One of the main reasons that the king and duke are nearly successfully at swindling the Wilks sisters is because the sisters trust their emotional responses instead of closely examining the facts. The king also does his best English accent while the duke pretends to be deaf and dumb like the real William Wilks. To the majority of the Southern townspeople who have never met an Englishman, the king's impression is convincing. The king and duke also successfully integrate with society by introducing themselves as Harvey and William Wilks while the king addresses the townspeople by name. The king and duke do a good job at convincing everyone, with the exception of Dr. Robinson and Levi Bell, that they are Peter's brothers by weeping and mourning at the funeral. After the king and duke receive Peter's endowment, they "graciously" give their share of the money to the girls to avoid suspicion. When Dr. Robinson attempts to expose the king and duke as frauds, he does so in a condescending manner and is unable to earn the trust of the Wilks sisters and the townspeople. Like most of the Southern townspeople in the novel, the community members do not think independently and blindly believe what they want to. The king and duke are nearly successful at swindling the Wilks sisters by exploiting their emotional responses and earning the trust of their community members.
No comments:
Post a Comment