22 pages • 44 minutes read
Carl StephensonLeiningen Versus the Ants
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1938A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
How does Leiningen contrast himself with women and femininity to assert and validate his competence in the face of the ants? Why do you think he does this?
Do you think that Stephenson validates or undermines colonialism in the story? Explain your answer.
How does the author present the hierarchy of power that exists on Leiningen’s plantation?
In Thus Spake Zarathustra, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche presents the idea of the Übermensch, or “the overman.” The overman is someone who has his own value system and uses it to impact others’ thinking and actions. How is Leiningen representative of “the overman?”
What stylistic elements help to characterize “Leiningen Versus the Ants” as a tale of horror and suspense?
Would you argue that nature is a character in the story? Why or why not?
Stephenson employs a third-person omniscient narrative, but there are instances in which he uses free-indirect discourse—that is, a device in which the third-person narrator expresses a character’s thoughts and feelings. In which instances is free-indirect discourse used in the story? Why do you think Stephenson employs this literary device?
