In Shirley Jackson’s “What a Thought” and Breece D’J Pancake’s “Time and Again,” the explanation of surprising and unsettling revelations about human psychology is an impulse for violence that is unexplainable and unjustifiable. Margaret and the narrator are thus the main protagonists of “What a Thought” and “Time and Again.” In any event, it is clear the internally-driven conflict is the frightening prospect of society’s harshness by the line that separates openly shown normalcy from blatant attempts at secrecy. Both the stories sustain a context of everyday objects that mutate into weapons, unveiling the infinite propensity to human madness. The immediate impulse of the narrator to unleash violence upon hitchhikers, combined with Margaret’s disturbing propensity to strike her dearly beloved husband with a glass ashtray, uncovers harrowing intimations about the mechanics of the human psyche. In these two stories, the readers are exposed to a complex mnemonic of the cultural underpinnings that facilitate the spiral into madness and killing as Margaret thinks about aggressiveness in everyday life, and the narrator never ceases winding up his scary conspiracy. Thus, whereas truths portray what is really on the outside and who is there or behind what they say, conflicting sides are used within the stories to warn man of possible hiding behind friendly facades against dreadful aspects. This is done through a hidden diabolic perspective. Thus, in some situations, it is very easy for people to hide their profound inner conflict as they perform terrible deeds, saying a disturbing thing about the complex layers of collective psychology and the possibility of hidden evil.
The characters Margaret and the unidentified narrator in Shirley Jackson’s “What a Thought” and Breece D’J Pancake’s “Time and Again” each battle with sudden, inexplicable desires to perform violent crimes, frighteningly illustrating society’s vanishing line from humanity. Margaret’s unsettling desire to strike her devoted husband with a heavy glass ashtray is especially startling because a logical reason does not support it. From this angle, the quote, “An odd thought crossed her mind: she would pick up the heavy glass ashtray and smash her husband over the head with it,” underlines the inexplicable nature of her murderous leaning immediately (Jackson). Similarly, the narrator in “Time and Again” experiences an impulse to kill hitchhikers without a clear motive. His tiredness and not intending to get the car clean serve as triggers of violence, as proved by the statement. “But I am way too tired now, and I don’t want to clean the seat.”, together with using the phrase “I grip the wrench”, he hints at anticipation of following this dark intention. Both instances highlight the chilling idea that people can be driven to insanity or even to murder if pushed far enough and speak to the darkness of the human soul and the potential for cruelty in the world (Pancake).
In Shirley Jackson’s “What a Thought” and Breece D’J Pancake’s “Time and Again,” Margaret and the unnamed narrator, respectively, place grotesque associations of normal objects with violent tools at centre stage, resulting in something of a commentary on human society’s capacity for cruelty. Margaret’s macabre meditations in “What a Thought” turn benign objects of a cord and goldfish bow, cigarette and coffee into weapons of violence consistent with the deteriorator of her sanity. The quote, “The cord which held the curtains back seemed to her: strangle him. She told herself: it’s not that I don’t love him, I just feel morbid tonight,” shows her bad imagination (Jackson). Likewise, in “Time and Again,” the use by the narrator of routine instrumentalities of farm execution and snowplough function in order to execute his misdeeds underlines the everydayness of evil. Meanwhile, the lug wrench mentioned in the quote “I heft it, put it back,” becomes a weapon, while the casual description of disposing victims by feeding them to hogs and the ominous “I work my shear up” with the snowplow further underline the character’s capacity for inhumanity (Pancake). Both stories are cautionary tales about how human beings can twist the dross of mundane existence into implements of madness and murder under proper circumstances, thus revealing the darker aspects of the psychology of society.
In Shirley Jackson’s “What a Thought” and Breece D’J Pancake’s “Time and Again,” the characters of Margaret and the unnamed narrator, respectively, struggle with murderous thoughts, thus revealing societal undercurrents of rationalization and justification for inhuman acts. Margaret’s thoughts in “What a Thought” incite intricate rationales as she tries to rationalize that the feelings of murder result from boredom, heat, or just morbidity. Her thoughts, “I’m brave enough to go through with it,” Margaret thought; what will it all matter a hundred years from now? I’ll be dead, too, by then, and who cares about the furniture?” reveals chilled rationalizing blizzarding merged notions of courage and dismissal attitude toward plenitude (Jackson). On the other side of the coin, the narrator in “Time and Again” rationalizes his murderous acts by pointing out the victims responsible for their downfall because of their foolish actions. As he says, “They are common fools. They run about in such weather and end by killing themselves,” it sets the frame to establish a moral superiority complex. Besides, his protraction on the association of killing to financial gain and callous assertion, “People die so easy,” draws a parallel with regard to his wartime experiences, depicting an inclination of warped justification that is entwined around personal gain as well as desensitization towards death (Pancake). Both tell of society’s ability to be inhumane, showing readers people who have, if only under different circumstances, elaborate rationalizations for their descents into madness and murder.
In Shirley Jackson’s “What a Thought” and Breece D’J Pancake’s “Time and Again,” it is Margaret and the unnamed narrator, respectively, whose entire disturbing juxtaposition of their outward behavior with inner dismay occurs to provide an uneasy narration on the society’s capacity for inhumanity. In “What a Thought,” Margaret, beneath her mask of normalcy, is affectionate and verbalizes love towards her husband while holding dark thoughts to be able to kill him. “I never loved you better,” she said, and he reached up without looking to pat her hair in affectionate playfulness (Jackson). The quote shows the sharp contradiction between her actions, pretense of good feelings, and sinister intentions, which she kept behind the façade. In “Time and Again,” the author draws the image of a man with his interior side well-camouflaged with a normality-friendly outburst, always lovely and always friendly. However, he keeps wicked feelings and evil crimes within himself. His happy gestures, like snow-smiling or workers-waving, seem to contradict his thoughts and act full of the threatening undertone he carries inside, which shows that society may contain evil from people even under their good masks (Pancake). Both these stories have the themes of insanity underneath and murder underlying them that reflect a scary reality that people may willingly hide their insane tendencies while behaving inhumanly when they are affected by such situations.
Conclusively, Shirley Jackson’s “What a Thought” and Breece D’J Pancake’s “Time and Again” take on tremendous audiences on shuddery psychological expedites as they capitulate with discomfiting thoughts of inhumanity in civilization. Through characters such as Margaret and the nameless narrator, the narratives implemented a disturbing side of rationality, linking commonplace items with violence, complex explanations for terrible deeds, and overt contradiction between outside appearances and internal disarray. These stories serve as a warning because they make the readers reflect on how rapidly the tender veneer of civilization that hides one’s heart can all be shed off, showing the darker side. The explanations and defenses by the characters underline the probability of the existence of societal underlying themes that can motivate an individual to cross a line of morality. In the end, Jackson and Pancake offer unsettling lessons about our fundamental potential for awfulness, implying how any individual could slip into the dark allure of insanity and bloodshed under the right conditions. These stories make us face an uncomfortable fact: more often than not, the bounds between kindness and cruelty are indistinguishable, so taking a sober look at the human condition and social constraints upon it is demanded.
Works Cited
Jackson, Shirley. “What a Thought.” Just an Ordinary Day, 1996
Pancake, Breece D’J. “Time and Again.” The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake, 1983
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