
What is the symbolic meaning of the feather pillow?
Symbolism of the. "The Feather Pillow" by Horacio Quiroga illustrates the balance between life and death by suggesting that one cannot exist in the presence of the other. Quiroga presents this theme through the wedded Alicia, whose spiritual and mental curiosity is gradually destroyed as a result of her marriage.
What is the theme of the feather pillow by Horacio Quiroga?
"The Feather Pillow" by Horacio Quiroga illustrates the balance between life and death by suggesting that one cannot exist in the presence of the other. Quiroga presents this theme through the wedded Alicia, whose spiritual and mental curiosity is gradually destroyed as a result of her marriage.
What does the feather pillow have to do with Alicia's death?
What does the feather pillow have to do with Alicia's death The creature "parsite" sucks her blood The tale of Alicia and pillow most closely resembles what legend
What is the motif of duality in the feather pillow?
In "The Feather Pillow", the reoccurring motif of duality is evident through objects that are portrayed in more than one light. For instance, the pillow is normally seen as a source of warmth and comfort and serves this purpose to Alicia when she is ill.
What does Quiroga symbolize?
What is the book The Feather Pillow about?
What does the carpet swallowed the sound of his steps mean?
What does it mean when Alicia is taken advantage of?
What does the feather pillow symbolize?

What is the mood of the feather pillow?
"She had determined to cast a veil over her former dreams and live like a sleeping beauty in the hostile house, trying not to think about anything until her husband arrived each evening." When Alicia becomes sick, the mood in the story shifted from one of minor anxiety to one of terror and horror.
What is the tone of the feather pillow by Horacio Quiroga?
Tone. Jordan: Dominant, loving, caring, although a rough person all around.
What was the main conflict in the feather pillow?
Conflict~As the seasons change from summer to fall, Alicia comes down with a mild case of the flu. Rising Action~As the days went on Alicia didn't get better, she only got worse. Jordan walks around the garden helping her, thinking she is getting better.
What is the monster in the feather pillow?
The creature in the pillow that kills Alicia symbolizes the way that Jordan's passivity and her marriage with him kills her as a person. Both the creature and her relationship drain her of her vigor. "Horacio Quiroga." Encyclopedia of World Biography.
Was there foreshadowing in The Feather Pillow?
Foreshadowing- When the author says" Alicia passed the autumn in this strange love nest" it gives you a clue something strange was going on maybe it was the parasites.
Is The Feather Pillow A Gothic Tale?
The very prolific Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga wrote one of the most memorable Larin American Gothic tales"The Feather Pillow". In the story a timid young girl marries cold and inexpressive man and goes to live in a beautiful yet equally cold house.
What is the allure of fear in the feather pillow?
The Feather Pillow Her condition deteriorates to faintness, hallucinations, with death following shortly. After her death, it was found that a bloodsucking parasite had been sucking Alicia's life away during the night. This also strikes a fear of the non-understandable.
What was the doctor's initial diagnosis of Alicia's condition?
They diagnosed it as acute idiopathic anaemia, completely inexplicable. Alicia had no more fainting spells, but was visibly moving toward death. All day long in complete silence the bedroom lights stayed on.
What is the setting of the feather pillow?
The setting took place in their old Gothic like mansion.
Who was the feather pillow written by?
Horacio QuirogaThe Feather Pillow / AuthorHoracio Silvestre Quiroga Forteza was a Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer. He wrote stories which, in their jungle settings, used the supernatural and the bizarre to show the struggle of man and animal to survive. Wikipedia
The Theme
The theme of The Feather Pillow is emptiness. Alicia and Jordan were slowly drifting apart since their wedding. They both began to feel uninhabited.
The Characters
Exposition~Newly weds, Alicia and Jordan move into a mostly empty house. Alicia liked to pass her time by waiting for Jordan to come home every evening.
Symbolism of the Number Five
The number five is a symbol of balance, health, and love. In The Feather Pillow Alicia's life is drained from her in "five days and five nights" balancing her internal emptiness with her external appearance. The monstrous parasite killed Alicia physically, balancing her already dead soul.
What is the feather pillow?
The title 'The Feather Pillow' refers to the pillow that the main character Alicia was sleeping on. After her death, that was suspected influenza, the servant and husband discover that hidden within the feathers was a parasite. This parasite was in fact the reason that Alicia died as it sucked on her blood every night.
What does Alicia feel in the story?
