Job #1
"He had been caught in a vortex and was being whirled on with a velocity of advance and gyration that made him giddy and sick. In a few moments he was flung upon the gravel at the foot of the left bank of the stream—the southern bank—and behind a projecting point which concealed him from his enemies. He dug his fingers into the sand, threw it over himself in handfuls, and audibly blessed it. It looked like diamonds, rubies, emeralds; he could think of nothing beautiful which it did not resemble. The trees upon the bank were giant garden plants; he noted a definite order in their arrangement, inhaled the fragrance of their blooms. A strange roseate light shone through the spaces among their trunks and the wind made in their branches the music of æolian harps. He had no wish to perfect his escape—was content to remain in that enchanting spot until retaken."
This part of the story stood out to me because this is when Farquhar realized that he finally escaped. The nature around him was like an assurance that he was safe from the enemies, so he was exaggerating the beauty of his surroundings. For example, the sand looked like jewels. It says that Farquhar blesses the sand, and this shows how relieved he was to finally be on land and out of captivity. He describes everything around him with such beauty because he was so happy to be free and alive.
Does any of this description give you clues that all is not as it seems? Perhaps a bit unreal?
ReplyDeleteYes, because if it was real he probably wouldn't have described everything so in depth. But since they were his last thoughts before he died he gave very specific details.
DeleteIt does seem unreal to me! Similar to hallucinations. The man hadn't slept for who knows how long. And as you said on a previous post, he could have oxygen depravation.
DeleteI guess I should have caught the foreshadowing of the end, but I really didn't see it coming.
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ReplyDeleteI agree! Generally, sand is considered plain, except maybe at the special beaches that line the ocean in warm climates. Why would he describe a river bed in the middle of a continent to be lined with beautiful sand? It would be fun to imagine and fun to have, but it may not be a reality.
ReplyDeleteJust to echo what you all have said, that would make sense that he was hallucinating because no one in their right minds would stay put on land when their captives were coming for them again. It's interesting how parts of the hallucinations seem to coincide with real life. For example when he says he is tired and probably walked all night, or he was content to stay on the shore until he was recaptured. Could this mean that even in his hallucinating he knew he was going to die?
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting! I definitely think he may have known he was going to die. Often times we daydream or hope for different scenarios in life, even when we know the true outcome is set and different than what we wish for.
DeleteIf he knew he was going to die, would he still have stayed in his daydream, or attempted to escape it? Or was he just too exhausted to realize even the slightest part of reality?
DeleteYeah! and if that was true for him , it puts a whole different spin on how I view the story!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the description of the sand, I thought it was strange that he would describe river sand as so beautiful. Then I thought maybe he was actually describing the beauty of finding himself free and alive.
ReplyDeleteI felt somewhat foolish later on when I realized it was actually all a fantasy. I was completely listening and believing the descriptions.
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