"The Thing in the Forest" begins like a fairy tale: "There were once two little girls who saw, or believed they saw, a thing in the forest." Do you believe what they saw was "real"? What evidence is there in the story for that reality? Are there clues to suggest that it might not be real? Does the fairy-tale quality of the first sentece influence your reading of the story?"
You can answer the above questions, or you can go to the older post "Trauma and Recovery" to answer the question there.
29 comments:
It is difficult to describe〝the thing〞is real or not real.
But I think it is not real ,that is just abstract.
It just a thing that author want to describe the wound suffered from the war.
In today’s class have to mention the traumatic experience . Maybe we are too young to realize the trauma or we are so lucky that we can’t encounter the crisis. But from the story I can imagine that pain .It is always hunt in sufferers mind. However everyone deals with problem from different way. As for me ,
I prefer to tell someone I trust ,sharing my feeling or thinking. It is important
to find way to release.
I think “the thing” is both real and unreal. The figure of “the thing” is unreal, but it exists in the minds of Penny and Primrose and the pain, horror, and trauma it brings are real. I’m not sure if this is the right way to describe it, but I think it’s just like children afraid of the dark. They think they see “something” lurking in the shadow, ready to devour them. The “something” is unreal, but it exists in their imagination and their fear is real.
When I saw the title “The Thing in the Forest”, I expected that I would be reading a fairytale about an enchanted forest with some kind of mythical creature living in it. After reading the first sentence, I was even more certain of it. I ignored the regulation gas mask, the bombs falling out of the sky, the daily danger of burning or being buried alive, and the gray army rolling in on tanks over the suburbs. When I came to the part about “the thing”, I realized I was wrong. As I read further, I found myself sighing with grief. The two girls were once all each other had, but years later, they were almost like strangers, as if there was a line drawn between them.
Life is full of unforeseen incidents. We encounter difficulties, and it isn’t easy to recover from a trauma. However, if we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
I would say "the thing" is real.
The key to this is that Alys girl.
According to the story, Alys also went into the forest afterwards and never came back.
Penny, as an adult, went into the forest again and find fragments of bones on her way. Also, she sensed some big movement at the end of the story.
I assume that those fragments belong to Alys, though there really isn't much evidence about this.
Maybe Alys was probably found and rescued by somebody else, or the fragments weren't really Alys's, but I would rather take the chance.
Some claimed that they discovered Loch Ness Monster, and some others claimed that they made contact with aliens, so why not taking the chance to believe that "the thing" really exist and ate Alys？
By the way, I don't know what Penny's decision symbolizes, but I think she's a fool for making a decision of returning to the forest once again.
She's a psychologist, which probably makes a lot of money. Why giving up future just for a creature which she wasn't even sure it's existance？
"Her nerves relaxed. Her blood slowed. She was ready."
Ready for what？To be eaten.
Joanne:
the author use lots of vocabulary to describe this "thing", on the exterior "the thing" seems to be real but in my opinion, this thing is not real. it just the deepest haze of both two girls's heart, the scare of war and something they don't want to face
In my opinion, the sentence at the beginning has already hinted “the thing” is not real. Then here comes another question, why the girls think “the thing” really exists?
The traumatic background during the Blitz is too cruel for them to realize. Penny and Primrose created “the thing” so that they can flee away from the tragic of leaving their parents, being an orphan and just reflecting their negative feelings to “the thing”. If “the thing” is real, like penny had said about “the thing in the forest are more real than we are, it would be much easier than to face those changes in their life. In other words, if the thing is real, then Penny and primrose are not real.
Such a fairy-tale sentence has also appeared again in the end of the story. “the thing” become a character in Primrose’s story.
Well....
Actually, I had seen the chinese comments of "the thing in the forest" in a blog searched from yahoo.
Because at first, I could barely understand what the author wants to deliver to us. :p
The blog's comment says that "the thing" is actually a symbol.
(Which means it's not real)
But, to me, I think...
Since the author didn't say what it meant, I prefer that the answer should be answered by the reader.
Different reader would have their own answers about what it is.
And so, the fiction becomes a glass which could help us better understand ourselves.
It's just like we are choosing to be penny or primrose, who had different reactions and point of view to the thing.
err....professor....
I also want to ask several questions...
The first is that there are some articles contained the deadlines, some are not. So...do we have to post comments on every articles or the articles which have deadlines?
The next is....
As what the course requirements said, are we really only be expected to post 10 comments?
The last question is that how do we reconize which article is for the freshmen and which is for our school brothers and sisters?
