- Chris
Van Allsburg, USA (1949- )
(Excerpts from
the log of the Rita Anne by Randall Ethan Hope, Captain)
I. Literal Comprehension
Context: This
story is written by Chris Van Allsburg, an American writer and illustrator of
children’s books. This is an allegory, a story with visible symbols for an
abstract idea, written in the form of a diary entries, which begins on May 8
and ends on July 12. Therefore, the sub-title of the story is ‘Excerpts from
the log of the Rita Anne (a ship’s name)’. The narrator of the story is Captain
Randall Ethan Hope.
When the supplies were brought
into the ship, it started its voyage on a fine day with clear sky and fair
winds. Mr Howard, the first mate, brought a group of sailors, who read books a
lot and played musical instruments, on board. They passed their free time
singing, dancing, and telling stories. On June 5, almost a month after they had
started their journey, they discovered an unknown island. They stopped there
and explored the island. They found strange and unexpected things there. They
also found a two feet long rock, roughly textured, gray in colour, and
unbelievably heavy. A surface of the rock was flat and as smooth as glass that
emitted a beautiful glowing light, pleasing to look at.
After the rock had been brought on board,
the crew was fascinated by its peculiar light. They stopped telling the stories
or dancing or playing the music and kept on gazing at the rock. After some
days, the sailors started showing strange symptoms. They had fever and started
shrieking. They also lost interest in their work. The captain decided to throw
the strange rock into the sea, but the next day he found all his crew members
locked inside a room with it. They did not want him to throw the rock.
When the sky was covered with dark
clouds and a dangerous storm headed towards the ship, the captain became
hopeless because his sailors sat around the rock and left him alone with the
trouble. Moreover, when he forced them to open the closed door he found that
they were no more human beings. The whole crew had turned into hairy apes
grinning at the terrible rock and unable to understand his language. When the
storm was gone, the ship was still afloat but the masts and the rudder were
lost. Because of the lightning that had hit the ship twice, the stone had gone
dark.
The captain discovered that playing
music and reading books to the crew would have a positive effect on them. Then,
he read stories to them and turned them into human beings again. Those who
could read themselves recovered faster. He covered the rock and kept it closed in
a compartment. When another ship came to rescue them, he set a fire on the ship
and sent the rock down to the bottom of the sea. Finally, they decided not to
talk about the rock anymore.
II. Interpretation
The writer has used a symbol in
the story. It’s the rock that stands for a television set. Before the TV set
was discovered, people talked, sang, danced, and amused each other. They
stopped talking to each other when they started gazing at the TV set. They
became lazy and inactive. They stopped behaving and thinking like human beings
and turned into imitating apes. They can be restored if TV sets are thrown and
the habit of reading books can be inculcated into them.
III. Critical Thinking
The story has
raised some critical questions in my mind. Is TV so much useless as the writer
thinks? Doesn’t it provide us a chance to get knowledge about various fields
and news from around the globe? Is it possible to throw TV sets from the modern
households? I’m sure the writer will be in trouble with these questions.
IV. Assimilation
The story is very
much amusing and close to the reality. Nowadays, I see modern people of all age
groups sitting around their TV sets and shrieking or grinning. Especially
school-going children and youths have lost interest in their studies, and keep
themselves busy on watching television. It’s a worrisome situation, but I don’t
think throwing the TV sets will solve this problem.
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