"The thin child knew, and did not know that she knew, that her elders lived in provisional fear of imminent destruction. They faced the end of the world they knew. The English country world did not end, as many others did, was not overrun, nor battered into mud by armies. But fear was steady, even if no one talked to the thin child about it. In her soul she knew her bright father would not come back. At the end of every year the family sipped cider and toasted his safe return. The thin child felt a despair she did not know she felt."
This excerpt from Ragnarok really stood out to me because of how fear can impact people. In literature, children are considered symbols of purity. They are oblivious to judgment and the evil of the world. However, in this selection from Ragnarok, even the thin child was exposed to feeling fear. think this speaks volumes because it shows that no matter how much much a person wants to ignore their true feelings they can't runaway from it. Like in the text, the thin child and the family pretended the father would come back, but fear was still present in the back of their minds. People can hope and pray for the outcome they want, but deep down, they already know what the expected outcome is.
I also related this passage to the families of war veterans who are still fighting or passing away. Children of these families wish all the time for their fathers to come and to grace them with their company, but in reality, the chances of a return are very slim. These families live in fear that they will lose a loved one at any moment and they have no control over it. In the case of Ragnarok, the thin child can't do anything to bring back her father, but it's all she wants.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting passage because it shows how strange human nature truly is. Although the family knows that the father will not come back, they hold on to the smallest grain of hope. Why is it that we bottle up our true feelings like this family? It there really a point to staying strong when the world looks so bleak?
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