A different motif seen in the last third of the book. The motif that I previously wrote about is almost gone now. However, the clearness is back. I found the narration less confusing than the second third, but glass isn't mentioned or seen as much. Glass does play an important role at the end with the Bell Jar though. One motif I noticed was laughter. I don't remember seeing anything about laughter until the last third of the book. It can first be seen with I-330 laughing at D-503. While talking, I-330 "burst out laughing, loudly - too loudly. Quickly, in a second, she laughed herself up to some sort of edge - and stepped back, stepped down" (162). I feel like this laughter completely kills the mood. It is very unexpected and almost strange. I think this instance shows the relationship between the two. D-503 has strong feelings for I-330, but I-330 seems to simply use him for the resistance, able to laugh at his thoughts. Another instance of laughter is seen during U's encounter with D after he develops a deep hatred for U for exposing the contents of his journals. In a very intense moment where D has a clear intention of murdering U, laughter kills the mood once again when U misinterprets D's actions. D describes the situation as "so unexpected, so stupid, that I burst into laughter" (184). The last laughter I saw was during D's talk with S. D reveals all that he knows about the resistance only to find out S is a part of the group. All these laughter moments happen during a scene that is quite intense. It really does change the mood of the scene.
Much of the setting is reflected through the weather. It seems the weather is not as sunny or clear as it was in the previous two thirds of the book. I remember reading about the clear blue sky early in the book and how the people really like the spotless, clear sky. Now, images of the wind and cloud are repeatedly seen. I think this is used to show the change that the One State is going through. Before with the clear sky, everything was in order and control was still maintained. The government even had control over the weather. Now, turmoil is slowly accompanying the wind and clouds. It seems D-503 is no longer the only one with an imagination. People are refusing to receive the Operation and the Green Wall has been torn down. All this chaos came along with the change in weather. Nature is now a part of the One State with birds inhibiting the One State. The setting itself does not change much. Much takes place in the One State with a few instances at the Ancient House or outer space when the Integral is launched.
The language, as seen in the second third, does not use much mathematical words anymore. I do see a greater increase in the use of figurative language though. When describing I-330's laughter, he says "she laughed with sparks and joyful flame-tongues in her eyes" (145). This use of figurative language shows the change that D-503 has gone through. Not everything is straight forward like it was with math. With figurative language, there is more room for interpretation, using imagination and creativity in thinking. However, the use of math words is not completely absent. It still appears occasionally, possibly showing the rational, math side of D-503 that will never be absent. He describes his neighbor as having "an enormous yellow parabola for a forehead. Wrinkles on the forehead: a row of yellow illegible lines" (183). He uses math terms to describe his old neighbor. Maybe he only uses this old concept of math words to describe old people and things. At the very end though, after D-503 has received the operation, he concludes by saying "More than that: I know we will win. Because reason should win" (203). It seems the Operation has caused him to finish the full 360 degree turn in his thinking. I think it would be safe to predict that his language will gradually return to math and science terms.
No comments:
Post a Comment