interpretation of sleep
English 131.05
07 April 2013
Interpretation of Sleep “The Sleep” by Caitlin Horrocks basically tell you about the people in the small town of Bounty. Protagonist Albert Rasmussen wife was killed by a drunk driver on an icy road. In this town the people looked up to Albert Rasmussen because he was smart and decided to stay in Bounty after graduation. Albert had gathered the whole town over in his family room to have a discussion. This discussion took place “…before the cameras, before the sleep, before the outsiders, and the plan sounded as strange to us as it would to anybody” (Horrocks 104). This literally means that they didn’t have anything much technology and before they actually decided to sleep. In this short story “The Sleep” sleep is a symbol to many things such as hibernation, separation, death.
Sleep symbolizes hibernation, throughout the story hibernation is the main topic discussed by Albert and the townspeople. In terms of hibernation simply means sleeping for months at time; hibernation is common for animals but not for humans. In this story some of the townspeople of Bounty decided that they will hibernate during the winter. As the people talked more about hibernation they were concerned about the kids education “….Al shrugged. Both his kids were bright and ahead of their classes…. (Horrocks 106).” This represent how well the kids were in school and they wouldn’t miss much or be behind others. Al being the good parent that he is he “…had picked up copies of the upcoming curriculum: long division, suffixes, photosynthesis, and cursive (Horrocks 106).” Al kids didn’t mind skipping school during the winter months because he knew what they would be working on afterwards and they didn’t like fractions. In today’s society people still dislike fractions because I know I don’t like them. After the hibernation months there was a transformation of the Sanderson girl “The pudgy Sanderson girl, all bushy hair and brace, woke up with her teeth
07 April 2013
Interpretation of Sleep “The Sleep” by Caitlin Horrocks basically tell you about the people in the small town of Bounty. Protagonist Albert Rasmussen wife was killed by a drunk driver on an icy road. In this town the people looked up to Albert Rasmussen because he was smart and decided to stay in Bounty after graduation. Albert had gathered the whole town over in his family room to have a discussion. This discussion took place “…before the cameras, before the sleep, before the outsiders, and the plan sounded as strange to us as it would to anybody” (Horrocks 104). This literally means that they didn’t have anything much technology and before they actually decided to sleep. In this short story “The Sleep” sleep is a symbol to many things such as hibernation, separation, death.
Sleep symbolizes hibernation, throughout the story hibernation is the main topic discussed by Albert and the townspeople. In terms of hibernation simply means sleeping for months at time; hibernation is common for animals but not for humans. In this story some of the townspeople of Bounty decided that they will hibernate during the winter. As the people talked more about hibernation they were concerned about the kids education “….Al shrugged. Both his kids were bright and ahead of their classes…. (Horrocks 106).” This represent how well the kids were in school and they wouldn’t miss much or be behind others. Al being the good parent that he is he “…had picked up copies of the upcoming curriculum: long division, suffixes, photosynthesis, and cursive (Horrocks 106).” Al kids didn’t mind skipping school during the winter months because he knew what they would be working on afterwards and they didn’t like fractions. In today’s society people still dislike fractions because I know I don’t like them. After the hibernation months there was a transformation of the Sanderson girl “The pudgy Sanderson girl, all bushy hair and brace, woke up with her teeth
Cited: Horrocks, Caitlin. “The Sleep.” The Best American Short Stories 2011. Ed. Geraldine Brooks Heidi Pitlor. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. 104-118. Print