'"We've seen the beast with our own eyes...it was furry. There was something moving behind it's head--wings. The beast moved too. That was awful. It kind of sat up...there were eyes...teeth...claws....we ran as fast as we could...bashed into things...the beast followed us...I saw it slinking behind the trees...nearly touched me."' -Samneric, pg 108-9
Samneric are completely eaten up with fear. It consumes them when they see the 'beast', and they run back to the camp, screaming. They then recount the terrible beast, telling how it chased them, had terrible teeth, claws and wings. They over-exaggerated quite a bit because of how scared the were.
I believe that when we are scared, we 'hyperbolize' whatever events caused this fear. I know that when I get scared, or am frightened, some details become hazy when I recount the story, and some remain remarkably clear. Because I can't clearly remember something (but have a vague idea) I exaggerate the details I remember. I want the person to whom I'm telling it to be just as terrified as I was, and for them to understand.
This is exactly what Samneric did. They were scared of the beast, and they did see it, but the beast did not chase them back to the camp, nor did it have big teeth and fur. They were scared, so they wanted the others to share their fear.
Simon is most scared of people, including himself. He sees them as the worst thing there is, but his idea is quickly shot down by the others.
We all have different fears. Some people are deathly scared of spiders; others love them and will pick them. Some people can scale rock walls and dive off the twenty foot tower; others must stay on the ground because they are so scared of heights. For others, the environment being destroyed is the worst possible thing that could happen, while their neighbours may think that a full-blown war is the terror of the time. Simon is scared of people; the littluns are scared of the beastie. I am scared of being left behind (in certain situations...because of an experience I had when I was young), and I really dislike sharks. Others enjoy swimming with sharks. Just because we don't agree or share the same fear as our friends or peers doesn't mean we can totally dismiss it. It is a truthful fear; something that they are truly scared of. We have to respect that.
That's all I got for this chapter.
Cheers.
1 comment:
I agree. Usually when I'm scared, I'm afraid that when I tell people about whatever happened, they'll think it wasn't scary. So I make things seem worse than they actually were.
We all have different fears and we have to be respectful of other people's fears, even if they don't bother us. For example, I'm deathly afraid of zombies. I can't explain why-- I just am. When people act all zombie-like, it really scares me. They, of course, think I'm just kidding so they continue, when really I'm terrified! I can't say I blame them-- honestly. Zombies? Where does that come from? But it's still not very nice of them.
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