The purpose of this research is to examine E.B. White's essay "The Ring of Time." The plan of the research will be to set forth in general terms the theme of the essay, and then to discuss its meaning, engaging in an analysis of the pattern of ideas in the work and the means by which these ideas are elucidated.
Although White does not arrive at the theme of his essay until its closing paragraphs, this theme is time and age, or more exactly a meditation on time in general and age, or the prospect of the consequences of aging, in particular. The metaphor for time is White's reported observation of the shape of a circus ring and the content of activity going on in it, a metaphor that is established not only by the title of the piece but also by the carefully observed and, as it seems, carefully described details of backstage circus life.
The narrative strategy that White uses to engage the reader is twofold. First he takes the reader into a world, and second he elaborates details of that world in a way that sets the metaphorical stage for what will become a metaphysical insight into the human condition. While it can be argued that this insight is not particularly profound from a philosophical standpoint, it can also be argued that the insight has about it the kind of universality that stimulates the reader to contemplation of the relevance and implications of White's theme. For example, if it is the case that time and age are the thematic keys of the essay, what is implicit is nothing less than what might be conveniently referred to as intimations of mortality and more, the certainty of death. In other words, a whole range of associations can be adduced to account for why White devotes effort to making meaningful connection between the colorful environment of a circus and the fragility and (above all) temporariness of individual human experience. That this theme dominates the pattern of ideas in the essay is further amplified by the...