Inspiration...Sadness...and whatever life takes
Thursday, April 29, 2004
How exactly did Kingshaw die?
"...he lay down slowly and put his face full into it and breathed in a long careful breath."
As classic as most teachers are, they have impressed upon their students that Kingshaw has commited suicide without any concession for them (the students) to conclude any other possibilities. Ergo, there is the typical acceptance of the information without any doubt. However, upon circumspect and cogent perusing of the final chapter, there seem to be an ambiguous condition that cannot be construed as peremptory; which is if Kingshaw really did commit suicide. There seem to be insufficient evidence to support suicide; bearing in mind there is this entire interregnum before Kingshaw's corpse was to be found and the meagre details Susan Hill has provided and hence declining to elaborate further on Kingshaw's finale. She plainly cantered into the arrival of the scouts, which means anything could have happened before then. Hence, let me prove that his death, was at best, not premeditated, or rather, the theory of suicide is quite unfounded.
A question is proposed, "Could a person croak by trying to hold his breath?"
It is an instinct to survive. A person on the verge drowning would kick hysterically and aimlessly. Even if one tries to asphyxiate another, the victim would struggle, no matter how futile. It is therefore a spontaneous reaction to start breathing again even if a nitwit decides to hold his breath just to commit suicide. A person cannot die by holding on to his breath, unless he or she suffers a stroke in the process. Simillarly if kingshaw did try to fill his lungs with excess water, he would intuitively surge into the air and cough out the water. Besides he was a swimmer of certain dexterity and was not under any form of physical duress that would keep his face under the water long enough to drown him. There require some form of palpable coercion. Strictly speaking, not even grim determination can do the trick.
Then again, there has been much speculation that Kingshaw was plausibly in an unconscious state or fluctuating between reality and a world of his own, wherein "his mind starting to come awake" indicated some form of psychosis or narcolepsy, which would explain the sheer capacity to drown himself without the aid of any corporeal factors. I must accentuate on the fact that if he is indeed in some sort of hallucination, his ability to make choices has dimminished, again contesting that his death was in any way caculated.
The final paragraphs describes vaguely Kingshaw's last moments. He "took all of his clothes off, and folded them in a pile", and trodded into the "middle of the stream", where it was the "deepest". His mind traversed into imaginging the ramifications of the futurity; "the new school and the wedding of his mother", as he took his first fatal step into the water which ended lamentably with his demise.
If Kingshaw's intention was to end his life, why would he desire to keep his raiment so neat like in Chapter 7 where he also "made a careful pile"? He probably had the mere purpose of going skinny-dipping and coming back up to land to wear it again. It is debatable that maintaining some sort of tidiness is an inherent trait in Kingshaw but after looking at the manner he pathetically tergiversates Hooper's interrogation in the earlier chapters as well as his haphazard train of thought, how neat could he be? People keep things orderly to facillitate. Though an utter wreck himself, Kingshaw folded his clothes into a pile because he had simply wished to wear it again. Furthermore, who would like to depart this world all unclad?
Now, his reasons for going skinny-dipping are kindly expounded hereafter.
The locus of natural surroundings like Hang Wood and Barnard's Forest per se is perceived by Kingshaw as a sanctuary. Pulverised and debilitated by Hooper's psychological accosts, he was tired and became quite desperate to rise from the detritus of his self-willed decreptitude, and being a fond practicioner of esacpism like the other characters in the story, he scampers into the woods again, attempting to flee the latest atrocity of Hooper which came in the form of a threathening missive, "SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN TO YOU, KINGSHAW".
He feels "overwhelmingly strong and powerful" in his haven (natural surroundings). It is suggested that he wants to be "strong" when he die thus he selected the stream as his bier and chose to be naked since it was supposedly natural.
