Commentary On "Inspiration

A commentary on the story Inspiration which I have posted earlier. Hopefully it will make the story more interesting and fill in a few unanswered questions :)

 

For this portfolio I am submitting a short story entitled “Inspiration”.

            In this story, I decided to write in the first person in order to effectively present the protagonist’s stream of consciousness. I feel using this type of narrative allowed me to delineate the character of Harry with greater clarity as we are essentially reading his mind. I feel that this will create a closer relationship between Harry and the reader than a third person narrative would have , placing the reader in his shoes, making each new development more compelling as it feels more like a personal experience. I also feel that when we are presented with Harry’s thoughts and Harry’s dialogue during the narrative, it creates a deeper sense of duality within his character, for example the section which reads:

“The ceiling, which is white as I have established, is bumpy and dotty and, and, what’s the word, what’s the word?

“Textured”

Here there is the presence of duality, the thoughts in the mind and the spoken dialogue show two entities, one which is knowledgeable and can grasp the word, and one which is unknowing and cannot grasp the word. The duality can also be seen in the disconnection between feeling and experience, where he can feel the crevasses in-between the bricks, yet is not actually in physical contact with them. On reflection I realise that this more subtle aspect of the narrative may have been overshadowed by the presence of an actual double of Harry.

            This piece has been influenced by many different novels, but I find that I was most influenced by “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel and “Surfacing” by Margeret Atwood. As in “Life of Pi” I attempted to create a character that would question something that is perhaps taken for granted. In the novel, the character of Pi openly practices three different religions, finding no sensible reason for them to be determined as separate ways of worshipping the same entity, morals and belief systems. In the same way that this is found to be controversial by the characters around Pi, I attempt to describe another controversial issue that creates conflict in religion, that of homosexuality.  As in “Life of Pi” I have attempted to rationally work through the argument and present an idea that although breaks convention, can be understood. On reflection I feel that a greater knowledge of religious practices and an extension to the piece may greatly enhance this argument and perhaps present it in a less abrupt manner.

            I realise that I also drew inspiration for the use of prolepsis from “Surfacing”. In my piece I depict a scarecrow, which through intertextuality and when juxtaposed with the yellow brick road and the inclusion of “Frank L. Baum” previously, can be assumed to be the scarecrow from “The wonderful wizard of Oz”. In my piece, the scarecrow, through his lack of brains and naivety can be seen as representative of innocence. The fact that he is torn apart can be seen as innocence being destroyed, this reoccurs later in the piece when Harry swears in the abbey, thus breaking away from his religious character. In essence, it is through the destruction of his innocence that he can become inspired to write a novel that is unlike those he has written before. He has become “unbound” from the messages and values of his religion and therefore opened a new channel of creativity. This is what Harry’s double means when he says “God has known you as a child, but not as a man”. This also seems to infer a sort of acceptance on God’s behalf that what he is to undertake is not sinful. This underlying narrative interlaced with the narrative of using drugs and the experiences they invoke can be said to be using the literary device of poiomenon. This device is also employed in “Surfacing”, where the narrative depicts the Surfacer’s journey into the wilderness whereas we are really exploring the Surfacer’s unravelling mind.

Again, on reflection, it would be prudent to research more in depth, religion and it’s attitudes to homosexuality and the transition between childhood and adulthood and the journey from innocence to experience.

I feel that postmodernism may be interesting to consider as in “Inspiration” I have used several themes that are common within other novels that are described as being postmodern. I use poiumena as does  Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children”, enabling me to explore the boundaries of reality and fiction, for example the section where I describe the transition of the white ceiling becoming green and then becoming a jungle into which he is enveloped. I also use intertextuality, mentioning several aspects of “The wonderful wizard of Oz”. I attempt to use maximalism where I step back from the narrative and elaborate on certain details. I can also say that the piece is of magical realism, where I depict imagery in a surrealist manner for example where I describe Harry’s fingernails being tattered and flaking off into a swirling mass.

 

 

 

Reviews

[TLK]

I hope the next person to read this has also read 'Inspiration' as without having read 'Inspiration' this isn't very understandable.