Repetition In To Blisland

“To Blisland” uses repetition, in many forms, to show the story’s overall theme of the story being a repetition of itself as the characters go through actions without much meaning or connection only to go through them again the following week. The narrator omits much information about the details of the story, such as his relation to Carol and the reason she is at this institution, to add to this idea of repetition by creating a new version of reality that fits their needs. The author’s style of repeating certain key words such light and dark, the repetition the dialogue and repetition of conflict come together to create a story that is without real conflict and fits their version of reality.

The word choice, more specifically light and dark,

They are already in a compromising situation in celebrating her eighteenth birthday at a gas station having coffee which was already established as being not the norm earlier with Marie recounting her own large party where her “mother made a large party” (154). There reality is broken when the teenagers arrive and “One of the girls went to the juke box and put money in” and they are forced to leave because of Carol condition which causes her to have a breakdown from the noise (157). The arrival of the kids forced them to come into contact with their own reality which can never coincide with the one they have fabricated. This small reminder of what the norm is supposed to be is often brought to their attention through others such as when they “could see, in the light shaft of light, a boy, two girls and a dog” (155). In this instance, they are walking on the way to their weekly picnic, which is in itself repetitive, when they are shown the norm of other having fun “the boy splashing in the water with the dog” while they are forced to go through the motions without much emotion. This depiction of the norm unsettles their reality and, even though they don’t stop trying to alter reality to shelter Carol, shows how dysfunctional their own situation is as it can be seen as a potential version of themselves without Carol’s