But I beg to differ. His ostensible plan was not to escape the perverse prospects of his future by suicide but purely to find a latitude from Warrings which he considers stiffling, to liberate his bitterness and perhaps to cogitate as well as to release his tension, planning his next course of action altogether. "He said to himself, again and again this is all right, this is all right.", "suddenly excited" that that "was his place", id est, "the place where he wanted to be." It was certainly a relief after he had arrived at his favourite place and it presents a Kingshaw that is somewhat emancipated from the dread that had inundated him earlier on. Why would he want to die at the juncture he was already going to find some brief solace in the stream? And the choices Kingshaw make, they are not exactly resolute nor permenant, are they?
Consider the fact also that exist in Chapter 11, Kingshaw also had tried "to run", "to find the stream", "to conceal himself", to at least, try reliving his flustered and angsty self, though unfortunately, had him ended up being incarcerated in a shed by Hooper. I believe that this endeavour like in Chapter 11, was immaculately to alleviate himself from the accumulation of suppressed emotions for it is quite clear he seriously needed a breather, compelled by a need to feel "strong" or a need to "hide" his weakness.
His "hesitation" was reasonably of that when he realised the predicament he would be mired in when his parents and Hooper would again find him missing from Warrings- contrary to the popular notion that it was the perceptive dither that precedes suicidal people.
Ex hypothesi, his demise was of circumstances such as being electrocuted by lightning since rain was imminent then or having his head bashed against a rock like Hooper (where he "slipped") did when they were were at the place though the latter seems more convincing since both of them were rendered prostrate in the seperate misadventures.
This could also hint that Kingshaw might not have died in the end since Hooper did not die during the accident he encountered at the stream because he was found early. If Kingshaw was discovered in time, would it be possible that he might not have die? It is relatively difficult to say for sure but let us assume that he did kick the bucket so I may continue with my argument.
There is also a theory that Kingshaw was happily carressing himself in the stream when Hooper who had woken up from slumberland and had appeared subitaneously from no where to kill him. Tha would elucidate much of that when Hooper "had known (or rather, had pretended to know) at once where he would have gone."
A conundrum would be perhaps, why in the world would Kingshaw treat his lungs as a water receptacle? In the morbid circumstances of that morning, anyone could have expected something negative. The reader would be mindful that the book seemed to be thining on one side too much that most of the other pages would have been weighing on the other side, he or she would think the most macabre ending for the character. Which means, death. So they are brought to believe that he was attempting suicide. They have ommited other possibilities. Thence, when Kingshaw "breathed in a long, careful breath", it was automatic regarding it as suicide.
My opinion would be it was more of a literary suspire than anything else. Kingshaw was beyond exhaustion. Instead of submerging his head into the water to breath out water which I think of it as a tranquilising excercise, he takes it in. Why? He is ambivalent about his choice of coming to the stream. He was feeling more relaxed as compared to the Kingshaw at Warrings. At the same time, he wishes to be tense so he may be prepared to face the music afterwards. Confounded, he sighs in fashion that instead of breathing out, he breaths it (the water) in. He didn't meant for the effect to be enduring at all.
Consequently, in many instances of the novel, Kingshaw is potrayed as one who flinch at any element of death. The "predators" like the crow and Hooper, who would react violently at any trespassers, the "Death's Head Hawk Moth", the "dead rabbit" , the liveless "puppets", the prospects of Hooper dying from the fall from Lydell's Castle, the subsequent nightmares, et cetera are what Kingshaw is averse to, in which sometimes, compounded with his wild chimeria, would even petrify him. Why would the pusillanimous Kingshaw approach something like "death", something which is already awfully frightening for him?
While Hooper on the other hand, perenially egotistical and aloof, apparently had the misconception that he has driven Kingshaw to his grave. His "triumph" was, at most, deluded, unless he did really physically dispatch Kingshaw which I doubt he will since Hooper has always chose to resort to his recreant intellectual antics. This corroborates consummately that Hoooper is not only dumb, he is also proudly evil. Well, that sentence probably did not end up where I wanted it to be. Let me put it in a sensible manner; it is not possible to deny that this boy is a machiavellan instrument of the devil looking at perpetual confinement in the near future with the sign hanging outside his cell, "arrogant ass".
