or Sri Wilfrid, but still she is regarded as part of the group. In contrast to the high class individuals described, the story also mentions the servants and the coachman who are part of a lower social class, the justification of this statement is derived from the signifying practices considered in the story and which are analyzed later in this essay. This separation of social status is also noticeable even in animals; for instance, Tobermory is distinguished from other cats, in this case the stable puss and the Rectory tom, by being regarded by the party as “a valuable cat and a great pet” (“Tobermory” 5) which even has a proper name and has the privilege of being accepted into other transindividual subjects’ properties as signaled in the statement that other animals “don’t come creeping about our bedrooms and under chairs, and so forth” (“Tobermory” 5); on the contrary, the stable puss is not only lacks a proper name but also is confined to the stable, as it is the coachman’s pet and therefore considered of inferior category than Tobermory. Tobermory is a transindividual subject that challenges the authority of his masters and the other guests who integrate the hegemonic group. For example, when called by Sir Wilfrid to drink his milk, Tobermory exclaims “that he’d come when he dashed well pleased” (“Tobermory 2), he also ignores the question of Miss Resker and is rather indiscrete about the party’s doings and acts in arrogant manner, differing from what one would usually expect from a regular pet towards their masters.