Sunday, October 5, 2008

Understanding 7C

The entire plot in the short story "7C" seems to be about existentialism from a sociopathic standpoint. The narrator, who spokes directly to the reader as if he or she is the neighbor, comes to an understanding of the end of the world. Dealing with issues about understanding why the universe is, the narrator also begins to notice that he and the people around him have certain scars that become more prominent wounds as time passes. As the story continues on, the author makes a point about how the light we see from stars is so old that by the time the light reaches our eyes, the star we were looking at has already been dead for millions of years. In the same way, the wounds begin to reveal the fate of the characters and the narrator comes to terms with this.
Trying not to die alone, after figuring out the impending doom of the world, the narrator attempts to remove his friend from the spot next to his wife. Not necessarily caring that the man has had an affair with his wife, the narrator cares more about being with someone when the time comes for everything to end. He does everything in his power to remove the man, but it doesn't seem to work. Eventually, he comes to a realization that everything is predestined and that he must "go with the flow." The author finishes the story in interesting way where we become the person who the narrator dies with. Not only does this affect the reader on a psychological level, involving them in the insanity of the plot, but it also helps the reader to get a sense of the pain inflicted on the man both physically and emotionally.

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