Nonexistence for dummies
"I am."
"No, you're not."
But... aren't I? I must be. But-
...No, no, no. The things I am are but spun glass shields and broken swords- there. Fragile.
Created.
Who am I? I wonder, mind skipping and trudging and drowning all at once.
I am. I reply, repeating the words like a mantra until I almost believe them again. I must be.
...Then the 'wolves' come.
And life continues, the world spinning as it always has and will until it, too, is gone.
For my Perspectives class, I had to write a flash fiction piece that was meant to be a sort of self-portrait, and here's where I'll place the breakdown of said piece.
The piece is titled Nonexistence for dummies, which I think summarizes it quite nicely- the piece itself is a narrative about a person that is made to feel that everything they are isn't real, and as if they, themselves, don't exist- so the title shows that "hey, these are the words that you need to speak to get someone to doubt the validity of their own existence".
There are a few lines that I could delve into the deeper meaning and thought processes of, but I want to focus on line four and five.
"...No, no, no. The things I am are but spun glass shields and broken swords- there. Fragile.
Created."
The imagery here is implying that the things that the speaker is made of- their ideas, their beliefs, their morals, even- are fabricated. The things listed in the metaphor (spun glass shields, broken swords) are things that don't work very well, things that one might even say are useless, but above all of that, they're created. Made up. It's not something that happens from nature, something that happens because that's just how it is, they're something that people make. The speaker, here, is struggling with doubts that the things that make them up, are in and of themselves, made up.
Overall, the piece is about the speaker pondering whether or not they're real, or even if what they believe is true, and the ending statement is for anyone to interpret- to me, the speaker disappears into what the 'wolves' (or, the abusers, the people, the general population- fill in the blank) want and expect of them, as the word 'too' in that line implies that something else is already gone besides the earth, and in my interpretation, that thing is the speaker's sense of self.
What did you think?
Peace!
"I am."
"No, you're not."
But... aren't I? I must be. But-
...No, no, no. The things I am are but spun glass shields and broken swords- there. Fragile.
Created.
Who am I? I wonder, mind skipping and trudging and drowning all at once.
I am. I reply, repeating the words like a mantra until I almost believe them again. I must be.
...Then the 'wolves' come.
And life continues, the world spinning as it always has and will until it, too, is gone.
*
The piece is titled Nonexistence for dummies, which I think summarizes it quite nicely- the piece itself is a narrative about a person that is made to feel that everything they are isn't real, and as if they, themselves, don't exist- so the title shows that "hey, these are the words that you need to speak to get someone to doubt the validity of their own existence".
There are a few lines that I could delve into the deeper meaning and thought processes of, but I want to focus on line four and five.
"...No, no, no. The things I am are but spun glass shields and broken swords- there. Fragile.
Created."
The imagery here is implying that the things that the speaker is made of- their ideas, their beliefs, their morals, even- are fabricated. The things listed in the metaphor (spun glass shields, broken swords) are things that don't work very well, things that one might even say are useless, but above all of that, they're created. Made up. It's not something that happens from nature, something that happens because that's just how it is, they're something that people make. The speaker, here, is struggling with doubts that the things that make them up, are in and of themselves, made up.
Overall, the piece is about the speaker pondering whether or not they're real, or even if what they believe is true, and the ending statement is for anyone to interpret- to me, the speaker disappears into what the 'wolves' (or, the abusers, the people, the general population- fill in the blank) want and expect of them, as the word 'too' in that line implies that something else is already gone besides the earth, and in my interpretation, that thing is the speaker's sense of self.
What did you think?
Peace!
This is how I feel after a long day of classes.
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