Short Fiction · Chapter
The Bull explained
A little boy with a mama in light blue spectacles and a papa in dark blue spectacles is weighed daily on a pair of scales for everything he eats.
What happens
A little boy with a mama in light blue spectacles and a papa in dark blue spectacles is weighed daily on a pair of scales for everything he eats. One day, his father announces that the boy has finished his first bull and will start on his second, causing the boy to cry in fear of eating a bull with horns.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This is the story's dramatic climax because the old man undergoes a profound psychological reversal, abandonin…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Innocence and Corruption
The boy's innocent literal interpretation of 'eating a bull' contrasts with the parents' metaphorical language, highlighting the corruption of childhood understanding.
- Power and Control
The parents exert strict control over the boy's diet by weighing all his food, and their announcement of his consumption of a 'bull' exerts power over his imagination and emotions.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“Our boy has today finished his first bull, tomorrow he starts on his second.”
Our son has consumed the equivalent of one bull in food today, and will begin consuming another tomorrow.
The father uses a metaphor to describe the cumulative amount of food the boy has eaten, which the boy misunderstands literally.
“I don’t want to eat a bull—a bull has got horns.”
I refuse to eat a bull because bulls have horns and are frightening.
The boy's literal interpretation of his father's metaphor reveals his fear and confusion.
