The Penance by Hector Hugh Munro
A young man returns to his hometown after a long absence and seeks revenge against the people who wronged him in the past. He sets out to punish them for their cruel treatment of him, but ultimately finds that his desire for revenge consumes him and destroys him from within.
By Hector Hugh Munro · First published 1909 · Genre: Short Story, Satire, Comedy · 2,438 words
First lines
Octavian Ruttle was one of those lively cheerful individuals on whom amiability had set its unmistakable stamp, and, like most of his kind, his soul's peace depended in large measure on the unstinted approval of his fellows. In hunting to death a small tabby cat he had done a thing of which he scarcely approved himself, and he was glad when the gardener had hidden the body in its hastily dug grave under a lone oak-tree in the meadow, the same tree that the hunted quarry had climbed as a last effort towards safety. It had been a distasteful and seemingly ruthless deed, but circumstances had demanded the doing of it. Octavian kept chickens; at least he kept some of them; others vanished from his keeping, leaving only a few bloodstained feathers to mark the manner of their going.
What this Textopian page supports
The Penance is listed on Textopian as a short story by Hector Hugh Munro, dated 1909 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Hector Hugh Munro
- Date: 1909 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Short Story, Satire, Comedy, Drama, Children's Literature
- Length: 2,438 words
- Structure: 1 section, 39 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Penance by Hector Hugh Munro
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Genres
- Short Story — The work is a concise narrative focusing on a specific incident, typical of short stories.
- Satire — The story uses humor and irony to critique social behaviors and human nature.
- Comedy — The narrative includes humorous elements and situations, particularly in the interactions between characters.
- Drama — The story contains emotional and moral conflicts, especially concerning guilt and redemption.
Tags
Satire · Dark Comedy · Social Commentary · Morality Tale · Absurdism · Anti-Hero · Cynicism · Critique of Society · Gallows Humor · Black Comedy · Existential Crisis · Moral Ambiguity