Thnak you, professor~ :p
I were be interested in this story "The thing is the forest", about "the thing" my opinion is , that is not true^^,maybe there was an animal in the forest, but the auther just wanna let the story more interesting to the kids , so auther over discribed the animal, so that is the "real or not real" question what i had answer. The auther discribed everything in detail , including the monster, and some of the detail was so depth, i dont understand some of them=.= , so i had to check dictionary all the time when i was reading. THANK~
I were be interested in this story "The thing is the forest", about "the thing" my opinion is , that is not true^^,maybe there was an animal in the forest, but the auther just wanna let the story more interesting to the kids , so auther over discribed the animal, so that is the "real or not real" question what i had answer. The auther discribed everything in detail , including the monster, and some of the detail was so depth, i dont understand some of them=.= , so i had to check dictionary all the time when i was reading. THANK~
I were be interested in the story "the thing in the forest" , My Opinion , "the thing" was not true in the world ^^, maybe there was an animal the forest , but the auther wanna to make the story to be more interesting for kids, so auther discribe in detail. Triangular and monstrous turnip is all what the auther discribed , so that is my answer for "Real or not real". maybe the two character were been in the forest before , maybe they explored was true, and maybe she is the one of them ^^, but not in WW2=.= that all my opinion~THANK
I think "the thing" is not real, cuz "the thing" is absolutely ridiculous from the angle of science. The author would like to find a "real thing" to describe how terrible, painful, and despairing the people felt in WW2. But, it's pity that there isn't "the real thing" in the world, so the author choose to symbolize "the thing," describing "the thing" with a lot of disgusting, dirty, and hideous adjectives.
The first sentence is attractive. I don't know what other people thought, but I do consider that fascinating. It makes me want to read more details. I think the thing, the monster, is an imaginary but the girls. Well, if the thing really exist, it might be awful. I mean, the two girls have been through the same trauma and bad experiences and that's their common place. And the thing itself might be a reflection of the shadow in their mind. Thus, in my opinion, two people saw that thing may be more convincing than one person saw it. I guess that's why there were two girls.
After reading the story,I think "the thing" is not real. It's a reflection of a person's fear, sadness and misfortune.It represents the person's state of mind. So Its look depends on different sawer.
The author use the same sentence in the beginning and the end of the story. I think the author meant to deepen the mystery of "the thing". What's more, it can catch the reader's eye by using such a mysterious sentence in the beginning.
At the beginning of the story, I think it is as same as a common fairytale. But I was wrong.
I think the thing in the forest is real in Penny’s and Primrose’s mind. In the real world, it was a symbolization of the pain from the war. The thing also represented their horror about future. Penny and Primrose feared for shadow of war. For example, they were separated from their family, losing their family forever. They had never known what would happen outside of their world. They had to combat with desolation and helplessness. This feeling was as same as what they came across in the forest. So I thought the thing is real in their mind, while it is just a symbol in our reality.
During the period of world war two, everybody may get shadow in his or her heart. Whenever people went to a new place, they would afraid of encounter horrible things so people live without safety in the world war two.
At the beginning of the story , I did believe “ the thing ”was real. Seeing the word of bomb, gas mask and the word commandeered I believe the story which was describing a reality world. However, when I saw the monster have a triangular face and can divide as a worm, I think it’s just two girls imagination.
The title“The thing in the forest”has fascinated me at first. I thought this story which was similar to Narnia. Nevertheless, after I read all of it, I knew the story which was describing how people feel in world war two. The author really have expended much care and thought on this story.
I wasn’t influenced by the first line of the story because when I first read the tiltle of the article, by intuition I thought that the story definitely dealt with something supernatural. I think whether the monster existed, the author wanted to describe the terror of the war and how we coped with our mental scars.
I think the main point to justify whether “the thing” actually existed was the World War II, the setting. The author used the image of the war to describe the two girls’ trauma. In the article, there were real woods next to the house where the two girls lived during the wartime. They came back when they became mature adult as they saw each other again themselves. And they saw the woods, too. If they didn’t encounter the monster, then the woods would together become an illusion. In other words, because the two girls believed in the existence of the monster, it really existed, maybe not in reality but in their memory. If the monster was not real, then, how come the two women, Penny and Primrose, made their effort to decide to face it.
In conclusion, the author suggested in the article that we should face our trauma. By passing through it, we could be able to move on to a new page and live a better live!
I think what both two little girls saw was not “real”. Because they didn’t have any contact with “the thing”, they just heard and smell some strange things. I think they were too afraid of the forest caused they had some illusion of trees or other things in the forest.
The story begins like a fairy tale but it doesn’t influence me while reading the story. I think this beginning give the reader many space to imagine about the reality of “the thing.”
It is extremely hard to say that the thing in the forest is real or not real. But I will think the thing in the forest is “not” real if I have one answer. In the war, everyone maybe feel very painful. So, why did the two little girls see the thing, just only two? Could another not see that? If it is so, it is not real. For example, when we face the obstacle in our life, will we see it in concrete shape? It is just an illusion, not a reality. Sometimes we will say a fierce monster is chasing us. That is that we are under our own illusions. It’s not real and it doesn’t appear in our daily life.
