Short Story "A Tale Told by an Idiot"

Short Story "A Tale Told by an Idiot"

In this short story, a law student named Winston Kingstone Manners the Fourth does cocaine and finds a book that contains his life story. Moments in his past are described as, "The beaten black boy, the date-raped freshman, and the threatened homosexual," illustrating him to be a violent homophobe, misogynist, and racist character. The book finally informs him that his girlfriend, Lori, cheated on him with her friend Pete, who is interested in Shakespeare and drama. While he has cheated on Lori all semester, he is infuriated that she does the same and calls her to insult her body and sexuality, mocking her as his "virginal mistress" and a "slut." Winston continuously uses homophobic slurs to address Pete as he sees an image of him dressed as a harlequin, which ultimately leads him to his death.

Schwartz, Mark Ian. "A Tale Told by an Idiot." The Messenger (Spring 1990): 22-28. Available online via the UR Scholarship Repository.

The Messenger, University of Richmond

1990

English

Messenger1990.1.22-1990.pdf

Richmond (Va.)