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night answer

In 'Night,' Alice Munro explores the narrator's fluctuating mental states during a post-surgery recovery, set against a backdrop of isolation and vulnerability. The narrator grapples with disturbing thoughts about harming her sister, reflecting deep emotional turmoil and self-doubt, which is conveyed through vivid language and imagery. Ultimately, a conversation with her father provides a moment of relief, highlighting themes of intergenerational understanding and the complexities of the human mind.

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22 views2 pages

night answer

In 'Night,' Alice Munro explores the narrator's fluctuating mental states during a post-surgery recovery, set against a backdrop of isolation and vulnerability. The narrator grapples with disturbing thoughts about harming her sister, reflecting deep emotional turmoil and self-doubt, which is conveyed through vivid language and imagery. Ultimately, a conversation with her father provides a moment of relief, highlighting themes of intergenerational understanding and the complexities of the human mind.

Uploaded by

ayathma.adikari
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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In "Night," Alice Munro uses the narrator’s fluctuating mental states to convey a

range of emotions and psychological complexity. The story follows the narrator as
she reflects on an unsettling experience from her youth, blending past and present
thoughts with vivid detail and language to show the nuances of her inner life.

The background of the story is a time of post-surgery recovery, set during a


snowstorm, which immediately creates a sense of isolation and vulnerability. The
narrator recalls her experience as a teenager, lying awake in bed, unable to sleep,
and wrestling with disturbing thoughts about harming her younger sister, Catherine.
This sets the stage for the exploration of her shifting mental states, as the stark,
cold environment mirrors the bleakness of her thoughts. The hospital experience,
the mystery surrounding the removal of a growth, and the quiet domestic life all
contribute to the background of quiet tension and introspection.

Throughout the passage, the narrator’s thoughts and feelings range from confusion
and anxiety to fear and self-doubt. Early on, she describes herself feeling “useless”
and “strange,” hinting at a sense of disconnection from her surroundings and her
own emotions. Her inability to sleep worsens this, as she finds herself wide awake in
the middle of the night, and as the sleeplessness extends into the early hours, she
grows increasingly “disturbed.” This feeling of alienation is compounded by the fact
that she is left alone to deal with her sleeplessness, as no one else in the household
seems aware of her struggles. Her feelings of isolation and helplessness intensify
when she begins to entertain frightening thoughts about harming her sister, even
though she loves her deeply.

Munro skillfully uses language to convey the intensity of the narrator’s mental state.
At first, the narrator’s sleeplessness is described in a somewhat detached tone: “I
would have read, and got tired in the usual way, and turned out my light and
waited.” However, as her insomnia deepens, the language becomes more erratic
and fragmented, reflecting her increasing distress. She describes how her thoughts
“mocked” her, and her attempts to recite poetry or rhymes to lull herself to sleep
only serve to make her feel more absurd and out of control. This shift in language
mirrors the shift in her mental state, from mild frustration to something much
darker.

Munro’s use of internal dialogue also reveals the narrator’s deteriorating mental
state. She recalls hearing phrases like “So who do you think you are, then?” and
“Think again,” which suggest a growing internal conflict and self-doubt. These
voices in her head seem to question her sense of self and her ability to control her
own thoughts, contributing to her sense of unease. The thoughts of strangling her
sister, which come to her unbidden, are described in chilling detail: “The thought
was there and hanging in my mind. The thought that I could strangle my little sister,
who was asleep in the bunk below me.” The cold, matter-of-fact tone in which this is
presented contrasts sharply with the horror of the idea, heightening the tension and
emphasizing the narrator’s sense of helplessness.

The narrator’s inner turmoil is further emphasized through Munro’s use of imagery.
The dark, oppressive atmosphere of the night, with the house and the surrounding
landscape taking on an unfamiliar and unsettling quality, mirrors the narrator’s
descent into a state of fear and confusion. The trees around the house, described as
“intensely black,” and the familiar furniture that seems to “retreat into itself” create
a sense of the world becoming alien and hostile. This imagery reinforces the
narrator’s feeling of being trapped in her own mind, unable to escape the disturbing
thoughts that plague her.

Despite the narrator’s fear that she might act on these thoughts, Munro subtly
conveys her underlying rationality and self-awareness. The narrator understands
that her thoughts are irrational and struggles to fight them off: “The thing to do was
to get up, to get myself out of that room and out of the house.” This moment of
clarity shows that even in the midst of her distress, the narrator retains a sense of
control over her actions, even if she doubts her ability to maintain it. The contrast
between her inner turmoil and her outward actions highlights the complexity of her
mental state.

In the latter part of the story, the narrator’s conversation with her father provides a
moment of relief and resolution. Her father’s calm, matter-of-fact response to her
confession of her troubling thoughts—“People have those kinds of thoughts
sometimes”—helps to ground her and brings her back to a sense of normalcy. His
refusal to react with alarm or judgment reassures the narrator and allows her to
regain her sense of control. This interaction also highlights the theme of
intergenerational understanding and the quiet, unspoken ways in which family
members support each other.

Munro’s portrayal of the varied mental states of the narrator in "Night" is a powerful
exploration of the complexities of the human mind. Through the narrator’s thoughts,
feelings, and the evocative use of language, Munro captures the shifting nature of
fear, anxiety, and self-doubt, and the ways in which these emotions can be both
overwhelming and ultimately manageable. The story leaves readers with a sense of
both the fragility and resilience of the human psyche.

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