The struggle between the narrator and the wild professor symbolizes the yearning of a young person to find their own way in the world. The way the book visualizes this is very intriguing by using a teacher-student relationship under the guise, or inspired by, an old Grimm's fairytale. It makes for a very interesting read with the important sub-text, or narrative, about a young girl really trying to find her way in the world while avoiding being trapped into the antiquated views of an old codger. There is a saying that my grandpa used to tell me that says, "The student should surpass the master". At a surface level, this is the main tension of the story and that becomes evident when the narrator starts to feel her horns coming in and know that she's changing, or maturing. She starts to become rebellious and the author highlights this experience by using a flashback to the first time she told her mother picnics were stupid. This is a big step as a parent when your children start to push back and ask for autonomy. This is the real link between the two pieces that we've read about. and shows the real struggle or tension that is driving the story.
I think it's part of growing up and maturing that people you might not have associated with when you were younger and in high school or middle school because you thought they were different than you or strange. When you get to college you meet people that maybe don't have the same interest as you but are good friends and you get along with because that means more than just having stuff in common.
the narrative strikes me as an omniscient narrative from a first-person perspective. I think it might be omniscient because she tends to describe the feelings, and thoughts of others from time to time, but mostly it is all about herself. her feelings and what she is seeing, and feeling. Also at one point, the wild professor talks about being clairvoyant. so maybe if the writing is complex enough the author could actually bounce between narrative styles.
For the purpose of the story, the transformations are probably real, but in actuality, they are most likely not. I think it's a beautiful metaphor for expressing your true self or losing your inhibitions along with the trials and tribulations of doing so that come later in the story. overall a very nice story and I enjoyed it a lot.
I think it's part of growing up and maturing that people you might not have associated with when you were younger and in high school or middle school because you thought they were different than you or strange. When you get to college you meet people that maybe don't have the same interest as you but are good friends and you get along with because that means more than just having stuff in common.
the narrative strikes me as an omniscient narrative from a first-person perspective. I think it might be omniscient because she tends to describe the feelings, and thoughts of others from time to time, but mostly it is all about herself. her feelings and what she is seeing, and feeling. Also at one point, the wild professor talks about being clairvoyant. so maybe if the writing is complex enough the author could actually bounce between narrative styles.
For the purpose of the story, the transformations are probably real, but in actuality, they are most likely not. I think it's a beautiful metaphor for expressing your true self or losing your inhibitions along with the trials and tribulations of doing so that come later in the story. overall a very nice story and I enjoyed it a lot.
Excellent response, Chris. The story is first person. Technically, a story is only omniscient if it's a 3rd person story b/c the omniscient narrator has to exist outside the confines of the fictive world. The narrator, in this case, is the young woman sleeping w/ the Wild Professor.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about the way we change as we move from h.s. to college. Why do you think we care less about conformity when we're in college? Strangely, I think most people shift back into that level of conformity after college making these four (or more) years a strange moment of nonconformity in many of our lives. What is it about our college years?