The Balconies
The strange and bizarre story told in Esio Trot can be interpreted overall as a satirical allegory on the fundamental nature of romantic relationships which extricates them from the façade of phoney-baloney Romance with a capital “R” and pushes forth the unvarnished truth about the far less prettified way in they operate. Within the confines of this allegorical interpretation, the balconies serve as the symbols of ironic intent by recalling the most famous balcony in the literature: that on which Juliet is seen by Romeo. That the story opens with a balcony scene which is forwarded as separating the two characters from establishing their romance situates the level of irony to be pursued in their story.
The Tortoise
Mrs. Silver could have been a spinster who never married. Instead, she is specifically created as a widow. As a result, the obstruction Mr. Hoppy faces in winning her heart could be the memory of her dead husband, which would make more sense. Instead, the tortoise is explicitly written into the role of Mr. Hoppy’s rival for the affections of Mrs. Silver. This transforms the tortoise into a symbol of the absurdity of romantic rivalry which in effect turns romance—though of as a pure expression of emotion—into a competition, which can often be said to be tragically true of the pursuit of love.
“Your slave for life”
The turning point in this relationship which kickstarts it from merely platonic to passionately romantic is when Mrs. Silver tells Mr. Hoppy she will be “your slave for life” if he is successful in getting her tortoise to grow. Not “I will love you forever” or “my heart will be yours” but the distinctly more disturbing “your slave for life.” The symbolism here should be obvious, but just in case it is not: in the real world, romantic relationships are always, at some level, a form of bondage to another person.
Magic Words
The key to Mr. Hoppy’s devious plan to trick Mrs. Silver into believing her pet tortoise is growing in size is getting her to believe in magic words. The magic words are, of course, simply real words spelled backwards. Mr. Silver wants to much to believe in Mr. Hoppy’s ability to bring her what she desires that she is willing to try it and, of course, with the assistance of his trickery, comes to actually believe it. Magic words that one person comes to believe because they desperately want to believe what another person is telling them is what will bring them their desires. Now, seriously, does the symbolism here need to be explained at all?
The Deception
After making telephone inquiries into fourteen different pet stores, Mr. Hoppy purchases 140 tortoises of varying sizes and weight. He buys cabbage leaves to feed them. He rearranges the furniture in his apartment to make room for them. He spends a couple of hours making a “tortoise-catching” pole. He also come up with the idea of the magic words that must be said. Then he goes about patiently replacing tortoises on the balcony below for the next two months. It is quite an effort requiring a great deal of investment and many hours of work and it symbolizes all the investment that goes on in real life in all the various and myriad ways that people use to deceive others and them them into falling in love.
