A Dress Of White Silk Richard Matheson Pdf To Excel
Feb 02, 2012 “Dress of White Silk” by Richard Matheson 02.02.12 Story 33/366 When Sandra Seamans posted Richard Matheson’s story “The Funeral,” it reminded me of just how good his short stories are. I found “Dress of White Silk” in a collection called Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (Horror Stories by Richard Matheson). It has an introduction by Stephen.
To me, I see it as a little girl inheriting her mother's (evil?) power. Her mother may have been a witch? The ending also seems to imply that whatever 'terrible bad' thing she did, she gained some manner of power from.
Or, it could also mean the dress contains some leftover power of her mother's that possessed her while she held it.
Btw, this story has been reprinted many times, but here are two newer editions that contain it.
*SPOILERS*
As to what's going on - well, it's ambiguous on purpose, not just for the pay-off but also to forestall questions that might arise if too many details are given. Obviously the 'little girl' is normal enough to have a friend that visits, so she's no obvious monster, but that the mother herself probably appeared somewhat monstrous at her death (buck teeth = fangs, funny hands = claws), her shroud is the 'dress of white silk' and donning it either causes the daughter to be possessed by the mother or perhaps come into her inheritance of monstrous desire and power (the story hints that it has happened before). I actually think it's pretty evocative as is, asking questions just pulls an effective but flimsy structure apart.
Why does the grandmother allow a kid to come and play with the girl? Surely she knows something is not right because she screamed 'god help us its happened.'
Stuff just flies over my head sometimes in short stories. I didn't pick up on the buck teeth (fangs) or hands (claws) as being something other than the little girl worshiping her mother and not wanting to hear anything but how beautiful SHE thought her mother was. No wonder it was so dark in the house.
How'd I ever get my English degree?
A Dress Of White Silk Richard Matheson Pdf To Excellence
'No she said she was so mad and red it has a hole in it.'
Although without punctuation, it seems to be it's saying that Mary Jane is mad and red and said, 'No, it has a hole in it.'
Tressa wrote: 'I also wonder about the hole in the 'red' dress. Maybe someone slammed a stake into it.'
The ending gives it away for me:
'She doesn't have to even give me supper. I'm not hungry anyway.
I'm full.'
The way Matherson emphasized that ending in his wording, tells me she ate Mary Jane.
'buck teeth funny hands' could be a werewolf or a vampire.
It seems obvious to me that the mother turns into a monster, and the child has inherited her tendency. For me, the big question is the role of the white dress. Here's a line that I'm puzzling the meaning of, when the daughter pretends to be the mother going out against the grandmother's wish:
'And oh stop your sobbing mother they will not catch me I have my magic dress.'
I searched through the story, and I still can't figure out how the dress is going to stop her from being captured. If she goes out and turns into a monster to claim her victims, what is the role of the dress?
It could be what you say, Shawn. Some clues that the dress has evil power:
The beginning where the girl was locked in her room:
'Because its happened she says. I guess I was bad. Only it was the dress.'
Later in the scene, she talked about her grandma:
'And she says I should burn it up but I loved her so. And she cries about the dress.'
After Mary Jane insulted her mother:
'I think the dress moved in my arms.'
'I think I heard some one call dont let her say that! I couldnt hold to the dress. And I had it on me I cant remember. Because I was grown up strong. But I was a little girl still I think I mean outside.
I think I was terrible bad then.'
My take on the dress:
1. The dress is a part of the mother, her monster, evil side. To destroy the dress is to destroy the mother. That's why the grandmother cannot destroy the dress.
2. Evil is passed on from the mother to the daughter, like the old concept, 'Sins of the father...', particularly mentioned here and there in the Bible.
I think the dress represents the evil that is within all of us and is also our inheritance.
In the Matheson's story terms, the dress transforms the mother into a supernaturally strong evil monster, so that man would have a hard time destroying her. Thus, she cannot be caught. Since that evil is an addictive part of her, she needs to don it every night to go out and commit her destruction.
I figured out the symbology of the dress of white silk while I was in the best thinking place, the shower. What dress of white silk is traditionally passed down from mother to daughter? A wedding dress! It represents an inheritance, and it represents a marriage. In this case, it is a marriage to the evil side. This is meant to be a story about innocence whose unavoidable inheritance is to be irrevocably married to the evil side upon maturity.
I figured out the symbology of the dress of white silk while I was in the best thinking place, the shower. What dress of white silk is traditionally passed down from mother to daug...'
Huh. I never thought of that at all. Interesting idea.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Nightmare At 20,000 Feet (other topics)Collected Stories, Vol. 1 (other topics)
I Am Legend and Other Stories (other topics)
Sonny Stitt in New York City on July 6, 1976 Background information Birth name Edward Hammond Boatner, Jr. Born ( 1924-02-02)February 2, 1924, U.S. Died July 22, 1982 ( 1982-07-22) (aged 58) Genres Occupation(s) Musician Instruments Saxophone Years active 1943–1982 Labels, Associated acts, Edward 'Sonny' Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner, Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American of the / idiom.
Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording more than 100 albums. He was nicknamed the 'Lone Wolf' by jazz critic, in reference to his relentless touring and devotion to jazz. Stitt was sometimes viewed as a mere mimic, especially earlier in his career, but gradually came to develop his own sound and style - particularly when performing on tenor sax. Contents • • • • • • • Early life [ ] Edward Hammond Boatner, Jr.
Was born in, and grew up in. He had a musical background: his father, was a baritone singer, composer and college music professor; his brother was a classically trained pianist; and his mother was a piano teacher.
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Feb 22, 2014 ' Autumn in New York ' Sonny Stitt Quartet from album ' Personal Appearance '.
Sonny was given up for adoption in 1924 by his father. No one seems to know why Boatner gave his son away, but the child was adopted by the Stitt family, who raised him in Saginaw. He later began calling himself 'Sonny'. While in high school in Saginaw, Stitt played in the Len Francke Band, a local popular swing band.
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In 1943, Stitt first met, and as he often later recalled, the two men found that their styles had an extraordinary similarity that was partly coincidental and not merely due to Stitt's emulation. Parker is alleged to have remarked, 'Well, I'll be damned, you sound just like me', to which Stitt responded: 'Well, I can't help the way I sound. It's the only way I know how to play.' Remarked of Stitt's approach: 'Even if there had not been a Bird, there would have been a Sonny Stitt'. Stitt had played in some bands in the early 1940s and was featured in 's big band in the early forties. He replaced Charlie Parker in 's big band in 1945 and in 1946 made the first recordings under his own name for Savoy Records, which established his bop credentials.
Stitt played alto saxophone in 's alongside future bop pioneers and beginning in 1945 when he started to play tenor saxophone more frequently, in order to avoid being referred to as a Charlie Parker imitator. Later on, he played with Gene Ammons and.
Stitt spent time at the Federal prison in, between 1948 and 1949 for selling narcotics. Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was imitating Parker's style, and he began to develop a far more distinctive sound on tenor. He played with other bop musicians and, a fellow tenor with a distinctly tough tone in comparison to Stitt, in the 1950s and recorded a number of sides for label as well as albums for, and. Stitt experimented with in the late 1950s, and the results can be heard on his recordings for Roost and Verve, on which he teamed up with and for Latin versions of such standards as '.' Stitt joined briefly in 1960, and recordings with Davis' quintet can be found only in live settings on the tour of 1960. Concerts in Manchester and Paris are available commercially and also a number of concerts (which include sets by the earlier quintet with ) on the record Live at Stockholm (), all of which featured, and. However, Miles fired Stitt due to the excessive drinking habit he had developed, and replaced him with.