The Thing in the Forrest
The Brie Suldo
Professor Edwards Newman
ENC1102
14 February 2013
TITLE
The Thing in the Forrest Sometimes in life when we have an experience that deeply affects us, it can change our whole perspective. The story “The Thing in the forest” is a example of how this can happen. The two main characters Penny and Primrose meet when they are children and share a horrific experience in the forest. Then by chance meet back at the scene and briefly reassure one another that what happened really did happen. But their contact ends there once again almost as if seeing each other was too uncomfortable. Then oddly enough both women end up going back to the forest looking for some kind of resolve. In “The Thing in the Forest” the two little girls encounter a terrifying creature that profoundly affects their sense of reality; this results in similar personal traits and shared sense of searching for what’s real despite that they never talk of it. When the two girls meet not much is given about their characters, however throughout the story we find that the two ladies have quite a few things in common. This is due to their experience in the forest that they shared so long ago. Some of the similarities are within their character and some are sheer coincidence. Neither woman has married probably because of their disrupted childhood when they were exiled from their families and sent to live in the “great house” by the woods until it was safe again at home (Byatt). This is when Penny and Primrose decide to go into the woods and are followed by a younger girl who is never seen again. The girls encounter a creature that smelled of “liquid putrefaction” and looked like a mixture of “rank meat and decaying vegetation” (Byatt). The wake of the creature leaves “a trail of bloody slime and dead vegetation” in which the younger girl disappears (Byatt). Then the very next day the girls are placed with temporary families. Once home again both girls fathers die in accidents. Penny’s
Professor Edwards Newman
ENC1102
14 February 2013
TITLE
The Thing in the Forrest Sometimes in life when we have an experience that deeply affects us, it can change our whole perspective. The story “The Thing in the forest” is a example of how this can happen. The two main characters Penny and Primrose meet when they are children and share a horrific experience in the forest. Then by chance meet back at the scene and briefly reassure one another that what happened really did happen. But their contact ends there once again almost as if seeing each other was too uncomfortable. Then oddly enough both women end up going back to the forest looking for some kind of resolve. In “The Thing in the Forest” the two little girls encounter a terrifying creature that profoundly affects their sense of reality; this results in similar personal traits and shared sense of searching for what’s real despite that they never talk of it. When the two girls meet not much is given about their characters, however throughout the story we find that the two ladies have quite a few things in common. This is due to their experience in the forest that they shared so long ago. Some of the similarities are within their character and some are sheer coincidence. Neither woman has married probably because of their disrupted childhood when they were exiled from their families and sent to live in the “great house” by the woods until it was safe again at home (Byatt). This is when Penny and Primrose decide to go into the woods and are followed by a younger girl who is never seen again. The girls encounter a creature that smelled of “liquid putrefaction” and looked like a mixture of “rank meat and decaying vegetation” (Byatt). The wake of the creature leaves “a trail of bloody slime and dead vegetation” in which the younger girl disappears (Byatt). Then the very next day the girls are placed with temporary families. Once home again both girls fathers die in accidents. Penny’s
Cited: Byatt, A. S. The Thing in the Forest. Printout from class.