Paradox

The Drowned Man story I thought revealed an interesting and strange aspect of personal relationships. It fascinating to see the people of the village spend resources and time dressing the dead man. Why do this? Are they conforming to their customs or are they doing it because they feel sympathy for him. The author also introduces an amount of absurdity and folklore qualities to the short story. This drowned man, who has apparently been in the ocean for days, is still handsome, still recognizable as a human. He also is a large man, larger than anyone they had ever seen. It reminded me of Paul Bunion. The people even give the man a name. A reader could also ask if this even happened at all.