The Complex Nature In Steiner's 'Return No More'

Steiner kept the complex nature in his story "Return No More" by making appropriate utilization of prolepsis and backstory. Prolepsis in literature is the when the writer mentions a detail at an early time in the story and it portends or foreshadows another subtle element coming towards the end of the story. Whereas, a backstory is the past story of a character and it helps makes the character more complex, unpredictable, interesting and more realistic to the readers. Throughout his story, Steiner had written several details that may seem ordinary but as a matter of fact are interesting, clever and only critical reader succeed in paying attention to. For instance, at the beginning, the writer delineates Falk's "fine, reddish hair," his "deep

The symbolized words or phrases have one literal meaning and another profound meaning that readers must figure out for themselves depending on the context. In this story, Steiner once describes a "suitcase, torn at the hinges and lashed with string." Then he further explains about the character by mentioning how "His right leg was dead to the hip." These details are accurate and conceivable, however in the meantime, they mirror Folk's miserable self and distressed mind. The pitcher or milk is also an image or symbol that can be seen in the story. Falk while talking to Mr. Terrenoire says: "It was a blue pitcher and the milk was warm." The color blue as we know usually represents the sky and the ocean, this further makes it represent profundity, strength, and depth. It likewise speaks to reliability, trust, confidence and reality. Thinking more about it warm milk is the first kind of food any human gets. Generally speaking, this pitcher symbolizes Falk's blue and warm love. After burying it, Falk guarantees himself that he is going to come back to find it at the same condition in which he has left it, unbroken, just like his unbroken love. One of the events in the story include a Jewish boy who replies when asked his age: "I am fifteen add a thousand." Realistically speaking the boy was just a day over fifteen. However, that day was equivalent to a thousand

Humans think one way yet talk another, feel one way yet expose another and that is incomprehensible complexity by itself. This habit we embrace reveals our multifaceted nature inside. At some point after Falk returns, he lies down on a rigid, stiff bench. Mrs. Terrenoire, even with all the contempt she displays towards her child's executioner, feels sorry for him. Upon seeing him she says: "That bench can't be much good for sleeping… God knows why I'm letting you spend the night here." Another point of interest is when Nicole converses with Falk and discloses to him how "Father had no love for Jean" and how her and jean both "never cared much for each other." It was very obvious that to her and to her father Jean did not matter at all. However, "Danielle howled for days. We couldn't get her to eat or take her dirty clothes off. She adored Jean." By the end of the story, Nicole demands that Falk joins her in a dance. To our surprise, she was actually just driving him to his hopeless demise. Meanwhile, Danielle tries to warn Falk's by pulling his arm and yelling in an attempt to spare him from the threat she has detected. Before any of this happened she tried to take him inside, but he replied by saying "Soon," this is a mystery in itself. Soon was his imagination of Danielle and himself inside and alone, away from all of the burdens, troubles and obstacles. This is all what he has ever wanted and asked