Finally, the "deepest" region of the stream had only "reached up to his thighs". Would a person try to commit suicide in such shoal waters? I also trust that he chose this region because of practicality. Would anyone swim in a depthless part of a stream?
Kingshaw did not commit suicide because there is not enough information to support it. It was more of a mishap that killed him ,or at least, he was not in charge of the situation at that instance. Metaphorically speaking, it was his very own imagination that murdered him (it imbued him with the disquietude that had encouraged him to go to the stream that fateful morning) since throughout the novel, it has become rather perspicacious that this boy has a deluge of vivid fantasies that has inadvertantly struck much fear in him. Altough that does not change much of the dynamics of the novel, it will be insightful that his death was not deliberate, tragic nonetheless.
cuRRent...jer
All comments on this discourse should be directed to my e-mail, jjc1988@hotmail.com, with the subject as "KOC- kingshaw the loser". No part of this essay should be reproduced or transmitted by any manner without the prior consent from me. ^^
¶ 10:55 am
"...he lay down slowly and put his face full into it and breathed in a long careful breath."
As classic as most teachers are, they have impressed upon their students that Kingshaw has commited suicide without any concession for them (the students) to conclude any other possibilities. Ergo, there is the typical acceptance of the information without any doubt. However, upon circumspect and cogent perusing of the final chapter, there seem to be an ambiguous condition that cannot be construed as peremptory; which is if Kingshaw really did commit suicide. There seem to be insufficient evidence to support suicide; bearing in mind there is this entire interregnum before Kingshaw's corpse was to be found and the meagre details Susan Hill has provided and hence declining to elaborate further on Kingshaw's finale. She plainly cantered into the arrival of the scouts, which means anything could have happened before then. Hence, let me prove that his death, was at best, not premeditated, or rather, the theory of suicide is quite unfounded.
A question is proposed, "Could a person croak by trying to hold his breath?"
It is an instinct to survive. A person on the verge drowning would kick hysterically and aimlessly. Even if one tries to asphyxiate another, the victim would struggle, no matter how futile. It is therefore a spontaneous reaction to start breathing again even if a nitwit decides to hold his breath just to commit suicide. A person cannot die by holding on to his breath, unless he or she suffers a stroke in the process. Simillarly if kingshaw did try to fill his lungs with excess water, he would intuitively surge into the air and cough out the water. Besides he was a swimmer of certain dexterity and was not under any form of physical duress that would keep his face under the water long enough to drown him. There require some form of palpable coercion. Strictly speaking, not even grim determination can do the trick.
Then again, there has been much speculation that Kingshaw was plausibly in an unconscious state or fluctuating between reality and a world of his own, wherein "his mind starting to come awake" indicated some form of psychosis or narcolepsy, which would explain the sheer capacity to drown himself without the aid of any corporeal factors. I must accentuate on the fact that if he is indeed in some sort of hallucination, his ability to make choices has dimminished, again contesting that his death was in any way caculated.
The final paragraphs describes vaguely Kingshaw's last moments. He "took all of his clothes off, and folded them in a pile", and trodded into the "middle of the stream", where it was the "deepest". His mind traversed into imaginging the ramifications of the futurity; "the new school and the wedding of his mother", as he took his first fatal step into the water which ended lamentably with his demise.
If Kingshaw's intention was to end his life, why would he desire to keep his raiment so neat like in Chapter 7 where he also "made a careful pile"? He probably had the mere purpose of going skinny-dipping and coming back up to land to wear it again. It is debatable that maintaining some sort of tidiness is an inherent trait in Kingshaw but after looking at the manner he pathetically tergiversates Hooper's interrogation in the earlier chapters as well as his haphazard train of thought, how neat could he be? People keep things orderly to facillitate. Though an utter wreck himself, Kingshaw folded his clothes into a pile because he had simply wished to wear it again. Furthermore, who would like to depart this world all unclad?
