The Sin Eater is a story
about a physician named Joseph who is compared to a Sin Eater. A Sin Eater is
defined as someone who is paid to take out someone’s sins. Throughout the short
story, we are able to identify the techniques the author uses to compare Joseph
to the Sin Eater and how Joseph had more than just a patient-physician
relationship with all of his patients.
While reading
the short story, we pick up on the fact that Joseph is only using his patients
to get rid of his sins, thus making it seem as if he is looking for a Sin Eater
himself. Even when the patients do not talk, Joseph will go on talking about
himself. We see this when the author mentions, “If you won’t talk to him, he’ll
bloody well talk to you, about the most boring things…He says he thinks it’s
healthy for his patients to know he’s a human being too” (page 35). This gives
the reader the idea that Joseph is himself looking for a Sin Eater.
Furthermore, we see that Joseph is upset by a sin in his past. This sin refers
to the little boy that Joseph talks about when he says, “I myself cherish an
abiding hatred for the boy who lived next door to me…but if I ran into the
little sod tomorrow I’d stick a knife into him” (page 39). Rather than
listening to what his patients are having problems with, he talks to them about
his sins.
At points in
the story, I felt as if Joseph was having more than just a patient-physician
relationship with his patients. Towards the beginning of the short story, we
see how Joseph seems to extremely “close” to his patients when the author
states, “…ever, though he does try to help me on with my coat a bit to
lingeringly” (page 35). We also see that he is not very serious about women in
his life. We are told that he had three wives, of which all of them were fairly
similar. This is seen when the author mentions, “The three wives have a family
resemblance—they’re all blondish and vague around the edges...” (page 39). We
see that Joseph seems to be interested in the same kind of women or women in
general.
After Joseph’s
death, his second wife states, “He (Joseph) wasn’t happy.” The second wife
inferred that Joseph committed suicide. If this holds true then Joseph clearly
has issues in his own life. He was not happy about his sins, and could not find
an outlet to get rid of these sins. I believe this may have been the driving
force for him to commit suicide.
This short
story provides great room for analysis. As readers, we realize what Joseph’s
true intentions are as he attempts to find a Sin Eater to eat his sins. We also
become aware of how Joseph wanted more than a patient-physician relationship
with his clients. Towards the end, the author has a dream in which Joseph
offers her food and Joseph tells her that those are his sins. This is what
engages the reader into identifying Joseph’s true character.
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