The Devoted Friend

Introduction

The Devoted Friend is an interesting short story of two friends having different temperaments and
different conceptions of devoted friendship written by Oscar Wilde. He was one of the most eminent and
elegant writers of the 19th century. The story is both tender and profound in its treatment of the comically
one-sided friendship between poor Hans and the rich Miller.

Summary

The storty is narrated by a songbird to a water rat and a duck. There are two characters in the story little
Hans and Hugh the miller.

Little Hans was a simple, innocent, kind-hearted and sincere fellow. He was a hard working gardener and
earned his living by selling the fruits and flowers into the market of the town. Hugh the miller was a rich
but clever and selfish man. He always claimed that he was a devoted friend of little Hans.

In the summer season, the miller would go to the garden of Hans and bring plenty of flowers and fruit
without making him any payment. He never gave anything to Hans. Hugh the miller repeatedly exploited
Hans. Sometimes, he sent Hans to Market with a heavy sack of flour. Sometimes, he asked Hans to drive
his flock of sheep to the mountains for grazing. He would also ask Hans to work on his flourmill or do
some work of repair in his barn.

In return, he merely made a promise to give his invalid and damaged wheelbarrow to Hans, free of cost.
The miller called it an act of great generosity. Unfortunately, the promise was never materialized.

It is so happened that on a rough and stormy night, Hugh the miller sent little Hans to bring the doctor
because the miller’s little son hand been seriously injured. As usual, little Hans showed compliance and
left for the doctor’s home as he could never think of displeasing the miller. When poor Hans was returning
with the doctor, the strom grew more fierce and he lost his way in the dangerous rocky region. He
stranded on the moor and fell into a deep pool of water, where he was drowned. In this way, the innocent
fellow lost his life for the sake miller.

Moral

The story suggests that friendship is a noble and respectable bond based on bilateral love and
cooperation. Mutual interest is the essence of true friendship.
- Literature Review: The Devoted Friend, by Oscar Wilde
Title & year of publication: The Happy Prince and Other Stories (1888)

Short story selected: The Devoted Friend

Author: Oscar Wilde

Genre & theme: Fairy tale. It’s a story for children while it has brought out some moral issues about
friendship — what it meant by friendship, and how some beautiful phrases about friendship could be used
for evil purposes, and how a man can take advantage of someone’s innocence to do things for his own
benefits.

Main characters: Little Hans, Water-rat, the Duck, Linnet (the story-teller), the Miller and Miller’s
wife.

Plot summary: The Miller took an advantage of Little Hans’ innocence to do something good for
himself. Little Han’s was overworked and he was drowned to die because of the Miller, but the Miller
didn’t seem to feel regretful.

Narrative style: Character’s narration: beginning-middle-ending structure

Opening few pages: Instead of telling the story right away starting from giving some background
information about the Little Hans and the Miller, the two main characters of the story, the author pre-told
the story by setting a scene with a female duck teaching its kids to stand on their head in the water and
other animals talking about the true friendship and what a devoted friend meant. This helps bring the
readers into the story by getting involved in the animals’ conversation and listening to Linnet’s narration.

Setting: The setting of this short story is interesting. At the beginning of the story, the scene was set in a
pond with some little ducks swimming and learning from their mother. The scene was brought to another
place when Linnet started telling the story — a place where Little Hans was living in, with blossoming
flowers and pleasant odours in the garden.

Style: The language used throughout the story is very clear and simple yet the messages conveyed in the
story are deep and worth for our thinking.
Symbols: Flowers which Little Hans have — they symbolize the property and everything Little Hans has
in his life. Without the flowers, he couldn’t make his life. Yet, he was devoted to give everything he owned
to his best friend, and this scene strike readers quite a lot by what true friendship means. Wheelbarrow
the Miller gave to Little Hans — it symbolizes an excuse that the Miller could use to take advantage on
Little Hans. Whenever Little Hans was about to refuse to his request, he made use of it to turn Little Hans
down so that Little Hans had no excuse to refuse his request.

Point of view: 3rd person narrator – Linnet, a character in the story. Using a character in the story to
tell the ‘real’ story is an effective way to get the readers involved in the story. Because of this strategy, the
readers can also associate the messages of the story with the meanings in the animals’ conversation. The
narrator can tell the story from an objective viewpoint.

