Yasmin Bahat, 3.

a 28

Engelsk

07.03.2013

The Arena

We all go through different stages in life, and as we grow we move from one arena to the other. This is the natural way of life. Change is inevitable. Martin Golans short story The Arena written in 2008 deals with the different stages in life and the tragedy of losing a loved one. The theme of the story is the struggle between the past and the present, the darkness and the light, and the impossibility of moving versus the importance of doing just that. The short story portrays a father stuck between his past life and his present life. We follow the fathers fierce fight fo r letting go of his tragic past and moving on so he can live life to the fullest. His struggle is reflected in the two dimensional element of the story demonstrated with constant use of contrasts throughout the story. Throughout the story Golan uses every tiny contrast as a metaphor for the fathers internal battle, the fact that he is caught between two lives and is hindering his own possibilities in the future. The story takes place in the suburbs of New Jersey as we follow the father and his teenage son driving around town. The plot lasts approximately one hour and takes place in our modern society. The setting in the car is described positively. It is a beautiful, fresh and promising day. But this idyllic scenario slowly starts to crack as the father remembers his dead son Willie. No matter how nice the setting is the father feels very uncomfortable. His feelings are described this way in the text: My life is burdened by the weight of this dream. It has always been like this, at least for some time, a beautiful morning with a happy, healthy child, and fear gnawing at my stomach. (p. 1, ll. 31-33). This quotation illustrates the great contrast there is in the setting; a beautiful day ruined by the fathers feelings. The contrast shows the fathers struggle with his life. A struggle where he is always stuck in retrospect, never quite giving himself fully to the present. This aspect of his life is likewise portrayed here: I sense that I am seeing not only ahead but also behind, that Im glimpsing my future as well as my past. (p. 1, ll. 18-19). He is aware that he is stuck in the past and unable to separate one life from the other. This way of living, in the present as well as in the past, is strengthened by the structure of the story. The story is chronological with numerous flashbacks of the fathers old life. Little things

Yasmin Bahat, 3.a 28

Engelsk

07.03.2013

constantly make him think about the past and he is sucked back into another life and another time: Before the life I have now I had another life, with a different woman, and we also had a child, a boy named Willie. It was a good life. (p. 1, ll. 37 -38). He seems to be living two different lives at once. Physically he lives in the present, in the car with his son, but mentally he lives in the past with his dead son Willie. It is hard for him distinguish one life from the other, because he is constantly looking back. This is exemplified with this quote: As I wrench myself out of a dream it takes a moment to remember which life Im in, this one or the last. (p. 2, ll. 50-51). The structure makes it easier to understand the fathers struggle, because throughout the short story he alternates between being in the present and the past: My mind skids back. I cant help it. (p. 3, l. 86). He is aware of continually looking back, and every time he becomes so lost in his bittersweet memories that his son must force him back to reality: What in the worlds going on? My son breaks in. (p. 3, l. 94). The structure is in its own way a great contrast where Golan manages to illustrate the fathers struggle with moving on. Moreover, it shows the change the father undergoes. In the end the father chooses a life with what he himself describes his real son (p. 4, ll. 141-142). This decision is illustrated by this quotation from the ending: Its time to go home (p. 4, l. 158). His decision is strengthened by the storys structure - it makes it more powerful when he finally lets go of the past, because the structure and the flashbacks give the reader a greater understanding of the fathers victory. Furthermore, the constant flashbacks show how deeply involved the father still is with his past life, and it demonstrates how he quite easily forgets to enjoy the company of his second son sitting beside him in the car. The structure is not the only use of contrast in the story. The most essential contrast is the one between the past and the present. In order to make the distinction stronger the story is filled with small contrasts. An example is how the father defines his sons fingers as man-sized, but he also describes his demeanour like this: staring with the eagerness of a child, their nativity, their trust. (p. 2, ll. 63-64). There is a contrast in the way the father sees his son. Additionally, Golan creates contrasts by using the term arenas. The arenas are symbols of different stages in life. The contrast between the arena the father had with Willie and the arena he now lives in is likewise important. In this excerpt from the text the importance of arenas to the story is exemplified: Every time Ive gone to the arena, I enter a personal arena, a battle from the past. Early are na leave their mark. They crop up in dreams that plague our nights and leave us uneasy on rainy

Yasmin Bahat, 3.a 28

Engelsk

07.03.2013

winter afternoons. Theyre visits back to arenas we were in. they sneak up like the scream of and ambulance. Or a dream. (p. 2, ll. 65-68). The memories of the arenas of his past are a huge burden for him. He has become a prisoner of his painful past and he is the only one capable of freeing himself from the clouded state he has been living in for so long. He has yet to enjoy the life he actually has, instead of constantly looking back. He describes the Arena as being a source for all the demons of his past, but in the end it is the Arena that helps him let go. This situation in the Arena is crucial for the fathers progress: They run with the timeless grace of boys chasing balls, gestures that will continue no matter what happens to any of them (p. 4, ll. 150-151) He realises that some things are inevitable and he cannot protect his son form everything. He will always worry about his son because of what happened to Will, but as long as he lets go of the guilt and the sorrow of his past, it is okay that he will always worry and care for his son, because he understands that he must stand aside as his son enters his own arenas. In the beginning of the story Golan indicates that something will change in the fathers life: We glide through the darkness that is not real darkness but the early morning kind, darkness about to lift. The way it dissolves in my headlights feels as if I am breaking through, that I am, at long last, seeing. (p. 1, ll. 14-17). When the darkness lifts he will be able to see. The darkness symbolises the demons that haunt his past and in the end he learns how to move on. He manages to unite his past with his present, which means that he now lives in the present with valuable lessons learned and the lovely memory of his deceased son. As the father thinks to himself in the end: Previous arenas are nothing compared to this one. (p. 4, ll. 153-154). He finally understands that nothing can ever compare to living in the present. Living in this particular arena of his life is the best way of living; it is the only way of living, because he gets to spend every moment with his loving family. In the end the light shines too bright to be subdued by the darkness.