Hi! Thank you ever so much for sharing your metaphor analytics. I feel like I'm seeing YR in a completely few light after having read them.
I want to ask you (but feel no pressure to reply), if you have any thoughts on verbal foretelling based on sarcasm, fears or simply being hideous wrong. I don't even know what's it technically called. But what I mean is a lot of the stuff that August spew in at least the early episodes of S1 are foreshadowing stuff that will happen to him ("Don't use the school WiFi..., You could kill someone and...) and my personal favourite "Do we want the future king..). So my question is there are some pretty evident lines that foreshadowing events - have you seen some more subtle and systematic usage of this technique throughout S1 and S2?
Actually there is one particular line by Rosh in S1 that I think foreshadows something about Simon, that is "Where are you going?". I really love that line and the ensuing dialogue.
Hey, I really, really have to apologize for replying to your kind ask so very late. I have a huge backlog when it comes to messages and comments right now. Everyone is so lovely and kind, but I can barely keep up with it all. I have a feeling that I will have to take a bit of a tumblr break (and break from other social media platforms, as well) because I canât do both: write my analysis posts on my blog AND keep interacting on other platforms. I'll have to choose one, and that's going to the writing itself.
Anyway, I know this is no excuse for being so embarrassingly late, but I hope youâll forgive me for the delay because I do actually find it so very encouraging and motivating when people like you say nice things about my little blog project. It really helps me and keeps me focused, so thank you for letting me know you enjoy the close-reading analysis Iâm doing on the show. Iâm surprised and a bit exhilarated to find out how many people tell me theyâre seeing the whole show in a new light. Itâs all very, very much appreciated.
Yes, I totally agree with and I think you are absolutely right: Looking at throw-away lines is very important when analyzing a âtextâ (be it a novel, play, TV show, film, etc.). When a writer sits down to write a screenplay, they obviously donât just come up with funny lines (or sarcastic or angry lines, for that matter) to fill the page. Usually, they will try to make sure the line in question is connected to the deeper theme of their âtextâ. Everything in their âtextâ has to fulfil a purpose, i.e. either drive the plot forward or be plugged in into the broader network of metaphorical subtext.
One of the things we have to keep in mind, though, is the fact that not every line in a âtextâ is necessarily a metaphorical line. There are lines that are just plain text, so to speak.
In essence, you end up with two types of throw-away lines:
1) Lines on the literal level (the textual layer=plot) that have ONE meaning (even if, at that point in the story, that meaning is still obscure to us, i.e. if the line serves the purpose of foreshadowing future events).
2) Lines that operate on both the literal level (textual layer) AND a subtextual level (metaphorical layer underneath) and thus have TWO different (sometimes divergent) meanings; they can even have three different meanings, when the meta-level is involved.
Let me give you an example: Augustâs line in s1 during the initiation party that you mentioned in your ask about being able to âmurder somebody here without it ever coming outâ (Iâm paraphrasing). That line is most likely a case of type 1. from our list above, i.e. it operates on the literal level of the script even if we assume it foreshadows some future revelation that we don't yet know anything about. Itâs not a line thatâs plugged into a metaphor. Itâs not metaphorical subtext; itâs text.
If August were to proceed to murder (or try to murder) someone later on. Or alternatively get killed himself. Or if we were find out that somebody else was murdered and it was covered it up, then that would give us a resolution, explain to us why the line was said in the first place and what surprising revelation exactly it was foreshadowing.
This line is however (most likely) not a metaphor. In a metaphor something else represents the concept youâre trying to allude to. Just to give you an example: When Wilhelm in episode two of season one tells Simon in the boat to âkeep the strokes close to the surface of the water, so as not to expend too much energyâ, this is clearly a metaphorical line (type 2. from our list above) because it clearly has two meanings: the literal one (rowing advice) and the metaphorical one (rather dumb and conservative relationship advice). And we instantly see that itâs a metaphor because one thing (rowing) represents another thing (feelings/relationships), one concept stands in for another one.
This is most likely not the case with the âmurder someoneâ line: Here one thing (murdering someone) literally means that same thing (murdering someone). Itâs (most likely) not a metaphor; itâs not metaphorical subtext; itâs just text â even if the meaning of the text is currently obscure to us because the show isnât yet finished.
Why am I telling you all of this (youâre probably bored just reading it because you know all of this already :D)âŚ
Because what Iâm mainly concentrating on in my metaphor posts on my substack blog is the metaphorical subtext, i.e. the metaphorical lines, the type 2. lines, so to speak. I sometimes use plain textual lines (type 1 lines) as evidence when I think they are somehow connected to a broader point Iâm trying to make or reinforce an argument Iâm making, but I donât really discuss them in and of themselves.
Mainly because, with a line that still hasnât revealed its meaning to us because itâs obscure at this point in the story, I just donât really know what to do with it. We can speculate what it means (which is always interesting, of course), but ultimately we donât know. Itâs fun. But if itâs not connected to the metaphorical subtext, I will probably not write about it in and of itself.
Now, as for the Roshâs line that you mentioned (and thank you again for reminding me, my brain is like a sieve sometimes), that one arguably straddles the boundary between text and subtext, between type 1 line and type 2 line: Rosh, Ayub and Simon are pretty much talking figuratively already at that point, i.e. when Rosh says, âWhere are you going?â she isn't asking whether Simon is literally leaving the room, this is meant figuratively (âwhere are you going in life?â). It clearly foreshadows Simonâs path thatâll lead him away from Bjärstad not just as a place, but away from the narrow confines of his working class upbringing. So far the line is not a metaphor yet (there isnât one concept that stands in for another one like, say, âwaterâ for feelings, or a âsuitcaseâ for a burdensome role, or âmusicâ for love, or the âearâ for the heart, etc.). But itâs definitely meant to be understood figuratively. So far it has had only a tragic meaning (Simon only âwent viralâ in the context of a crime that was committed against his privacy), but when it comes to leaving Bjärstad and the confines of his working class upbringing behind, I could very well see this at some point mean something along the lines of: going to university or study music at a conservatory - something often frowned upon in a milieu with a working-class background (the age-old, âWhat do you need that highfalutin' stuff for? Learn a trade like everyone else in the family!â). I still have a tiny hope that, âWhere are you going?â might mean the famous Verbier Music Festival. If Simon gets at least an invitation in the mail and thatâs the third time Verbier is mentioned (in a much more positive light than before), I would be over the moon.
Ultimately, itâs again a line that can foreshadow a lot of things, but itâs (probably) not meant to be understood entirely metaphorically, which is also why I most likely wonât discuss it on the blog itself where Iâll try to stick strictly to the metaphors.Does that make any sense?
I feel Iâve written too much, but I hope that makes up at least a little bit for the long delay.
Thank you again for your kind words, and youâre always welcome to read more on the blog. Even if I take a tumblr break, I will keep posting a new article every week (usually on the weekend).
