Arabesque—The Mouse | Arabesque

At a glance:

Author: A. E. Coppard
First Published: 1921
Type of Plot: Psychological
Time of Work: The early twentieth century
Setting: England
Principal Characters: Filip, His mother, Cassia, The mouse
Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
Subjects: Justice, Mothers, Parents and children, Books, England or English people, Surgery or surgeons, Death or dying, Lower classes, Reading, Amputation, amputees, or prosthetics, Loneliness, Rats or mice, Heart
Locales: England

Filip, a middle-aged man, sits in his room on the fourth floor of an old house in the commercial area of a city. He is reading a Russian novel, as is his late-evening habit. After becoming aware of a small mouse scurrying about the room, he baits a trap to catch it. There are many mice in the building; he knows he must try to eradicate them but feels pity for the bright-eyed rodent. He says, “Mean—so mean, to appeal to the hunger of any living thing just in order to destroy it.” This sentence becomes a key to the flashbacks that follow.

Arabesque—The Mouse | Arabesque—The Mouse

At a glance:

The Story

Arabesque—The Mouse | Arabesque—The Mouse

At a glance:

The Story

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