"The Dancing Dwarf"

This disturbing chapter can be broken into five equal parts, which will be explained further within this page:

1. the main character's dream

2. the elephant factory

3. the old man/ the revolution

4. the deal with the dwarf

5. the dance hall scene

The Dream

Supernatural versus reality?

Importance of dwarf in his dream?

What does it mean for dream to carry over into reality?

 The Elephant Factory

Basic Elephant Facts -

• Largest land animal
• Populations dwindling due to human intrusion and poaching
• No natural predators other than the occasional Lion
• Two recognized species of Elephants: African and Asian
• Asian Elephants have more hair on their bodies
• By flapping their ears an Elephant can cool their blood up to 10 degrees
• Asian Elephants have smaller ears because they live in colder climates

Elephant Brains -

• Largest brain of any land animal; even larger than the brain of a whale
• Capable of making music, art, using tools, experiencing grief, compassion, and self-awareness
• Most of the brain is devoted to their senses and movement coordination.
• Trunk management and sensitivity also occupies a large portion of the brain
• Elephants are actually among the worlds most dangerous animals

Elephant Reproduction -

•  Females reach sexual maturity between the ages of 9 and 12 

• Reproduction can occur until the ages of 55-60
• Females give birth at approximately 5 year intervals birthing only one calf at a time
• The gestation period is about 22 MONTHS long.  The longest of any mammal. (Lucky us).
• Elephants can live as long as 70 years

The Old Man and the Revolution

• Old Man – Could he be the dwarf? He seems to exist to give a semblance of temporal passage in the story.
•  Revolution – Parallels to the Second World War?
• The King has parallels to the emperor, having lost his power after the World War.

• The lavishness of the palace corresponds to the pre-World War II society.
•  Revolutionary guards (p. 248)

Deal with Dwarf/Dance Hall Scene

•     Significance of the forest
•     Parallels with "Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde"
•     The "Deal"
•     Rumpelstiltskin

        Again, the narrator dreams of the dwarf, fully conscious that he is within a dream. The dwarf resides within a “clearing in the forest,” (p. 255) looking tired and weary. Dream analysts associate forest imagery with the human unconscious. The forest is a popular motif for magical happenings in most fairy tales, as it is either a destination or a place to escape from. Within this context, the forest can be seen to have two distinct connotations- either the entire episode takes place in a dream, and the forest is a place for magical happenings, where we hold our willing suspension of disbelief or that the forest is the subconscious of the narrator and entering it is a form of schizophrenia. It’s easy to draw comparisons with Stevenson’s “Jekyll & Hyde.” In the original story, the upstanding, though bland Jekyll- a tall, statuesque man releases his inner “wild man” in Hyde who is described as being twisted, bestial and much smaller than the doctor. It’s also plausible to think of the forest as a place of collective unconscious- accessible by anyone- even though the dwarf only appears to the narrator. The narrator sees the dwarf as being only a few years older than him, though looking older due to stress.

            The dwarf knows about the narrator’s obsession with the girl from Stage 8, and offers him a deal. The “impossible task” or the “deal” is a popular motif within fairy tales and almost always come with difficult rules and detrimental consequences. Because the dwarf’s “deal” involves possession and voice, it is reminiscent of the tale of Rumpelstiltskin. While Rumpelstiltskin doesn’t actually take over the body of the miller’s daughter, he takes her place within the confines of the cell to complete the “impossible task” of weaving straw into gold. The dwarf’s condition is that the narrator can not speak or make a sound from the time he enters the dance hall, to the time he’s “gone all the way (p 258).”

The Dance Hall p. 259

• The look of the Dance Hall
• “it felt like a continuation of my dream. If I was using one dream to create another, where was the real me in all this?” (p. 261)

             Once the narrator enters the dance hall, the dwarf inside him begins to gain energy and becomes excited. The dance hall is somewhat anachronistic, more formal than one might expect- especially with its association to the elephant factory. The dwarf initially tells the narrator to relax and wait for the girl from Stage 8. Once she appears, the dwarf takes over the narrator’s body. The narrator thinks “it felt like a continuation of my dream. If I was using one dream to create another, where was the real me in all this?” (p. 261) It’s obvious that the narrator “captures” the heart of the girl from Stage 8, because after they are thru dancing, they make their way to the forest.

The Forest p. 262

• “slip out and make love” p. 259      
• the girl from stage 8 is “as beautiful as a dream.” (p. 262)    
• The Transformation 
• “you can win as often as you like, but you can only lose once.”

        The narrator knows that the forest near the dance hall is a popular place for dancers to “slip out and make love” p. 259, and takes the beautiful girl from stage 8 there. Again, the return to the forest is a return to the surreal world of magical realism. The narrator comments that the girl from stage 8 is “as beautiful as a dream.” (p. 262) With victory in site, the girl suddenly begins to resemble a corpse-spouting maggots and pus. This is more of a nightmare image than a dream image, and the narrator hears the dwarf laugh. He (the narrator) knows intuitively that this can’t be real. So, taking the advice from Kurosawa’s brother, he faces his fear and kisses the corpse without making a sound. Again, he is with the beautiful girl and can hear the dwarf leaving. However, before he leaves, the dwarf informs the narrator, “you can win as often as you like, but you can only lose once.”

Resolution (?)

• The narrator is hunted.
• Did the Old Man report him?
• Escapes to the forest, on the back of an elephant.

        Reports of the narrator’s dancing reaches the authorities and the narrator becomes a hunted man. He isn’t sure who reported him, but he thinks it may have been the “old man.” He is given a warning by the beautiful girl from stage 8 and escapes into the forest on the back of an elephant, crushing a few police men in the process.

Kendra Elliott, Ashley Halsey, Pat Keller, Robert Meehan, Drew Meyer 11/2007