Thursday, October 16, 2008
Emptiness in Pale Horse Pale Rider
The introduction of Pale Horse Pale Rider was great, but like the American people in World War II it lost its get-up and go. Despite the fact that I am kind of hating this story right now, I feel that the "fluff" [i.e. the romantic story (which is also empty because the death of Adam is foreshadowed several times) that fills a great deal of space and time between the introduction and the conclusion] reflects Miranda's feelings of emptiness and loss. This story reminds me of a somewhat less original version of Pride and Prejudice set in the 40's. For as great as Miranda's supposed love for Adam is, their relationship is incredibly empty and lacks true emotion because each party member knows that their situation is not permanent, whether or not they want it to be. Thus, the emptiness that prevails throughout the love story of Miranda and Adam reflects the empty feeling of the nation at that time. [At least I hope that is Porter's intent...or else this story is fairly blase if I do say so myself... : ) ]
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3 comments:
I have to say, I agree to some extent. I felt just awful for thinking that. I found a quote of Robert Penn Warren (All the King's Men) in which he says that "Pale Horse, Pale Rider" is at the "top level" of all short stories. I guess seeing this quote first made me go into the story with high expectations, but I don't know. It just seemed like a pretty standard short story to me. Nothing so revolutionary.
I remember in class that Dr. Cook commented that "Flowering Judas" is said to be her best short story by many critics, and this just floored me as well because I would certainly have not picked that as the finest achievement.
Don't get me wrong. I am enjoying Porter's writing, but I would just consider the writing in other stories as stronger than the story here, and I am glad someone had the guts to post this! lol!
I also agree. I think that Miranda and Adam's relationship is perhaps just the result of the two being afraid. The war has made reality too hard to deal with so they turn to eachother to escape for a while. Their conversations are superficial and most of their time is spent going to eat and dance and go on the occasional day trip. I feel like they are dependent on eachother so that they can forget their terror of the war for a few hours.
I may be a romantic, but I cannot fully agree with Bethany's notion that Adam and Miranda's love is "incredibly empty and lacks true emotion" while I do think she makes excellent points. The reason I disagree is that I see their love as an unexpected moment of life, of light within a culture of dreary blackness. Despite his description as the golden child, the sheltered and untainted boy who prefers pocket watches rather than wrist watches, Adam is allowed the opportunity to experience something more real than the war and more real than words. Even when they tell each other they love each other, he says something along the lines of "haven't I been trying to say that all along?" Miranda, despite the pressures and demands of her boring and discriminate job, finds something timeless in Adam. He became so part of her that "he was in her mind so much she hardly knew when she was thinking of him directly." I don't know...maybe I am just clinging on to the idea that their love is a symbol of the possible in the impossible, something worth had even if momentarily than not at all.
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