cold skin reflection PDF

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reflection of the book cold skin...

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Reflection #1: Cold Skin There are many ways in which this fiction novel reflects our own society. The main characters are constantly dueling with their own self-inflicted emotions and expressing them throughout the story. For example, the main character, commonly referred to as “friend,” was constantly battling his will to live, against the reason for coming to the island in the first place. In the beginning, it’s clear he came for the solitude and has a desperate agenda to forget his past. Even though it is never clearly stated why either men came to the shadowy enclave, it’s discovered that Bruner’s reason to escape was due to the tragic loss of his own family. These men’s choices became about escaping their demons to a place of isolation, while possibly feeling death was too good for them. While they chose to come the island, they have as much control over their circumstances as a dog has to their owner on a long walk. They may feel a certain amount of control because they’re in the lead, but once that owner tugs on the leash, it’s back to reality. This is the same idea with “friend” and Gruner. Every night, once the Sitauca retreat, they feel in control, but every night, when they return, that sense of control is lost again. With these thoughts of temporary control, it drives the characters into a loop of insanity. They live in constant fear, whilst pretending to understand their situation, similar to our generation Z. Gruner’s actions constantly influence the actions of “friend,” since his main goal is to survive, he follows Gruner’s lead in hopes of finding an answer to the death riddle that has been thrown his way. Instead he becomes destined to take Gruner’s place, like the men before him. He follows in his footsteps of maintaining a drive to eradicate the entire species of the sea creatures, as well as developing a soft spot for one. Even though, his circumstances ultimately give him hope of breaking the cycle, by the end, sanity gets the best of him and he falls into place just as

the men before him did. He simply became a cog in the machine of human ignorance. This novel becomes more relevant when compared to reality. Being set in 1914, it can be compared to WWI, which it hints at as well. It seems that when “friend” chose solitude over chaos, to avoid the terrors of war, they only dragged themselves into a far more reaching reality than they could have realized. On the basis of my own morals, I find it difficult to admit that if I were in a similar situation, to that of the main characters, I would not at least try to fight for my own life. On the other hand, I do not foresee myself ending up like the “friend” either. Living through an insufferable nightmare, and slowly falling into the role of dictator. For one, there are too many shifting variables. One, being Bruner’s unbearable attitude, two, killing innocent and seemingly helpless creatures and three, I have a sheer lack of moral drive to participate in killing needlessly. While, yes everyone seemingly has the same first instinct, which is to kill anyone who wants to kill you, I would rather use my brain and tenacity to find a less murderous solution, similar to “friend” before Gruner’s death. Using your brain tracks better throughout history than using brute force....