Most impressive character: Little Hans — he is an honest, kind-hearted, unselfish and devoted friend
to his so-called best friend ever in his life, the Miller. His immediate help without suspecting if his friend
is only taking an advantage on him is very impressive in the story, and his innocence and devotion to
friendship have contrasted drastically with the selfishness and evil thoughts of the Miller.

Most impressive feature: The message this story conveys. It strikes me to think about what true
friendship means when a friend is actually taking an advantage on me whilst saying all sorts of beautiful
phrases about friendship and ‘claim’ how devoted he / she is. It also strikes me to feel how evil a person
can be and how beautiful a good man can be.

Least impressive aspect: No comment. This story is wonderful.

The message the story conveys: Not until I came across an incident about true friendship could I
have such deep feelings about true friendship conveyed in this story. Being taken an advantage and
betrayed never make anybody feel good, yet the betrayal between friends happens nearly every day, and
this hurts their hearts a lot. The character of Little Hans, a very kind-hearted, honest and unselfish man
that we can never find in the world, is playing a role to reflect the evilness of the Miller, a selfish,
ambitious, inconsiderate man, who never gives his best to his friends. The most touching part of the whole
story is not the moment that Little Hans died of being drowned in the water, but when he was doing
everything good to the Miller without suspecting that he was just taking him advantage and sold all the
flowers Little Hans had been growing to earn for his living. What strikes me most to think about the
messages conveyed in this story so deeply is that what motivates Little Hans to do everything good to the
Miller? Is that really because of his receiving that wheelbarrow, and so he had to do something in return?
Little Hans, in addition, is so innocent and nice to his friends. But maybe it is his innocence and honesty
that made people betray him. What is so depressing and touching is that Little Hans hadn’t won any true
friendship or love from the Miller but his betrayal. Isn’t it a sad ending of this story, and isn’t it sad that
there’re really such cases in the world happening every minute or even second in our daily life? For the
language, Oscar Wilde has used simple and clear language to convey such deep messages for the young
readers to think about, and he is successful in doing this. There is no fancy word in this story, and young
readers should find it very easy to interpret the ideas.
Generally speaking, this story is flawless in its organization, plot as well as his development (and climax)
of the story. This is a story that young readers must not miss!

My rating of the book: 5 pts. It is a wonderful fairy tale because it deals with some issues as human
beings — morality, ideology of being in the society and having true friendship, selfishness of human
beings and one’s devotion to love. The topic about friendship is a touching topic for children because in
their childhood, they will be meeting different friends, who might be in different kinds. The messages this
story conveyed has brought up important issues for the young readers to think about and to bear in mind
when meeting friends. The language and style used in the story are effective to conveying the above ideas.
Generally speaking, this story was written very successfully.

Sample Answers
Q1. Briefly explain why the story of Hans and the Miller was applicable to the
Water-rat?

Ans. Hans and the Miller are the central characters in the story ‘The Devoted Friend’, written
by Oscar Wilde. This story is told by the Linnet and is definitely applicable to the Water-rat. The
Miller is extremely egocentric (=self-centred). He manipulates little Hans, always taking
advantage of his naiveté (=innocence)and generosity, and never giving anything in return.
Similarly, the Water-rat wants his friend to be devoted to him, but he does not understand what
it means to return the favour. In theory, both the Miller and the Water-rat hold friendship in
high regard, but in practice, they represent one-sided friendship and they are always at the
receiving end.
Q2. How did the Miller justify his not asking Hans to share some of his good
things during the winter?

Ans. Hans and the Miller are the central characters in the story ‘The Devoted Friend’, written
by Oscar Wilde. Poor Hans used to suffer a good deal from cold and hunger in winter because
there were no fruit or flowers in his garden. The Miller never came to see little Hans. Scolding
his son, the Miller justified himself on the basis of his so-called concern for Hans and self-
serving theory of friendship. The Miller says that Hans might get envious of their warm fire,
good supper, and great cask of red wine. Secondly, Hans might ask to have some flour on credit
which the Miller could not give because he does not want to confuse friendship with flour.

Q3. What was the supreme manifestation of the Miller’s selfishness which
caused Hans to lose his life?

