The Demon Lover Essay
Inner Demons
In the short story “The Demon Lover” the theme overall is that what’s inside the mind can’t be escaped. This theme is reflected in the title because her inner demons are concerning her past lover. In the story, Mrs. Drover makes a promise that haunts her and ends up driving her to paranoia.
When Mrs. Drover was younger, she became infatuated with the idea of the whole solider façade as were many other young girls during the war. She was so mesmerized by the idea that after a week of meeting one she got engaged. When the day came that her fiancé had to head off into war they said their goodbyes. While swapping final words, she asks her fiancé what shall become of her if he dies while at war in response he says to her “I shall be with you, sooner or later. You won’t forget that. You need to do nothing but wait” (Bowen 3). To me his response sounds a little threatening. When reading this story, I took it that he was kind of telling her that if he …show more content…
can’t have her no one can.
Months later her fiancé is reported missing and presumed dead. After spending a short time mourning the loss of her fiancé she goes on to marry William Drover and have children. The story describes her normal expression as one of “controlled worry” (2). I believe that this worry comes from her not knowing one hundred percent that her ex fiancé is dead and having this feeling in the back of her mind that he might find out that she didn’t keep her promise. Twenty-five years of living with this worry is just the thing that could lead a person into paranoia.
When Mrs.
Drover returns to her house for a visit, she finds a letter addressed to her. In my opinion, I think that she is imagining getting this letter from him because she in a way wants closure. After reading the letter Mrs. Drover leaves her house to get a taxi so she can run away from the situation at hand. While walking toward the taxi she describes what she sees “Across the open end of the square, two buses impassively passed each other: Women, a perambulator, cyclists, a man wheeling a barrow signalized, once again, the ordinary flow of life” (5). I think that all of these people she is seeing in the street are not actually there and that they are just a figment of her imagination. By imagining these people, I think that she is trying to escape her fear and get back to her normal life. When she gets into the cab she is in shock by who is driving the taxi and starts beating on the windows in the car. I think that her beating on the glass and trying to break free symbolizes her trying to escape her own
mind.
By this point in the story she has reached full on crazy and her paranoia has finally taken over. In the very end the story says that the taxi “made off with her into the hinterland of deserted streets” (5). I think that this represents the theme that what’s inside the mind can’t be escaped.
In the short story “The Demon Lover” the theme overall is that what’s inside the mind can’t be escaped. This theme is reflected in the title because her inner demons are concerning her past lover. In the story, Mrs. Drover makes a promise that haunts her and ends up driving her to paranoia.
When Mrs. Drover was younger, she became infatuated with the idea of the whole solider façade as were many other young girls during the war. She was so mesmerized by the idea that after a week of meeting one she got engaged. When the day came that her fiancé had to head off into war they said their goodbyes. While swapping final words, she asks her fiancé what shall become of her if he dies while at war in response he says to her “I shall be with you, sooner or later. You won’t forget that. You need to do nothing but wait” (Bowen 3). To me his response sounds a little threatening. When reading this story, I took it that he was kind of telling her that if he …show more content…
can’t have her no one can.
Months later her fiancé is reported missing and presumed dead. After spending a short time mourning the loss of her fiancé she goes on to marry William Drover and have children. The story describes her normal expression as one of “controlled worry” (2). I believe that this worry comes from her not knowing one hundred percent that her ex fiancé is dead and having this feeling in the back of her mind that he might find out that she didn’t keep her promise. Twenty-five years of living with this worry is just the thing that could lead a person into paranoia.
When Mrs.
Drover returns to her house for a visit, she finds a letter addressed to her. In my opinion, I think that she is imagining getting this letter from him because she in a way wants closure. After reading the letter Mrs. Drover leaves her house to get a taxi so she can run away from the situation at hand. While walking toward the taxi she describes what she sees “Across the open end of the square, two buses impassively passed each other: Women, a perambulator, cyclists, a man wheeling a barrow signalized, once again, the ordinary flow of life” (5). I think that all of these people she is seeing in the street are not actually there and that they are just a figment of her imagination. By imagining these people, I think that she is trying to escape her fear and get back to her normal life. When she gets into the cab she is in shock by who is driving the taxi and starts beating on the windows in the car. I think that her beating on the glass and trying to break free symbolizes her trying to escape her own
mind.
By this point in the story she has reached full on crazy and her paranoia has finally taken over. In the very end the story says that the taxi “made off with her into the hinterland of deserted streets” (5). I think that this represents the theme that what’s inside the mind can’t be escaped.