CITY OF GLAS essays

CITY OF GLAS essays The image of the screaming child is linked to the death of Daniel Quinns wife and child. The image reoccurs five times within the story once for every year they have been dead. There are several aspects about the drawing that make it important to the story and to understanding the character of Quinn. Firstly the drawing itself is different from the other panels it is the kind of stick figure that a child about the age of Quinns son would drawn. After their death Quinn tried very hard not to think abut them and changed his life in order to remove himself as far as possible from that painful memory. The picture therefore represents his repressed emotions regarding his son. He has denied his feelings for so long that the can only be portrayed as a stick figure. He doesnt allow himself to remember so the image doesnt look life like because he hasnt allowed their deaths to be a real part to his life. Secondly it is interesting that the image is not always the same the third time we see it in the story it is one face among many different images of Quinn be hind bars. This gives us a clue that the figures connected to Quinn and that no matter how hard he tries to change himself it will always be part of him. The fourth time we see the image it is not only screaming but it also looks angry it is as if screaming is not getting Quinns attention and the child is now frustrated and angry. It is also important to note when the image occurs in the story. It appears when Quinn is sleeping. When he lets himself think about his son when he is waiting for Mr. Stillman Senior at the train station, And the last time it occurs Quinn is writing about all the sad destitute people in the world. No matter how hard Quinn tried to hide his feeling he cant control his dreams or stop something from triggering the memory. It does not matter hard he tries to change his life, he cant ge ...