The Drowned Giant discusses ideas of questioning morals, or more specifically, using death for someone else’s gain. Rather than being taken to be buried or removed from the shore, the giant’s body is taken advantage of by the townspeople and treated as an object or attraction rather than as an intelligent being. Children climb over and play on his head, passerby’s use his body as leverage to get a better view of the shore, and more of his limbs are severed and removed with each visit from the main character. News of the giant’s arrival had eventually been forgotten, and his bones are all that remain of his corpse, still being used as perches for the seagulls. It’s a disturbing story, especially if the giant were to be replaced with a normal-sized human corpse instead. It’s also sad that the giant was not given a proper burial or treated with respect.
I believe this situation can be compared to hunting, how those who hunt for sport use the animal’s head, hide, or other parts as a trophy, or perhaps how hunters kill for resources (elephant tusks for ivory, meat for food, etc.) This story gives a perspective of how disrespectful, selfish, and almost even cruel, some can be when handling with death that doesn’t negatively affect them, and how those will possibly find a way to have it benefit them.
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