DEEP HOLES

Critical Analysis:

Alice Munro, very well paints psychology of characters through her story. Even the

title of her stories contains ambiguous meanings that can be penetrated only by a

deep psychological insight. In this story she not only talks about the crevasses

that are seen through naked eyes, but also the coveted spaces related to the

psyche that cannot be explored.As Sally, the narrator itself points out in the

story,far beneath her shoes was a crater filled with rubble never to be seen, that

never had been seen , because there were no eyes to see it at its creation or

throughout the long history of its being made and filled and hidden and lost. Munro

had very intelligent set the title, revealing her knack of psychoanalyzing things.

The story depicts the disturbed familial relationships and their effect on the psyche

of a growing child.

Deep-Holes is a story about a son who grows radically and mysteriously estranged

from his family. The story begins with the journey of Kent’s family. Their vista to

Osler Bluff is planned to celebrate Alex’s achievement. It is here in the destined

place that the board indicating ‘Deep-Holes’ is seen. It symbolically predicts the

emotional as well as the generational gap that was persistent among the family

members. Kent, the protagonist in the story is the son of Alex and Sally. In the

entire story he is depicted as a person who is unable to adjust to his ambience

and life.

One of the main causes of Kent’s neurotic development is his familial atmosphere.

The protagonist in the story always aspired for his father’s attention and love. He

made an idealized image of him . He always wanted to be the star of his father’s

eye and he did everything to catch the attention of his father’s but on the contrary

Alex always showed disregard for Kent and never paid attention to his emotions and

feelings. Kent regarded him as the savior of his life whereas Alex showed showed

indifference to him. Kent always wanted to hold an important position in the eyes of

his parents

But their negligence shattered his entire life. Both Alex and Sally regarded Kent as

the trouble maker in his family. This difference between actual and idealized self

made adverse impact on his mental stability and resulted in “basic anxiety”. In

order to overcome such a situation he fled away from his family. Years went by but

he never made any contact with them. Kent turned into a beggar, lives in a far off

land. He changed his name to ‘Jonah’ and detached himself completely from the

family. He was living with poor people in their ghettos. The basic aim of Kent was to

assert his individuality and to take revenge on his family that always wanted to

maintain its mannerism and pridefulness.

He moved towards these poor people because he was getting love and affection

from them. It was this affection of which he was in dire need. His talks were focused

on them and any diversion or disturbance in that made him anxious and

aggravated.

Although he was with the family yet he was all alone. There was no one who could

understand his feelings. He was just lost in his fake self which was shadow of his

father. This selection of job can be linked to his strategy to cope with his mental

troubles. Earlier, he wanted to be like his father who was a successful man, but the

mental pressures and tension that he got from his filial relationships turned him into

an alienated being. The protagonist in the entire narrative is striving to find a

substitute for his lost self. Though he has degraded his condition but for him it is a

strategy to cope up the mental pressures he is been through and to find his real self.

Bibliography:

Pandey, Dr. Sanjay Prasad. “Beauty: Illusion or Reality.” The Achievers Journal 1.1. (2015) .pag. web <theachieversjournal.com>

By Kunal Sinha

Reg. 11407395