Throughout the story there are references made to the senses. There are many mentions of Alicia feeling cold and chills. What Alicia can touch and feel is repeated throughout the story, as is the warmth or cold of her blood. Her life is described as bleeding away, a metaphor that later reveals itself to be true as the parasite is literally taking all of her blood.
What is the background of the story of Quiroga?
The background of the story is said to revolve around Quiroga's own experience with women, many who died on him.
What is the motif of the feather pillow?
In "The Feather Pillow", the reoccurring motif of duality is evident through objects that are portrayed in more than one light. For instance, the pillow is normally seen as a source of warmth and comfort and serves this purpose to Alicia when she is ill. However, Quiroga reveals a second, darker nature of the pillow when it is revealed to have hidden the cause of her death. In a similar manner, the house is described to have "produced the wintery impression of an enchanted place" but with a distinct, "unpleasant coldness". In both cases, Quiroga attempts to imply that perception can twist the reality of a situation.
What does the feather pillow symbolize?
In both cases, Alicia was drained -- drained of her love by Jordan and drained of her blood by the parasite in the feather pillow. It is also interesting to note that the feather represents union in many cultures; thus, the parasite's infestation in the feather pillow can be seen to symbolically represent the poisoning of the marriage.
What does the number 5 mean in The Feather Pillow?
The number five is often seen as symbol of balance given its position in relation to other numbers. In "The Feather Pillow", Alicia's life is drained from her "in five days [and] five nights", implying that the process of her death served to balance her. In this sense, the use of the number five as a symbol for balance reveals the instability between the bride's internal emptiness and her external appearance; the parasite, then, only destroyed Alicia in the physical sense, balancing her already-dead spirit.
What is the monster in Alicia's pillow?
If the monster in Alicia's pillow was indeed a form of parasite, it is strange to think that Alicia's "most persistent hallucinations was that of an anthropoid poised on his fingertips". Although it is true that the apparent cause of Alicia's death was the parasite, her hallucinations reveal the underlying factor that weakened her initially: her restrictive love with Jordan. The young woman's desire was to have human affections with her husband, which Jordan was clearly unable to or unwilling to show; thus, these desires returned to haunt her in her time of illness in the form of a human-like figure. The anthropoid presents the image of Jordan as seen from Alicia's delirious mind -- one of which appears human but does not display human action or emotion.
Why do feather pillows and roses for Emily use Gothic form?
The Feather Pillow and A Rose for Emily both use the Gothic form to show the effects of what. Isolation for women in old-fashioned communities. What details from the story help the reader predict the outcome of the story.
What legends burrow in people's brain?
Legend about earwigs burrow in people brain
What form is used in feather pillows?
The Feather Pillow uses the Gothic form to show the effects of...
What is the mood of the story when Alicia becomes sick?
When Alicia becomes sick, the mood in the story shifted from one of minor anxiety to one of terror and horror. Cite words to show the new mood.
Who believed that every word and action in a short story should build to a unified emotional effect?
Horacio Quiroga, like Edgar Allan Poe, believed that every word and action in a short story should build to a unified emotional effect. What effect do you think Quiroga was trying to achieve in The Feather Pillow?
What does Quiroga symbolize?
Quiroga uses symbolism to show how one of the main characters is draining the life out of his wife. The excerpts I chose symbolizes when Alicia is sick and in need of attention, all he is doing is pacing back and forth in the living room. 18 May 2020.
What is the book The Feather Pillow about?
“The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga is a book that is about how a woman slowly gets the life sucked out of her.
What does the carpet swallowed the sound of his steps mean?
Quiroga uses symbolism to show how one of the main characters is draining the life out of his wife. “The carpet swallowed the sound of his steps”. This excerpt symbolizes when Alicia is sick and in need of attention, all he is doing is pacing back and forth in the living room.
What does it mean when Alicia is taken advantage of?
When Alicia is taken advantage of, it’ s like how a mosquito takes advantage of a human during the hot summer, slowly and sneakily draining our blood. Just like how Jordan drains the life out of Alicia. Throughout this book all Alicia wants is attention and affection from her husband, and when she finally gives him a sliver of it, it is not returned.
What does the feather pillow symbolize?
The feather pillow can be symbolized as the something that is making their relationship worse and worse. This helps the reader see how much that Jordan was not opening his eyes, and wanted to ignore the fact that his wife was dying.
