The Boarded Window

By King Meera -
Like an urban legend
forest a metaphor
Questions to ask yourself:

1) Whose narrative is it?
2) If Murlock exists, what is the sequence of action of his wife's death and the panther incident - was it a dream? Why? Why not?
3) Why a panther?
4) How does magic realism apply esp. w.r.t. the boarded window?

Notes from class discussion:
  • like an urban legend
  • forest metaphor for Murlock - difficult to understand, dark, mysterious
  • Vivid description, but narrator has never seen him:
  1. says true story but no premise
  2. rumors - that the cabin is haunted
  3. story heard by grandfather in his childhood
  4. keeps saying "should have been told," as I "should remember"
  5. no known records of wife but "willing, worthy of love" etc. - how do we know?
  • word play; we imagine details, but could be Murlock's imagination

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