In "The Devoted Friend," Wilde blends and balances a number of different writing styles. While it is written like a fable or children's story, it also encompasses elements of satire. The story is heavy on dialogue, and the overall narration feels conversational.
Although the content—including the anthropomorphized animals—is a large part of what makes "The Devoted Friend" feel like a children's story, Wilde also employs language in a way that seems to be catered to children. This can be seen in the story's first sentence: "One morning the old Water-rat put his head out of his hole." In the third sentence, the narrator describes "the" little ducks swimming, even if it's the first time they're being mentioned. This use of definite articles, common in children's literature, creates a sense of familiarity between narrator and reader. This causes the reader to feel that they belong to the world of the story and that the characters are known to them already. Besides this, Wilde uses simple, straightforward diction, ensuring that most of his writing will be clear and comprehensible to a child.
That said, the story still contains the punchy wit and expressive language one otherwise expects to find in Wilde's prose. The story may be palatable to young readers, but this does not mean that Wilde doesn't allow himself to play with language in a more sophisticated way. The elements that may go over the head of a young reader ensure that the story is appealing to adults as well. Wilde also plays with the conventions and expectations of various genres, making it challenging for the reader to pin down a stable category for it to be placed within. This playful subversiveness is typical of Wilde's writing style.
The story's final sentence is emblematic of Wilde's style—as well as tenets—as a writer. In this line, the narrator that has remained in the background comes forward with a comment in the first-person point of view, expressing a dislike of stories with morals. Wilde belonged to the Aesthetic art movement, whose adherents believed that art should be freed from the pressure to have moral, political, or instructional purposes. Their doctrine can be summed up by the phrase "art for art's sake." Thus, the narrator's affirmation that stories with morals are dangerous things can be read as Wilde's endorsement of the idea that art should not be forced to have a function beyond aesthetic quality.
