"Television" is more of a personal critique on American society than it is a story. Davis' argument of detachment from the real world is achieved through her use of short, but highly descriptive prose. Another interesting characteristic of this work is that it invites us inside the author's mind. The point of view is not from a first, second, or third reference, but from the interior of the author's minds and thoughts. In order to express her ideas, Davis uses average events to describe a society deeply entrenched in prime time.
"I think it is a television sound beyond the wall, but it's the honking of wild geese flying south in the first dark of the evening." This could, and probably does, happen to many television viewers, but the metaphorical style of the sentence implies that the sound of television drowns the sound of nature and the "real world." Our "real world", Davis implies, is inferior to this television universe. In this television universe, women are in control, life is divided into simple but major events, and happy endings are ensured. This simplicity contrasts with the author's family history of female dependence and the author's attempts to simplify her life.
The setting is clear; inside a house and in front of a television. Davis attempts to describe a vivid characterization to the television, a device traditionally associated with a lack of thought. She describes the television as "more real than my own life."She continuously refers to television people as "smart" and "fashionable". These people can do no wrong, from the author's point of view, and should be viewed respectfully. The definite and edited programs make more sense than her own life experiences, drawing concrete ideas from concrete events, all of which accumulate in the space of an hour and a half.
"Often, at the end of the day, when I am tired, my life seems to turn into a movie. I mean my real day moves into my real evening but also moves away from me enough to be strange and a movie. It has by then become so complicated, so hard to understand, that I want to watch a different movie." The author wants to watch a life-movie that will be acceptable on television, a movie that will be easy to understand. Through this statement, the author expresses her detachment from reality and her inability to revive herself from unrealistic conventions of television.
As a writer, I observed with interest the psychological nature of the author's detachment theme. Instead of dialogue, backstory, or definite structure, all of the ideas expressed by the author are accomplished through thoughts. The psychological nature of the story enables a more personal bond to the author. We are reading her rawest thoughts, and unlike television these comments are not edited.
You said, "The setting is clear; inside a house and in front of a television." And yet we have no description of the room, the house, teh couch, the TV, the people around, etc. So, really, the setting is very undefined.
ReplyDeleteThe setting is clear. The details are not what is important in the story, which is why the author left them out. What we are meant to focus on is what the narrator is feeling. If Davis added the details of the room that she was watching TV in, it would have been northing more than distracting.
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