The author, I think, just used the way of the fairy tale to create the world filled with hatred and pain. We all know that it is so romantic and wonderful in the fairy tale; however the life is awful and frustrating in the reality, especially in the war. Therefore we read it in the painful atmosphere that A. S. Byatt offered. It is a technique of writing. In a word, the horrifying thing in the forest is “not” real.
In my opinion, I don’t believe they saw this “thing”.
Many people have different experience in their life and everyone is unique.
I think they have different ability to face the trauma.
I think “the thing”in the forest is not real,is a imagine.Because of the ww2,two girls have to leave their country to avoid war.By the way,they also need to say goodbye to their parents,they also need to wear gas mask.It is so cruel and brutal.Fear,scared,unknown future full of two girl's mind.It is a big shadow to them.so when they visit the dark forest,they imagine a monster.Actually,the monster is made of their uneasy mood.The write use monster which is ugly and disgusting to symbol the big war.
The beginning of the story did let me feel that some supernatural things will appear.
After I read the story, I felt it different from the fairy tales I had ever read. It is full of sadness and misfortune.
In my opinion, the “thing” isn`t real. The story is based on World War 2 and the two little girls were the victims. People tend to make friends with those who are in the same situation. The two girls were so close that they saw the same creature. The pain and stress that they confronted were the reason why they see the “thing”. Because they couldn`t run away from their sadness, they turned their fearfulness into images by their imaginations. They used a physical “thing” to explain the problem that grownups didn’t clearly mention to them.
I think each person has their own point of view, so that`s why Penny and Primrose chose different ways to deal with the problem (though they saw the same creature at the beginning).
And for Frank Lo,
It`s hard for us to realize why Penny gave up her job, cause we can`t really understand how it feels like when someone is in a tragedy like WW2. Being a psychologist doesn`t mean that she has already came through the problem. The reason why she gave up the job is definitely not connected to money.
I think it wasn’t true.
The girls were in fear, and they were in the forest they would never get into. In that situation, everyone may have imagination out of fear, not to mention the two little girls with great illusion.
According to the picture the author drew to us, its smell, sound and the materials which was combined, were all regular existence of a woods.
In my opinion, “the thing” was just used by the author to embody the trauma.
I think "the thing" is unreal. It's a symbol of fearfulness of the war. It's hard for us to understand the terrible feeling of the war because we never encounter it. But, by Penny and Primrose, I realize that terrible things really leave something in our mind and everyone has their own choice.
Just like Penny, she chose to face it. That's why she chose the same way to meet "the thing." Primrose, on the other hand, chose another way and released the fearfulness.
When I first saw the first sentence, I thought it was a normal fairytale. But, when I saw the regulation gas mask and the bombs, I then understand that it’s not the normal fairytale.
Just like many people said, to face our fearfulness and to break through it. Maybe it’s a little too high-sounding but it’s the truth that we know.
To Grace Wang:
Look, I know what Penny did doesn't have anything to do with $$.
I'm just saying it's too pitiful for her to give up future like this.
It's just my personal feeling you get it?
To Frank Lo:
sorry~ I know that`s your point of veiw and I just want to share mine too. Thought you were asking
"why"................
I believe that the thing is a real existence, which lived in the two girl’s hearts ever since they discovered it in the forest. The thing symbolized their negative emotion and the depression from reality. Both of them grew up with these shadows, but they couldn’t confront the darkness in their hearts. They would never succeed in getting rid of it unless they try to face it bravely again.
And I also think their hearts were like the forest. They were all prisoners there and got lost in it. They endured the thing they try to escape from, but also straggled to survive.
From my perspective, "the thing" is kind of real and unreal. First of all, I think "the thing" which was described as a terrible creature is symbol that convey the "historical trauma" during World War II. The horrible monster is so vividly that Penny and Primrose even can hear, smell, and see it; nevertheless, I concern that the unknown and frightful creature is an embodiment of "death"and "misery."
Although those chidren were evacuees who didn't understand the reality and the cruelty of the war, I think they actually could appreciated it. They may ask questions in their own mind. Why papa and mama did not go with them? Why parents' face were full of vexation and sadness? Without any word explaining the true world, children's heart actually were stricken by silence and the vague concept of the war.
Thus, the monster (the thing) is the two little girls' imagination to concretize the ugliness and terror of the war. I think that it's what the author wanted to convey.
However, "the thing" is some kind of reality. As I had mentioned above, the thing is an embodiment of death and ugliness; hence, it's also a true and traumatic event that people had experienced.
I think a thing in the forest is not real because the depictions about it are too many to be real. What two girls sound, smell or even see are really scaring and also awfully mysterious. When in an unkown or unfamiler place like the forest, it may make people have some kind of imagination to think what's ganna be inside that place, especially when they are in a hard time as well. Indeed, the first sentence can make me curious what on earth the two girls see in the forest so I continue to read the story.
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