Week 8: Mythic Fiction and Contemporary Urban Fantasy
How was myth reinvented within the context of the story you read for this week? In what ways were the myth made relevant to the contemporary world?
This week, I read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. The myth is reinvented in the modern contemporary world where it revolves around a nameless 7 year old (the narrator) who has to deal with supernatural creatures after a suicide of an opal miner who lived at his house. Gaiman reimagines the traditional myth by creating supernatural world within a contemporary world, and making it seem believable that these creatures can exist with regular humans. Throughout the story we see the narrator befriend Lettie (an 11 year old girl) and her family that consists of Ginnie and Gran. However, it is revealed that they have been that age for a long time, and are not actually human...this reflects the mythological characters who are immortal. The character of the flea/Ursula also originated as a worm in the narrator's foot and it created a "door" for it to come into the contemporary world. This reflects the portal into another dimension/world aspect of myths where the character either enters the mythical world or a mythical creature enters the protagonist's world and causes chaos. Ursula, begins as a "decaying carnival tent" sort of creature that arrived to try and make everyone happy, but doesn't know how to do it. After Lettie destroys the tent creature, it morphs into Ursula, which is the contemporary shape shifting mythic creature, and still tries to "make everyone happy," which includes seducing the narrator's father. Similarly in myths where the creature begins to change the mindset of characters around the protagonist or puts them under a spell, usually in a negative way. In this case, Ursula manages to seduce the father and pushes him as far as trying to drown his seven year old child in the bathtub after he disobeys him.
This week, I read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. The myth is reinvented in the modern contemporary world where it revolves around a nameless 7 year old (the narrator) who has to deal with supernatural creatures after a suicide of an opal miner who lived at his house. Gaiman reimagines the traditional myth by creating supernatural world within a contemporary world, and making it seem believable that these creatures can exist with regular humans. Throughout the story we see the narrator befriend Lettie (an 11 year old girl) and her family that consists of Ginnie and Gran. However, it is revealed that they have been that age for a long time, and are not actually human...this reflects the mythological characters who are immortal. The character of the flea/Ursula also originated as a worm in the narrator's foot and it created a "door" for it to come into the contemporary world. This reflects the portal into another dimension/world aspect of myths where the character either enters the mythical world or a mythical creature enters the protagonist's world and causes chaos. Ursula, begins as a "decaying carnival tent" sort of creature that arrived to try and make everyone happy, but doesn't know how to do it. After Lettie destroys the tent creature, it morphs into Ursula, which is the contemporary shape shifting mythic creature, and still tries to "make everyone happy," which includes seducing the narrator's father. Similarly in myths where the creature begins to change the mindset of characters around the protagonist or puts them under a spell, usually in a negative way. In this case, Ursula manages to seduce the father and pushes him as far as trying to drown his seven year old child in the bathtub after he disobeys him.
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