Folktales prove to be interesting pieces of literature to analyze and interpret, as they do not have just one, accepted meaning. Numerous, varied meanings can be derived from a single tale, and some of them may be identified by most, while others may be more exclusive and personal, depending on background, experience, and character. A tale like From Darkness proves this to be true, as the symbols in the story may mean one thing or another to different people that come across them. In this interpretation, the themes of betrayal, life paths, trials, death, fear, and compassion will be explored.
The theme of betrayal comes in the form of the woman’s father, who threw her into the sea. Betrayal can break a person, especially in this case, where a parent is a cause. This is seen in the skeleton, showing that this is what has become of the woman after experiencing the hurt of betrayal. The second theme of life paths is related to some religions or ideologies, particularly those that believe that every person has a certain purpose in the world and that ifone strays from this path, the soul can become lost. This is seen in how the woman was thrown into the sea, floating listlessly in the water. The third theme of life trials is seen in how the fisherman, despite his fears of the infamous waters, braved the sea and cast his line to catch some fish. He showed that people risk doing things they have never done before, all for the sake of survival.
Although the fourth theme of death seems to be the main one in this tale, it is instead acatalyst for something beautiful to take place. Some might say that would be consideredironic, knowing that death is a common fear, which brings about the fifth theme. A Russianproverb says that "Fear has large eyes," meaning that fear makes one exaggerate a threat.This is fitting for the fisher, who, upon seeing the skeleton for the first time, scrambled to getaway from it. Eventually, he realizes that it poses no threat to him, which gives way to the lasttheme of compassion. It is hard to say what exactly happened between the woman and thefisher, but it is at least clear that they had compassion for each other, as seen in the series ofacts of care between them. This is what led to the creation of their connection with eachother, ability to understand one another’s hardships.
To deal with these problems and find a helpful solution requires some brave morals. Theman in the tale was a good type of brave with morals. So, we would suggest everybody tryand challenge themselves. For example, when the man accepted the idea that he must livewith the dead body, and after that, the dead body came back to life by sharing his soul withher. Finally, be brave, and try to share things, it is okay to live alone but do not be lonely. Thewoman, betrayed by her father and thrown into the sea, leads a different life compared tothe fisher, who has his own share of troubles, exhaustion, and hunger aside. Despite this,they were able to show compassion for one another, forming an unbreakable bond. Thistheme of compassion emerges as the main theme of the story, demonstrating that ittranscends life, death, and everything in between.
It is amazing how from a short tale we can learn so much. It is fascinating learning aboutother cultures, especially cultures that we do not know a lot about like Innuits. We learnwhere and how do they live, and little about their characteristics. They live in very cold andharsh weather near the sea. We also learn that they live in tents and snow globs called“igloos.” About their outfits, they wear extremely warm clothes made from animal Fur. Also,their only source of food is fish. We know that because if the man had other food he wouldnot dare to fish in the hunted water. Furthermore, we got to know that they are superstitiousbecause of the tales that they believed in.
written by : Dalal , Lyra , Daria and Mohammad
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