Why the protagonist remains unnamed?
The protagonist remains unnamed for two reasons. (1) The protagonist remaining unnamed creates a separation for the narrator. The narrator returns for a funeral, but he does not appear to want to interact with anyone. He then walks over to Hempstock Farm where he sees Lettie’s mom. The narrator begins remembering events that happened when he was 7. Since most of the book takes place as a memory it would make sense that the protagonist would remain unnamed because most people do not refer to themselves by their name in memories. (2) Names are power, when the antagonist in Chapter four asks the protagonist’s name, saying “Little girl, little girl who’s your friend?” Lettie warns him saying, “Don’t say nothing” (41). This makes sense because the Hempstock women are insinuated to either be ancient or to have ancient knowledge. In some ancient religions it was believed that if you knew someone’s name you had power over them. This would explain why the foe wanted to know the protagonist’s name and why Lettie told him to keep it secret.
Why the body of water that seems like a pond to an adult seems like an ocean to kids? What do you think the body of water really is?
The pond looked like an ocean when the narrator was a kid because of perception. When the narrator was a child, his physical perception made the pond seem bigger than it was. Also, Lettie said that the pond was an ocean, and the narrator’s imagination allowed him to see it from Lettie’s viewpoint. The water itself is a metaphor for time. When the narrator is seven the water looks like an ocean because he has lots of time, and chances to do things. As he ages and gets closer to death the opportunities and potential has started to cease. The man is no longer a wide-eyed dreamer, but someone that exists in reality. Therefore, he can no longer view the pond as anything more than what it is, a pond.
Why does being in the Hempstocks kitchen makes the narrator the happiest he’s ever been?
The Hempstock’s kitchen represents a safe place for the narrator. It is a place where he does not have to deal with tenants that are sleeping in his room, dead men in his father’s stolen car or his mother throwing birthday papers to which no one comes. Instead, there is good food and discussions.
Symbolism connected with the foe or the manta wolf that Lettie and the narrator see and attempt to vanquish.
I think the manta wolf and the foe represent the drive for worldly desires that consumes the life of adults.
Why is the book written from the p.o.v of an adult remembering being seven?
The significance of any of the narrator returning for a funeral.
The story seems to be about loss, the loss of the narrator’s room as a child, the loss of Lettie, the loss of his memories, and possibly the loss of some of his heart due to the hunger wolves eating it. While the loss of most of the aforementioned except for his room can be seen as being a figment of his imagination. The loss of what one can guess is a family member is significant because it occurs in reality.
References
Gaiman, Neil. The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel. New York: William Morrow, 2013. Print.
