"The Feather Pillow"
by Horacio Quiroga
Horacio Quiroga
1878-1937
- Latin American short story writer
- Admired Edgar Allan Poe
- Stories blend horror with psychological suspense
- Lots of his stories confront conflicts with human beings and nature
Life's Tragedies
- Father accidently killed himself with a shotgun
- When he was 23 he accidently shot to death one of his close friends
- First wife committed suicide
- Quiroga and his second wife seperated
- In 1937 he took his own life after discovering he had cancer
The Story
First Published in 1907
What elements of American Gothic Fiction are present in this story?
Questions
- Re-read the description of the setting, the house in which Jordan and Alicia. What mood do these details of the setting create?
- In what ways are the characters of Jordan and Alicia opposite?
- On the literal level, Alicia is the victim of a parasitical creature that feeds on her blood. What symbolic interpretation can you make of such a death? (What else in Alicia's environment might have been sucking the very life out of her?)
- List elements/themes of AGF Quiroga uses in the story.
- Would you agree "The Feather Pillow" is an effective story because readers fear that something like the events in the story could really happen? Why?