With the ‘Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks,’ Pablo Neruda takes a fantastic and fictional object such as a mermaid and personifies it at the level of human beings to analyze how man is no higher than the level of animals. A mermaid, fish by nature, is on the same level as man who is likewise an animal. Once again, Neruda has personified the non-human and elevated it to the level of humanity that is replete with the quaint characteristics and traits of people.

Neruda’s ‘Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks’ is a concise portrayal of the animal world where man is not any higher than the level of beasts. The poem offers different layers of meaning and interpretation as is typical of a literary genius such as Pablo Neruda. On the first level of interpretation, Neruda gives us a true fable structure with animal characters and a moral lesson explicit in the end. On the second level of meaning, the poem talks about gender relations in the animal kingdom. On yet another layer of meaning, the ‘Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks’ talks about the clash between nature and civilization.

A fable is a short and pithy story that features characters other than humans. Animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature are endowed with human qualities. These types are given the human traits of speech, action, and powers of human beings. What makes a fable unique is that it always ends with a moral lesson that is stated in a succinct manner. In the poem ‘Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks,’ the mermaid and the drunks belong and move within one short tale. At first glance, it seems that man and an animal such as a mermaid that is actually a fish interact as human beings, much as the animals in a fable would since they are endowed with human qualities.

Neruda, though, gives a richer twist to an already interesting story. The mermaid, though fish, is really a mythical character that dwells in our collective imagination as either or both human and fish. This animal joins supposedly human beings that actually act like animals in their beastly manner. Here is a story of the intermingling of expected as well as unexpected characteristics of humans and animals. At this interpretative level, the moral lesson is that animals eventually die and perish in the hands of humans.

The second level of the poem’s interpretation is on gender relations and how gender bias has brought about gender inequality and gender insensitivity where the female sex ends up oppressed. The supposedly human males acting in a beastly manner abuse the female that happened to have come into their midst. The mermaid came in naked, not knowing how to speak nor cry, and the males proceeded to abuse her verbally and physically. There is also the possibility of rape that occurs, though in a figurative manner. What is clear is that the males hurt the female in the story – with their cruel words, behavior, and action. They spit on her, hurl obscenities at her, taunt her, even burn her with burnt corks from their liquor bottles and cigarette stubs. All these graphic actions may be construed as indicative of a rape that occurs in the story. The female is totally helpless in the devastation of her person.

The female sex is ruined and abused by the male sex. The attributes of the feminine gender such as silence, fragility, innocence, and vulnerability are all taken advantage of by the masculine gender. Neruda seems to say that in this world, the concept of gender such as feminine and masculine shall forever be teetering on an unbalanced scale, with disadvantage slanting towards the feminine gender. Because of the dictates of society on gender relations, the female of the species will forever be vulnerable to the abuses and victimization of the male of the species. This is because society has ruled that the feminine gender shall always be weaker than the male gender. At this interpretative level, the moral lesson of the fable is that the female ‘dies’ because of the abuses of the male. After the figurative rape incident, the mermaid goes back to the river, to her death. Rape is death for the female.

At the deepest interpretation of this poem by Pablo Neruda, the concept of the interrelation between nature and civilization is explored. The natural world where the mermaid hails from is ultimately ruined when it comes in contact with the so-called civilized world. Denizens of civilization are actually uncivilized in their uncouthness that in the intermingling of civilization and the natural world, civilization is uncouth enough to ruin nature.

The mermaid, a denizen of the natural world that happens to enter the civilized world, is brutalized by the inhumanity of the citizens of the civilized world. This brutalization translates to the ‘death’ or ruin of the natural world. Neruda’s main message at this interpretative level is that nature and civilization can hardly co-exist because, in the end, the natural world is eventually overwhelmed by civilization, even to the point of ruin.

The poem ‘Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks’ is a rich tapestry of character traits and characterizations showcased in not too many lines. As a true fable would be, the poem is pithy, replete with animal characters, and imbued with a strong and concise moral lesson in the end. In the different levels of interpretation with this Neruda poem, the poet’s message is clear: the world in which we live is inhabited by animals, and our existence follows that of a fable. Animals act like humans, and humans act like animals – in this fable-like animal world. In this world, animals perish in the hands of humans because they are animal in nature, though supposedly higher evolved.

Gender relations exist severely in the animal world where the male of the species socially overpower the female of the species because their society has issued so-called gender rules. And lastly, animals exist in both the natural and civilized worlds, although the ones in civilization may not necessarily be less animalistic. And because of this, the natural world dies when it comes in contact with the beastly humans that inhabit the civilized world. Through all levels of interpretation, Neruda’s message is clear: man is an animal as manifested by his character, attitude, and behavior. The moral lesson is that man’s animal nature is eventually what ruins his world. Neruda of yesteryears still rings true to this very moment.

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