8/12/2019 Mrojeck Essay

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Slawomir Mrojek

1.Mrojek, in his text, manages to convey the reader into an atemporal space,

furthermore the space itself seems at doubt in the fragment, as one submerges in a sort of

quick-sand land, where reality is not what it seems or, better said, where reality isconveyed disguised in the tricky gown of the unreal.

From the beginning, one is struck by the idea of live chess, where people work askings, queens, bishops, rooks, knights and pawns in order to earn money. hess is

deformed, the reader is given a magnifier, with the aid of which the narrator explains that

some of the figures possess a !super-natural si"e#, while pawns, for example, remain atthe si"e of an ordinary human being. $he game is merely controlled by two old men, as a

form of exercise, it does not become an obsession, a matter of live and death, as is the

case for %ujin, for example, but the idea of winning does play an important role for a

particular piece.&n addition, the pieces have to stand the state of sclerosis in which the two players

are, thus being seldom forced to remain throughout the night on the board. $he playersoften end up in general confusion , as their mental state does not permit a prolongedeffort of that kind, being the authors of chaotic moves, revealing the !lack of skills on

both sides#. Moreover, the narrator himself brings forth the low level of the game.

'hen looking at the set up, one can easily notice that it creates the profoundeffect of unreality, a kind of time and space blur. $he gangway is a sort of portal, a gate

through which one enters in an unreal realm. $he idea of the courtyard of an old palace

maintains this atmosphere. ontradictory elements surround the main character, in one

moment he regards the gangway as reflecting and magnifying the slightest sound and inthe other moment it seems to him as friendly and snug, so, in this way, this world is

gradually obtaining a shape-shifting character.

$he state in which the pieces are in is not the best one, they are poorly shod, eachpossessing a cardboard box as a costume. $he mightiness of the chess game is thus faded,

blotted. $he queen herself had !frayed trousers turn-ups and shoes with cracked uppers#.

$he irony makes it that the (ing, who should convey the whole dignity and power of thegame is shod in tennis shoes )mundane shoe-wear* and suffers intensely from old age.

$he rain, not letting up, menacing to prolong itself into the night, so cold,

enhancing the existing dampness, along with the perspective of a night spend on the

chess board soon makes the new-comer angry at the sight of the paralysed movements in

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front of him. $he rain seems as a hindrance, however, its regulate pace) a pace that could

drive a man mad*, its coldness, make the character start cheating in order to change the

faith of the game. +n the background there is also a powerful acoustic image, the singinggargoyles, in which water heavily gurgled.

. oth writers make use of the hyperbole. +n one hand, ickens uses this figure of speech to create the effect of deep

hunger felt by the children, conveyed into the hyperbolic image of the permanent quest

for the stray splashes of food. Furthermore, the general reaction is also magnified, asthe simple fact of a boy asking for another helping creates such a startle among people

who seem to be voracious eaters. $he idea that such persons cannot understand how the

boy can feel hunger after receiving what the dietary allotted him creates a humorous

effect.+n the other hand, Mrojek uses the hyperbole as to create the unreal world he

displays, the figure of speech working as a mirror for creating bigger, exaggerated and

farer from reality images.

/. $he lack 0ook is physically characteri"ed only by his boots, a sign of vicious

authority in comparison to the meager shoe-wear of the other pieces, he is the ownerof a pair of heavy boots which he uses as an arm of oppression, bringing his jingoist

nature to a paroxysm of rage when he senses that he is not the one winning the game.

&t is not love for the game that he feels, it is an obsession to win, which is the fact thatmakes nationalist views differ so much from the ones of the lack 0ook, as he has a

self 1centered view, the team matters as long as he is part of it.

2iolence is in the nature of jingoism, because one does not always have the

means to continually win, everything will eventually wax and wane, however, jingoismdoes not see this as an option, it cannot tolerate even the thought of losing. 3owever,

jingoism does not refer to wining as a means of enhancing one4s nature and personality,

as a means of flourishing our knowledge, but to winning as a meaningless thing, it ishollow, it does not have sense, like any other obsession it has been deprived of its

sense. $hus, for obtaining such a win every time, when jingoists see that their opponent

might be superior, they try to undermine all his efforts and bring him to failure. &n otherwords, dishonest means are made use of, violence rapidly occurring and lingering in the

veins of the so-called nationalists.