I believe the theme in White Rabbit by Holly Keith is how important solitude is. Even though the story is about winter hiking, she emphasizes that even though she has hiked in groups, she prefers to go alone. She also explains the different rewards from each hike such as the silence or her laughter of being alone. All of her descriptions are detailed and specific to how important each thing is for the hike alone, because it her well being depends completely on her.
Keith's language is unique because it is cut off at some segments by very short sentences such as "Except by bunnies" or "Doesn't count." This variation in sentence length is effective because it gives much more emphasis to these ideas and also shows more about the author, such as the unfrosted Pop-Tart not counting towards her rule of one mistake a hike.
Keith's language also follows the format of a list at times. When talking about her gear, she proceeds to list every single thing she brought with her and even some of the things she didn't bring. This listing tactic is effective because it also shows a lot about the author, how precise and methodical she is, and how specific she is about her hikes.
Keith also uses chiasmus such as in "Hiking along, I allow myself one mistake, other than the mistake of hiking alone" and "I who loved neither mountains nor winter loved mountains in winter."
All of the language that you found interesting, also stuck out to me as well! My favorite was the format of the lists, especially when she adds in "just in case" at the end of each sentence. By including this line throughout, it goes hand in hand with your idea that the author is precise and methodical.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed Keith's use of sentence variation. It made me feel as if I was inside of her head, instead of reading a story that she had written. When she is explaining the idea of only allowing one mistake and then later writes, "I check the time. 8:25. Not right" it is a step by step mental process. It is describing exactly what she thought when she discovered her watch was no longer working.
Your interpretation of the theme, that "White Rabbit" is a story about solitude, I believe alludes to the prevalence of self-knowledge throughout the narrative. Keith consistently stresses the importance of safety, perhaps the greatest factor being "the willingness to turnaround at any time." This reflects the need for not only self-preservation but also self-awareness in order to appreciate the beauty of the untainted wilderness.
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