Clearly, there may be some importance to this type of supernatural light that sometimes appears when the characters hear a voice. Maybe it points out that something supernatural is going on here. Maybe it does not. Brown very well may insert the light in order to keep the reader guessing as to what/who the source of the voices could be. We, as readers, should keep an open mind as we finish this novel and consider all possibilities.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Light in Wieland: Pointing to the Supernatural?
Many have suggested that Carwin is the source of all these voices in Wieland and the cause for all of these disasters. I am not saying that this is not the case. It very well may be. We have already pointed out that Carwin is a ventriloquist as the title to the sequel gives away. Therefore, Carwin is very possibly the perpetrator of these voices. However, one quality of these incidents seems to suggest to me that something supernatural may be going on in this novel. The light that has appeared multiple times seems to be suggestive of something "inhuman" (198). We first encounter this mysterious light at the death of the elder Weiland as told through the eyes of Mr. Cambridge: "Within the columns he beheld what he could no better describe, than by saying that it resembled a cloud impregnated with light. It had the brightness of flame, but was without its upward motion....This appearance was astonishing" (19). We see it again when Clara witnesses the eyes of the one who spoke to her emit sparks. Finally, Theodore Wieland claims to see a supernatural light as he explains how "God" appeared to him in saying, "I opened my eyes and found all about me luminous and glowing. It was the element of heaven that flowed around" (190).
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I tend to agree with the idea that Brown brings in the mysterious "light" for motives other than to suggest that there are supernatural occurrences taking place. However, rather than to "keep the reader guessing," I feel that Brown is utilizing this image "seen" by both Clara and Wieland to suggest that the power of suggestion can lead to overactive imaginations. Granted, I have no explanation for the light that Wieland's uncle saw at the time of the father's death, but I believe that Brown creates that event in order to have something in both Clara and Wieland's life that would lead them to get carried away and imagine seeing a light when certain events take place that remind them of their father’s death. The fact that both of them most likely relate this mysterious beam with "supernatural" events explains why they tend to "see" it when they hear the voice. Ultimately, I think the light allows the author to suggest that seemingly supernatural events can be proven to be natural occurrences or figments of one's imagination.
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