Ans. Hans and the Miller are the central characters in the story ‘The Devoted Friend’, written
by Oscar Wilde. The Miller promised his old wheelbarrow to little Hans. He sent him off on long
errands (=journeys) and got him to help at the mill, but never carried out his promise. However,
the Miller’s selfishness was supremely manifested when he sent Hans to bring the doctor for his
son but refused to lend him his new lantern. The Miller said that it would be a great loss if
something happened to it, but he never realized that the dark, stormy night and the dangerous
moor with a lot of deep holes might claim Hans’s life. While returning from the doctor’s house,
Hans lost his way and wandered off on the moor, and there he drowned.

Q4. Comment briefly on the Miller’s claim to have been Hans’s best friend.

Ans. Hans and the Miller are the central characters in the story ‘The Devoted Friend’, written
by Oscar Wilde. The Miller’s claim to be Hans’s best friend cannot stand examination. He said
“Real friends should have everything in common”, but he never shared anything with poor Hans
when he was starving in winter. He said “when people are in trouble, they should be left alone”,
but when the Miller’s son fell off the ladder, he came to poor Hans for help. When the Miller
promised that he would give little Hans his old wheelbarrow, the Miller said “generosity is the
essence of friendship”. However, he never carried out his promise. Rather, he expected a great of
generosity from poor Hans. In return of the worthless wheelbarrow, the Miller first took a big
plank of wood, then flowers, then sent him on long errands, then got him to work at his mill, and
finally sent him to bring the doctor for his son. Even at Hans’s funeral, the Miller demanded the
best place on account of being his best friend.
The Symbols:

Oscar Wilde uses the animals as symbolic devices. The water-rate is meant to criticize the literature at that
time. There were some critics who had criticized any author who wrote his novel with a moral according to
traditional techniques. The rat tells the linnet “You are quite behind the age”. It means that he is silly to tell his
story without the modern technique at that time that begins with the end and then goes on to the beginning.
Wilde satirizes the new authors and critics at his time. The rat is disgusted when he knows that the linnet’s
story has a moral. The word “pooh” symbolizes the refusal of the new group of critics at that time to have a
moral in any story. That rate also represents the Augustine Age as he has lack of emotions. He is bachelor with
no intention to marry. He says, “I know nothing about the feelings of parents” “I am not a family man…. and I
never intend to be.” He does not feel why the duck is patient with her children. The rat has a point of similarity
with Miller as both of them do not care about emotions or morals. He says that his devoted friend must be
devoted to him. He does not mention what he can give his devoted friend in return. He is selfish like Miller. He
also says “I like the Miller, immensely” and “there is a great sympathy between us.’

The linnet is another symbol that represents another party of critics who insisted giving morals and bits of
advice through their novels. They tried to make the new generations more conservative to keep the traditional
form of literature. The linnet could be a symbol of Wilde himself.

The duck is a symbol of the wise and passive people. She says to her children, “You will never be in the best
society unless you can stand on your heads.” The ducks knows that the society is up-side down. The wisdom
and morals are at the bottom while foolishness is at the surface. The word “best” is ironic. There is a reversal
of roles in the society. The little ducks pay no attention as they do not understand the intention of the mother;
they have no social experience. The duck also represents the maternal love as she is patient with her children.
The word “drowned’ shows that the water-rat has no feelings to represent the Age of Reason.

Wilde satirizes the critics of his age as they used to criticizes the authors for nothing. He mocks them through
the word “bald” and “blue spectacles”. The word “pooh” shows that they refused anything from the new
generations.

Page 19: The word “generous” is ironic as Miller could give the old and broken wheel barrow to Hans. He
considers that a king of generosity that shows his arrogance. He exploits Hans many times by the name of
giving him the wheel barrow. It is ironic that Miller even does not give him the wheel-barrow.
Page 22: “You are very lazy”, “idle or sluggish”. These words are ironic as Miller describes Hans with them.
In fact, Hans is very active while Miller is the lazy one. Miller is a man of words while Hans is a man of
action.

Page 28: “As I was his best friend”. It is ironic as Miller considers himself the devoted friend to Hans while he
is the main reason for his death. He uses the big handkerchief as a sign of hypocrisy. He also sits comfortable
in the inn drinking wine and eating cake. It is also ironic that the word “great loss” does not refer to his dead
friend. He concerns only about his broken wheel barrow.