Burned into Megan Giddings’ gripping tale “The Eleventh Floor Ghost,” the protagonist’s voyage through the beyond is exquisitely intertwined with the themes of memory and identity. The present analysis is a close reading of selected passages from the haunting text, and it examines the literary and cinematic techniques used by Giddings to portray the inner wrestling of the protagonist. Employing characterization, imagery, and figurative language such as metaphor, symbolism, and simile, the analysis explores how Giddings weaves a detailed portrayal of the protagonist’s struggle to make peace with her past to justify her present existence. A careful reading of the passage reveals that the story raises issues of thematic complexity and emotional connectivity in “The Eleventh Floor Ghost” while simultaneously being part of a more extensive inquiry into the existence and self-discovery of subjects in Giddings’ captivating storytelling. In “The Eleventh Floor Ghost,” Megan Giddings uses characterization, imagery, and figurative language to thematize the notion of memory and identity by illustrating the protagonist’s search for the lost memory and her identity.
Setting: The setting in this passage serves an important function, namely, to create the mood and the kind of atmosphere that dominates the scene. The bar at the Park Street Hotel doubles as the setting for ghostly interactions between the ghost from the Eleventh Floor and the other spirits. The use of the setting, a bar, in the story gives an impression of familiarity and comradeship, primarily evident in social spaces. Social spaces are places where people meet to exchange their experiences and stories. Nevertheless, despite the lively chatter in the group of ghosts, the Eleventh-Floor Ghost is in a solitary position at the bar end, making a sharp contrast that clearly shows the loneliness and detachment of this ghost from the others in the group. Such a setting aggravates the alter ego’s feeling of alienation. It provides a visual counterpart of her mental process of dealing with memory and identity in the afterlife.
Imagery: The imagery is central to showing the inner strife of the protagonist with the memories and identity. The illustration of the Solitary Eleventh Floor Ghost sitting at the bar with ghostly conversations around her is a sad depiction of her solitude. The author’s symbolic statement about the heroine’s immaterial fingers running over the wood grain stirs feelings of longing and searching for something concrete to hold onto rather than a mere fog of forgotten memories. The images are meant to drive the message of the theme of memory, where the protagonist has to deal with the fleeting bits of her past.
Characterization: Characterizing the Eleventh Floor Ghost as a spectral apparition causing the feeling of an ethereal alien will give the text its otherworldly atmosphere. Through the ghost’s conversations, we see the alienation of the girl from the group when she quietly sits in the corner of the bar, distinct from the others emotionally, although being present physically. The author presents her as a thoughtful character through the bar scene, particularly her habit of running her fingers over the wood grain, as a concrete representation of her project toward oblivion (Giddings par 11). The treatment of the ghost by this characterization shows the theme of identity as the ghost fights against her past self and the present moment.
Figurative Language: The extract is but figurative language to add the dimension of memory and identity. The symbolism in this passage is incredibly expressive and means a lot. “As she tries to recall, her fingers look like they are becoming immaterial,” which is conveyed by the line “letting them become immaterial as she attempts to remember” (Giddings par 11). The fingers signify the real-world sensuous presence of the protagonist; their change into the story of immateriality marks the protagonist’s withdrawal from reality as she sinks into memories. This metaphor provides the internal struggle of the Eleventh Floor Ghost as she tries to comprehend the elusive nature of memory. Through the presentation of her fingers as incorporeal, the metaphor thus brings out the idea of the memory as ethereal and intangible, so it is in a realm beyond the physical world. The whole thing is consistent with the main topic of the passage, which talks about the hero’s existential crisis and the journey of her attempt to restore her former self in the other world.
In addition, the personification of the protagonist’s fingers, which become intangible, highlights the amount of effort and attention to detail in remembering. It implies that memory consists not solely of passive facts but mental reenactment and reflection. The use of metaphors gives additional meaning and complexity to the portrayal of the hero’s inner conflict, allowing spectators to think about the complexities of memory and identity outside of this life.
Overall, the metaphor in this extract depicts the transformation of the protagonist’s inner world and emphasizes the book’s central theme – memory as the basis of identity. Using the evocative images and symbolic connotations in the metaphor, the author Megan Giddings reveals the character’s longing to reconcile her past with the present reality, which makes the protagonist’s narrative both touching and thought-provoking.
Simile: The simile ” letting them become immaterial as she attempts to remember” in the excerpt is noteworthy (Giddings par 11). The simile in the sentence treats the protagonist’s fingers like a material, which suggests that they lose their physical body as she digs into her memories. By likening her fingers to an immaterial thing, the simile illustrates how the protagonist feels mentally and her inner battle for the possession of the past. It suggests a disengagement and a degree of vagueness, thus underscoring the transitory character of memory and the ego in the beyond. Besides, the simile indicates that the protagonist consciously tries to recall her past, though it is challenging. In short, the simile enhances the reader’s impression of the protagonist’s inner battle and her existential strain.
Symbolism: The symbolism in this excerpt is, however, multidimensional and adds to the thematic complexity of the passage. One well-known symbol is the bar or gate within itself, a symbolic representation of the disunion between the main character and the other spirits. Unlike the other spirits, who are lively and engaged in having conversations and sharing their pasts, the Eleventh Floor Ghost is isolated at the end of the bar, signifying her aloneness and dissociation from her very own memory. Rubbing her fingers along the wood grain is her gesture, indicating the desire to reach out to her past; simultaneously, it emphasizes her obstacles. Additionally, the phrase “floppy-eared long-dead dogs” symbolizes the lapse of time and the transitoriness of memory, thus bears a sense of nostalgia and melancholy. The protagonist’s effort to recollect her past provides one of the recurrent themes of the novel, memory and remembrance, which is signified by this central theme of memory and identity in the afterlife. More importantly, symbolism enhances the reading experience and creates more profound meaning to the hero’s inner path.
In conclusion, Megan Giddings’ excerpt from The Eleventh Floor Ghost depicts a range of literary devices to successfully illustrate the main character’s problem with memory and identity in the afterlife. By way of setting, imagery, characters, and the use of figures of speech like metaphors, similes, and symbols, the excerpt creates a poignant and powerful image of the Eleventh Floor Ghost’s existential crisis and her yearning for love and acceptance despite the vibrant interactions of the other spirits. Each device acts in unity to intensify the emotional depth and multifaceted nature of the scene, eliciting responses of empathy from the readers toward the hero’s inward journey.
Work Cited
Giddings, Megan. “The Eleventh Floor Ghost.” SmokeLong Quarterly, 24 Sept. 2013, www.smokelong.com/stories/the-eleventh-floor-ghost/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2024.
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