E.B. White's Essay, The Ring of Time

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 n

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of the first paragraph. He makes a point of getting his story moving immediately by describing an environment that, for most people, is exotic and unfamiliar. But there is more to the narrative method of getting things moving. The use of the opening word, After, can be interpreted as an extraordinarily subtle way of creating a context of discussion. That word, which entails time, immediately implies activity and suspense, inviting the reader to share in the activity and resolve the suspense: After what? An event? An emotion? A discussion? In other words, the reader is drawn in at once to whatever world the writer is about to describe. And indeed, the description of what had gone on before unfolds in such a way as to create an intriguing universe of experience that compels attention. Reference is made to lions, chutes, "us" (prompting, in a subtle way, inquiry about who "us" is), a nearby doorway, and darkness. The whole effect is to establish a highly specific environment in the reader's mind that becomes the basis for discussion of highly abstract, highly elusive, and, as it turns out, rather crucial questions about the character of human experience in general and the shape and content of individual human lives in particular. Wh

Category: Literature - E