The passage Chills takes place in a dark, desolate field in the dead of night during the winter time. The passage begins by describing a man and his donkey in first person

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Christine Rafie

Mr. Falcon per. 7

Chills Analysis

        The passage “Chills” takes place in a dark, desolate field in the dead of night during the winter time. The passage begins by describing a man and his donkey in first person, travelling through a series of meadows and fields and forests in the dead of night, and the author personifies the “round and pure” moon as “coming with” them, representing that through the darkness and weariness of their night travelling, the man and Platero are being watched over and protected by a higher being, and that higher being is holy and pure and shines down white light onto them in order to keep them out of harm’s way and on the right track. The passage then goes on to allude to something from the child’s story of The Wizard of Oz, by describing some “drowsy meadows”, suggesting the same implications of the poppy fields; which suggested feelings of confusion and weariness, along with the doubt of whether they are witnessing reality or simply illusions of the mind. By relating the narrator and Platero’s situation to that of Dorothy’s in the Wizard of Oz, it suggests that they are not in their normal home environments, and they are on a quest for some higher being in order to reassure themselves of their purpose in life.

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        The passage explains that someone is hiding silently as they are passing through, which also suggests the thought that they are being watched over by some unseen spirit, but in this sense, a negative one. The ellipses scattered throughout this passage simply add to the quiet and suspense that is present within the setting of the story, and suggest that time goes by slowly and quietly. The referral to a big almond tree “snowy with blossoms and moonlight” is very significant because almond trees on their own are representative of God’s promises to his people, and by expressing this specific ...

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