Thank you, Amy. I have been rereading the beginning and end of the story and I think the first pulse builds up the contrast between the narrator (vulnerable, alone, not belonging) and Savitsky (power, strength, celebration, superiority). The end (the last pulse) is very different in terms of how it feels. The narrator falls asleep entang…
Thank you, Amy. I have been rereading the beginning and end of the story and I think the first pulse builds up the contrast between the narrator (vulnerable, alone, not belonging) and Savitsky (power, strength, celebration, superiority). The end (the last pulse) is very different in terms of how it feels. The narrator falls asleep entangled in the bodies of his comrades, he is part of them, suffering still, but not separated, and a little less vulnerable. By reading Lenin to them, he is even a little triumphant in educating them. So to come back to your question, the meaning of the first unit, in my view, is to show the vulnerability and precariousness of his situation in contrast to the mighty Savitsky.
Each pulse definitely has meaning (has a "why"). But the action within the pulse shows us how Babel reveals that meaning. The pulses are a series of dominoes. They say "This happened and because of this happening, then...." and onward to the next pulse until the end of the story.
Thank you, Amy. I have been rereading the beginning and end of the story and I think the first pulse builds up the contrast between the narrator (vulnerable, alone, not belonging) and Savitsky (power, strength, celebration, superiority). The end (the last pulse) is very different in terms of how it feels. The narrator falls asleep entangled in the bodies of his comrades, he is part of them, suffering still, but not separated, and a little less vulnerable. By reading Lenin to them, he is even a little triumphant in educating them. So to come back to your question, the meaning of the first unit, in my view, is to show the vulnerability and precariousness of his situation in contrast to the mighty Savitsky.
Each pulse definitely has meaning (has a "why"). But the action within the pulse shows us how Babel reveals that meaning. The pulses are a series of dominoes. They say "This happened and because of this happening, then...." and onward to the next pulse until the end of the story.
That's true. Thanks, Maria.