Now, his reasons for going skinny-dipping are kindly expounded hereafter.
The locus of natural surroundings like Hang Wood and Barnard's Forest per se is perceived by Kingshaw as a sanctuary. Pulverised and debilitated by Hooper's psychological accosts, he was tired and became quite desperate to rise from the detritus of his self-willed decreptitude, and being a fond practicioner of esacpism like the other characters in the story, he scampers into the woods again, attempting to flee the latest atrocity of Hooper which came in the form of a threathening missive, "SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN TO YOU, KINGSHAW".
He feels "overwhelmingly strong and powerful" in his haven (natural surroundings). It is suggested that he wants to be "strong" when he die thus he selected the stream as his bier and chose to be naked since it was supposedly natural.
But I beg to differ. His ostensible plan was not to escape the perverse prospects of his future by suicide but purely to find a latitude from Warrings which he considers stiffling, to liberate his bitterness and perhaps to cogitate as well as to release his tension, planning his next course of action altogether. "He said to himself, again and again this is all right, this is all right.", "suddenly excited" that that "was his place", id est, "the place where he wanted to be." It was certainly a relief after he had arrived at his favourite place and it presents a Kingshaw that is somewhat emancipated from the dread that had inundated him earlier on. Why would he want to die at the juncture he was already going to find some brief solace in the stream? And the choices Kingshaw make, they are not exactly resolute nor permenant, are they?
Consider the fact also that exist in Chapter 11, Kingshaw also had tried "to run", "to find the stream", "to conceal himself", to at least, try reliving his flustered and angsty self, though unfortunately, had him ended up being incarcerated in a shed by Hooper. I believe that this endeavour like in Chapter 11, was immaculately to alleviate himself from the accumulation of suppressed emotions for it is quite clear he seriously needed a breather, compelled by a need to feel "strong" or a need to "hide" his weakness.
His "hesitation" was reasonably of that when he realised the predicament he would be mired in when his parents and Hooper would again find him missing from Warrings- contrary to the popular notion that it was the perceptive dither that precedes suicidal people.
Ex hypothesi, his demise was of circumstances such as being electrocuted by lightning since rain was imminent then or having his head bashed against a rock like Hooper (where he "slipped") did when they were were at the place though the latter seems more convincing since both of them were rendered prostrate in the seperate misadventures.
This could also hint that Kingshaw might not have died in the end since Hooper did not die during the accident he encountered at the stream because he was found early. If Kingshaw was discovered in time, would it be possible that he might not have die? It is relatively difficult to say for sure but let us assume that he did kick the bucket so I may continue with my argument.
There is also a theory that Kingshaw was happily carressing himself in the stream when Hooper who had woken up from slumberland and had appeared subitaneously from no where to kill him. Tha would elucidate much of that when Hooper "had known (or rather, had pretended to know) at once where he would have gone."
A conundrum would be perhaps, why in the world would Kingshaw treat his lungs as a water receptacle? In the morbid circumstances of that morning, anyone could have expected something negative. The reader would be mindful that the book seemed to be thining on one side too much that most of the other pages would have been weighing on the other side, he or she would think the most macabre ending for the character. Which means, death. So they are brought to believe that he was attempting suicide. They have ommited other possibilities. Thence, when Kingshaw "breathed in a long, careful breath", it was automatic regarding it as suicide.
My opinion would be it was more of a literary suspire than anything else. Kingshaw was beyond exhaustion. Instead of submerging his head into the water to breath out water which I think of it as a tranquilising excercise, he takes it in. Why? He is ambivalent about his choice of coming to the stream. He was feeling more relaxed as compared to the Kingshaw at Warrings. At the same time, he wishes to be tense so he may be prepared to face the music afterwards. Confounded, he sighs in fashion that instead of breathing out, he breaths it (the water) in. He didn't meant for the effect to be enduring at all.
