Short Story Analysis - End Of Flying Carpets by Steven Millhauser.
Flying Carpets
Steven Millhauser
In his novel Flying Carpets, Steven Millhauser tells us the story of a young boy who's been offered one of these flying carpets, and thus discovers the joy, but also the dangers this new acquisition will lead him to encounter. Our analysis will mainly be based on the end of the novel, starting with the last, and also the most intense trip the boy goes on with his carpet.
Millhauser is a writer of realist fiction, that is why throughout the novel we get many accurate description of both environments and feelings. Still, his work can't just be only labeled as realistic, another dimension is often added to his texts. Interpretations are legions, and ...
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meaning of the color “blue”, and its strong relation with the very important notion of materiality. Then, we will talk about the will of the boy to come back from his trip, to end this “fall into nothingness” (as he goes higher in the sky), and the transcendental revelation his coming back will have upon him. Finally, our last part will concern the doubts the boy has to face when back to reality, and the implied will of subversion, the will of the boy to “outgrow everything” (as stated in the text), leading to an hesitation when achieved. For a better location of the quotes, the lines will be numbered starting with the one saying “blue stretched above like fields of snow”.
I/ The notion of Blue:
a) The disappearance of materiality:
As the narrator is flying towards the sky, the space surrounding him is progressively changing, finally only appearing as a vast expanse of blue stretching before him. He thus seems to be lost in this “blue beyond blue”, saying that there ...
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have the feeling of being on the carpet anymore. He rather feels himself “vanishing into blue” (line 4), as if he was no longer existing. This intermediate space makes him lose his identity. He is nowhere, he is no longer himself and nobody can see him now, not even himself, when he imagines himself on the ground. If he can no longer be seen by anyone, he doesn't exist anymore.
b) Losing his identity:
As we've seen earlier, materiality first disappears with the vanishing of the carpet, and then with the disappearance of the narrator. Along with the carpet, “he is vanishing into blue” (line 4). Here, the use of the pronoun “he” is important as it is unusual to be used in a first ...
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Short Story Analysis - End Of Flying Carpets by Steven Millhauser.. (2011, April 8). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Short-Story-Analysis-End-Flying-Carpets/97811
"Short Story Analysis - End Of Flying Carpets by Steven Millhauser.." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 8 Apr. 2011. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Short-Story-Analysis-End-Flying-Carpets/97811>
"Short Story Analysis - End Of Flying Carpets by Steven Millhauser.." Essayworld.com. April 8, 2011. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Short-Story-Analysis-End-Flying-Carpets/97811.
"Short Story Analysis - End Of Flying Carpets by Steven Millhauser.." Essayworld.com. April 8, 2011. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Short-Story-Analysis-End-Flying-Carpets/97811.
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