More than three chickens and a fox by Bill Kirton
The author's displacement activity |
"I thought you might
be interested in reading Axl’s first ‘book’.
It’s a simple tale
that touches on a variety of themes, innocence, violence, hunger, parental
devotion and, without giving away the ‘ending’, murder.
Of course as with
many of his works there is a subtext. It skilfully deals with sensitive
issues of religion and, for me, reading between the lines, its conclusion
surmises that there is no afterlife and, controversially at this time of year,
absolutely no possibility of resurrection. The author leaves one in no
doubt of his view on this final point.
It’s a real page
turner."
My son had attached the
story, formatted as a four page book. Here it is in its entirety:
When it was morning Tru, Pat and
Coter decided to go to the playground.
At the playground there was a fierce fox. He was called Plat.
The fox said to Tru, Pat and Coter,
‘do you want to eat in my house?’.
‘Yes’, they replied.
When they finished their lunch it
was getting late. The fox said ‘I will
eat you’ to them.
Tru, Coter and Pat yelled to mum
and dad. They ran home and dad killed
the fox.
HE WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN
THE END
Having rushed through this masterpiece, I, in true
self-indulgence and grabbing the excuse of a unique displacement opportunity,
started to write a quick answering email which began to grow out of all proportion into the following proof that the simplest of fictions invites interpretations and thereby brings the most complex meanings to a world empty of truth. It also confirms that academic training is the sign of a wasted youth. My email ran as follows:
A true page-turner indeed, structurally reminiscent (with
its clipped, spare sentences) of the early Hemingway or later Beckett.
I agree completely with your analysis. You mention the tale’s
‘simplicity’ and thematic layerings, which do indeed bring an edgy tension into
the narrative, but the real source of the existential anxiety which grips the
reader is the underlying metaphysical angst which you apprehended so
perceptively.
The importance and inevitability of temporality is
established in the opening phrase and the time pressure drives relentlessly onwards.
Near the end, there comes the menace implicit in ‘it was getting late’, and
then we experience the devastatingly abrupt and unquestionably terminal upper
case conclusion. Flowing through these points on the time-space continuum, the
tale develops without ever acquiring the psychological density and structure of
a conventional story. Of the enigmatic Coter, Pat and Tru (the latter so
cunningly named to hint at the tale’s underlying veracity), we know little.
Their idiosyncratic names are worthy of Beckettian archetypes and, like his
characters, their back stories are unknown and their relationships unspecified
and fluid. They are entities which can only be given substance through their
actions, and the only evidence of actions we get from them relate to hunger and
fear. It’s the most complete allegory of the human condition I’ve ever read.
Baptising the fox Plat is a masterstroke at so many levels.
At its simplest, being derived from the French word for ‘flat’, it confirms the
character’s two-dimensionality, challenges novelistic conventions and, in the
dynamic implicit between it and the name ‘Tru’, questions the whole notion of
reality. Indeed, placing a character named Tru in a fiction is a direct
challenge to our perceptions of the world. They contradict and cancel one
another to leave us with … nothing, the void.
Next, there’s the near parallel between Plat the fox and Pat, one of the other characters, the only difference being the addition of ‘l’ which, when spoken aloud, gives us ‘Hell’.
And, as a final cryptic association, if we take his void,
his zero, and add it to his name, we have Plato, whose rejection of the ‘real’
(or ‘Tru’?) world is well documented. What richness in a name of just four
letters!
The final twist is worthy of Edgar Allen Poe himself.
Having brought his protagonists to the brink of destruction, mere nutritional items
destined to be consumed by Plat (i.e. to be re-absorbed into existential ‘flatness’), they
yell to the shadowy parental figures, run home, and the ‘flatness’ is
peremptorily eliminated. At this stage, lesser writers might sign off with the escapist balm of ‘and they lived happily ever
after’. But this author has no intention of offering such a false vision. He
prefers to confirm the absolute, comprehensive victory of nothingness:
'HE WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN
THE END'
Comments
I have a feeling that your grandson may be following in your footsteps, Bill!
Perhaps your grandson is unconsciously following the ancient 'Panchatantra Tales' tradition, based on oral storytelling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchatantra
Great blog.
I might add that I often adopt the illustrated position when my writing hits a tricky bit.
Mari and Leela, I'd toyed with the idea of introducing Aesop, but not Chaucer and certainly not the Panchatantra. Thanks for extending my allusive range and for revealing the terrifying scope of my grandson's cultural awareness.
Wendy, what an admirable attempt to parody Axl's economy of expression.
Susan, I don't suppose you have pictorial evidence of your claim...
pengobatan tradisional sembuhkan tbc,