The Aesthetics of Mirrors in Ray Bradbury’s Short Crime Story “The Very Gentle Murders”
There is no trace in the critical works devoted to Ray Bradbury of the short crime story “The Very Gentle Murders,” written by him in the late 1940s and published in 1996 in the collection Quicker Than the Eye. Yet, even if the short story may seem simple because of its clear resolution and its real...
में बचाया:
| में प्रकाशित: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/jsse, |
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| मुख्य लेखक: | |
| स्वरूप: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| भाषा: | Anglais |
| प्रकाशित: |
Journal of the Short Story in English
2024
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| ऑनलाइन पहुंच: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| सारांश: | There is no trace in the critical works devoted to Ray Bradbury of the short crime story “The Very Gentle Murders,” written by him in the late 1940s and published in 1996 in the collection Quicker Than the Eye. Yet, even if the short story may seem simple because of its clear resolution and its realistic appearance, Bradbury’s originality is very much visible in his use of a second dimension deeply embedded into the narrative structure, which combines both mirrors and the carnival tradition. While echoes and repetitions appear frequently in the narration and in the descriptions, ultimately, the central force behind the mirroring apparatus leads back to the protagonists themselves and the mirroring in their relationship, which is the cause of numerous deaths. The imagery of reflecting mirrors invades not only language, actions, and the protagonists’ physical appearance, but also the personalities of the characters themselves and their murderous wishes. This article intends to show the influence of a structure revolving around the aesthetics of mirrors which plays on the ambiguity between reality and imagination. |
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