Edgar Allen Poe's "Hop Frog": The Transcendence Of Frogs And Ourang-Outangs
"Hop-Frog!, I will make a man of you."
In Edgar Allen Poe's short story "Hop Frog," the title character Hop-
Frog is able to transcend the limitations of his physical body, in ways the King
and his seven ministers are unable. "Hop-Frog" has multiple examples of the
transcendence of man, and the inability of man to transcend. The most prominent
of these points are:
1. By overcoming the limitations of his, Hop-Frog's, physical body
he is able to transcend into a greater existence than his biology
would allow.
2. By the King and his ministers discounting of Hop-Frog due to his
disfigurement and their inability to acknowledge his transcendence, they are
fated to never have the ...
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of nature. Hop-Frog is a dwarf. His means of
locomotion was that of an "interjectional gait---- something between a leap and
a wiggle,"(482) and this motion was only afforded to him through "great pain
and difficulty." Hop-frog's teeth are "large, powerful, and repulsive."(484)
His arms, not in balance with his body, have a "prodigious power."(482) His
arms so over compensated for his body he "resembled a squirrel, or a small
monkey, more than a frog."(482) His ability to tolerate wine is nonexistent.
The story states that Hop-Frog is from "some barbarous region."(482) For the
King, Hop-Frog is a "triplicate treasure"(482) for the king to laugh at. If a
man is no greater than his biological make up, then Hop-Frog is a freak, and
limited to his body. Hop-Frog proves this is not true. By using his arms Hop-
Frog is able to do astounding acrobatic feats. Hop-Frog is able to overcome the
effect that drink had on him and is able to remain calm and formulate a plan ...
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work for the King and his ministers death through a
"carefully planned and enacted setup."(1089) The King is only Able to see that
Hop-Frog is laughing, and since the King's weakness is a "good Jest"(481), he is
unable to see the motives behind the actions. When the King allows for no
weapons at the gathering, and entrusts the keys to the locked doors to Hop-Frog,
the King and his ministers are again unable conceive of any transcendence in
Hop-Frog. The King and his ministers are, up until the moment of their
inevitable death, still not cognoscente of their fate, they "were convulsed
with laughter,"(486) and ignorant to the events that were to succeed. It is the
King's and his ...
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Edgar Allen Poe's "Hop Frog": The Transcendence Of Frogs And Ourang-Outangs. (2007, May 27). Retrieved November 22, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edgar-Allen-Poes-Hop-Frog-Transcendence/65523
"Edgar Allen Poe's "Hop Frog": The Transcendence Of Frogs And Ourang-Outangs." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 27 May. 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edgar-Allen-Poes-Hop-Frog-Transcendence/65523>
"Edgar Allen Poe's "Hop Frog": The Transcendence Of Frogs And Ourang-Outangs." Essayworld.com. May 27, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edgar-Allen-Poes-Hop-Frog-Transcendence/65523.
"Edgar Allen Poe's "Hop Frog": The Transcendence Of Frogs And Ourang-Outangs." Essayworld.com. May 27, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edgar-Allen-Poes-Hop-Frog-Transcendence/65523.
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