Those Devils by James DeSantis | RATING: 4/5 STARS
Description: I bury myself in the city streets, to camouflage myself from society. It's reaching out to grasp at me, catch and kill me. These “devils” want to end my existence. I will survive, that is all I'm able to do. If they do come for me, I will have no choice but to counteract. I'm not running to keep myself protected. I'm running so that they don't find out what I truly 'em.
Take a look into the short story about the survival of one man against a group of hunters in this one long, scary, city night. By the end, the twist and turns will leave you wanting more
Take a look into the short story about the survival of one man against a group of hunters in this one long, scary, city night. By the end, the twist and turns will leave you wanting more
"If you wanted to survive, you followed the survivor." -James DeSantis
This story reminded me of The Fifth Wave, by Rick Yancey. A desperate character running for his life. But instead of "Silencers", DeSantis referred to the counterpart creatures as "Devils". And I am still contemplating whether he meant it literally. There was a brief moment when I believed that both Angels and Devils existed, even Gods, in the story. And then I get to the point where I start to wonder whether all the facts laid down were meant to be symbolic. Maybe, I thought, that the Devils might mean our own selfish desires, or unpleasant obsessions. And that maybe the main character's mysterious backstory is as unknown to us as our own backstories. And in the end, we all get to ask, "Who am I?"
We do not get the name of the main character, and I think I understand why. (At least on my own point of view) His character is so mysterious, that not knowing his name is a mystery in itself. Because we don't know his roots. We don't know his back story. We do not know if he's human, a Devil, an Angel, or a God. Therefore, we don't know his name.
Maybe because it's a short story, not a novel. I don't know if it's the author's intention, to deny us of any more information. But I think it worked! I like it better that way. It left me something to ponder on. Something to think about. You do not get absorbed by the story while you read it, only when you finish it. Not I want to know more. I wonder if there's going to be more? The entire 30 pages felt like a teaser of something bigger. And I wish there's more to it than this.
I don't know if DeSantis meant for his story to be deep. But maybe because I just interpreted it that way. I love it in the context of the hidden messages it revealed to me. And I think that's how all stories are supposed to be.
1.) A person can never know the absolute truth of all things. The more you strive to know, the more you'll never know.
2.) People, like you and me, make up our own realities.
3.) A leader is what his followers make of him.
Overall, I love this short story, and the more I try to put it in the microscope, the more I appreciate it. If you're a deep thinker like me, maybe you'll agree to everything I said. If not, then there's still that mystery science-fiction, good vs. evil story you might enjoy!
Cheers,
Lilah Gran
0 Comments:
Post a Comment