What Is the Significance of the Title, the Long Walk?

ENG 105/106 Fall 2013 What is the significance of the title, The Long Walk? 3-5 pages

The purpose of this assignment is to analyze the use of metaphor, as an important way of thinking and an essential skill in reading and writing. As a critical reading skill, recognizing and understanding metaphor enhances comprehension and pleasure. We learn best by comparing one with another. Personally, I’m inclined to say one by itself is meaningless. Even the blackbird whistling contains the moment after, as Wallace Stevens so delightfully reminds us. In writing, the ability to construct analogies and connect ideas enables us to share the complexity of life.

To answer this question comprehensively, consider both the literal and the metaphorical meaning of the title. The literal is obvious, but give specific textual examples of the long walk and Castner’s feelings about the walk. Do you think the literal long walk adequately represents his experience in or feelings about the war?

Metaphorically the title suggests many kinds of walks or journeys: the return home is a journey; the war itself is a journey; his crazies are a journey; and these journeys are part of a larger metaphorical representation: life is a journey. Though it’s safe to say the title represents all of these “long walks,” you need to decide which one suits your purpose.

In his essay “Analyzing Metaphor in Literature,” Gerard Steen suggests that metaphorical words are actually capable of conveying three different kinds of mental representations: words express meaning, embody an idea, and convey a message.

Consider this example. In speaking of the parable of the jar of marbles, Castner says: “Jeff and Kermit didn’t get to add any marbles” (207). This means Jeff and Kermit are dead.

The marbles also embody the idea of how to live one’s life, which, as Castner says, is a race. This, of course, is another metaphor, which, in turn, is followed by yet another metaphor: “Forget the starter’s pistol,” he says. “There’s a finisher’s pistol, and it could go off at any time” (208), meaning he does not trust fate. The marbles have already been spilled on the ground; best pick one up and admire it before it’s too late. This is an idea, an expression of how to live one’s life.

No doubt there are several messages here, but when Castner says, “make each marble worthy” (208)—yet another extension of the marble metaphor—he is clearly telling us to make each day worthy.

How might you use “the parable about the jar of marbles” (209) to express Castner’s view of life? Does the marble metaphor help the reader understand the title? Similarly, does the soft sand metaphor help the reader understand the title? Consider what Richard Nordquist says about the metaphor of life as a journey:

“When we think of life as purposeful, we think of it as having destinations and paths toward those destinations, which makes life a journey. We can speak of children as "getting off to a good start" in life and of the aged as being "at the end of the trail." We describe people as "making their way in life." People worry about whether they "are getting anywhere" with their lives, and about "giving their lives some direction." People who "know where they're going in life" are generally admired. In discussing options, one may say "I don't know which path to take." When Robert Frost says, in “The Road Not Taken”:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference we typically read him as discussing options for how to live life, and as claiming that he chose to do things differently than most other people do.”

With regard to Castner’s long walk or journey home, identify the places where he discusses or depicts his options: e.g., returning to war, counseling, running, drinking, hiding, practicing meditation and yoga. How do these efforts contribute to the long walk?

Planning and Drafting

Part I

 Introduce the memoir and summarize the story.

 State your informative thesis.

Part II  Discuss the literal meaning of the title.  Use specific references and quotes (with proper in-text citation).

Part III  Introduce your metaphorical understanding of the title. How does this metaphor help the reader understand the memoir? So what?  Provide support from the text and related sources (with proper in-text citation).  Consider diverse examples: e.g., running, counseling, drinking, yoga, etc.

Part IV  So what? What do you want your reader to think/feel/do?  Provide MLA Works Cited.