Introduction

What is a shadow? What comes to mind when seeing shadows dance in the twilight of day? Shadows have, for a long time, been a symbol of illusion, mystery and darkness in many societies both past and present“a shadow is the reflection of an image of an illusion.” (52 Palahniuk, Haunted). Shadows in the dark was a concept I started thinking of months ago, and upon receiving an assignment for my AP literature class, found the perfect time to use it. The assignment is to keep a blog about literature that is read during the school year to examine, theorize or reflect upon the different readings. This leaves the flexibility to choose what angle the literature is examined from, and thus I am choosing this. A shadow in the dark, one might theorize they exist, but no one can see them, or maybe people just don’t want to. “Sometimes, like with real people, it was about faith, hope, and delusion.”(264 Ferris, Then We Came to the End). All too often it can be seen how people need their delusions to stay within their comfort zones, and thus they often reject what they consider new, strange or difficult. So throughout this year this year I am going to attempt to examine the intricate aspects of these pieces of literature and its subtle points or passages that people may ignore or miss, such as influences of a character’s actions and the author’s perspective, or overlooked passages. The full phrase I have used, probably to death at this point, is “Some follow blind while other sees the shadows in the dark”. Some people forever have and forever shall let others tell them, and decide for them what is important, and what is notable in the art world, so I shall ask now, which path shall be taken?

~ by Mr. Cynic on September 9, 2008.