Consequently, in many instances of the novel, Kingshaw is potrayed as one who flinch at any element of death. The "predators" like the crow and Hooper, who would react violently at any trespassers, the "Death's Head Hawk Moth", the "dead rabbit" , the liveless "puppets", the prospects of Hooper dying from the fall from Lydell's Castle, the subsequent nightmares, et cetera are what Kingshaw is averse to, in which sometimes, compounded with his wild chimeria, would even petrify him. Why would the pusillanimous Kingshaw approach something like "death", something which is already awfully frightening for him?
While Hooper on the other hand, perenially egotistical and aloof, apparently had the misconception that he has driven Kingshaw to his grave. His "triumph" was, at most, deluded, unless he did really physically dispatch Kingshaw which I doubt he will since Hooper has always chose to resort to his recreant intellectual antics. This corroborates consummately that Hoooper is not only dumb, he is also proudly evil. Well, that sentence probably did not end up where I wanted it to be. Let me put it in a sensible manner; it is not possible to deny that this boy is a machiavellan instrument of the devil looking at perpetual confinement in the near future with the sign hanging outside his cell, "arrogant ass".
Finally, the "deepest" region of the stream had only "reached up to his thighs". Would a person try to commit suicide in such shoal waters? I also trust that he chose this region because of practicality. Would anyone swim in a depthless part of a stream?
Kingshaw did not commit suicide because there is not enough information to support it. It was more of a mishap that killed him ,or at least, he was not in charge of the situation at that instance. Metaphorically speaking, it was his very own imagination that murdered him (it imbued him with the disquietude that had encouraged him to go to the stream that fateful morning) since throughout the novel, it has become rather perspicacious that this boy has a deluge of vivid fantasies that has inadvertantly struck much fear in him. Altough that does not change much of the dynamics of the novel, it will be insightful that his death was not deliberate, tragic nonetheless.
cuRRent...jer
All comments on this discourse should be directed to my e-mail, jjc1988@hotmail.com, with the subject as "KOC- kingshaw the loser". No part of this essay should be reproduced or transmitted by any manner without the prior consent from me. ^^
¶ 10:55 am
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Railroad
I have been hearing,
I have been seeing,
in my dreams,
a persistent kinesis...
There I conceived,
"Rail in E minor" ¶ 6:48 pm
I have been hearing,
I have been seeing,
in my dreams,
a persistent kinesis...
There I conceived,
"Rail in E minor" ¶ 6:48 pm
Saturday, April 03, 2004
There
(Dedicated to my recently departed friend and neighbour whom I have known for only 5 short years)
There it was,
glittering as a body in a cradle,
howling like a boiling kettle,
blooming blindless bottomless bits,
...cracking and there it was.
So there came,
two little magpies scouring the defodils,
appalled by a single cadaver on the field,
singing softly shocking songs,
...nauseating, there came.
Petrified,
Putrefying,
pustulent.
There he gasped,
giddy with a broken head,
"it did finally hit, oh dear fate!"
Nobody could have known,
nobody could have known,
the fire within,
has flown.
Away...
cuRRent...jer
¶ 8:28 pm
(Dedicated to my recently departed friend and neighbour whom I have known for only 5 short years)
There it was,
glittering as a body in a cradle,
howling like a boiling kettle,
blooming blindless bottomless bits,
...cracking and there it was.
So there came,
two little magpies scouring the defodils,
appalled by a single cadaver on the field,
singing softly shocking songs,
...nauseating, there came.
Petrified,
Putrefying,
pustulent.
There he gasped,
giddy with a broken head,
"it did finally hit, oh dear fate!"
Nobody could have known,
nobody could have known,
the fire within,
has flown.
Away...
cuRRent...jer
¶ 8:28 pm
