Analyse af Compass and Torch

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In this short story, written by Elizabeth Baines, we hear about a boy and his father. They go on a camping trip to try and form a relationship, and it is this relationship there is the main theme in the short story. The son, who is the protagonist, has a desire to be united with his father and he wants to do anything for his father's care. But it is possibly to form a relationship as father and son instead of a relationship as 'the boy' and 'the man'?

The relationship between the father and the son is almost non-existing and they haven't seen each other for four months. Baines shows this already from the beginning by addressing the father as 'the man'. The use of the word 'man' signifies a lack of relationship between the son and the father, as the word 'man' resembles an outsider. She also uses the words 'bleached' and 'bruised' (e. g. page 1, line 2 and 3) and both also suggest that their relationship has been damaged.

The boy is 8 years old, and he wants to give the father a chance. His relationship with his father is almost non-existing but he still doesn't want his mother to say anything bad about him. He forgot to bring the compass, because he could hear that she was saying bad things about the father: “...known the sort of things his mother would be saying, and wanted badly to get back down there and make her stop.“ (page 3, line 97-98)

The father drinks in “..:the essence of Dadness.” (page 1, line 8-9) which is used to symbolically show how much the boy has missed having his dad around. The boy constantly tries to impress his father, and tries to live up to the manliness of this camping adventure. "The boy puts his concentration into keeping abreast." (page 4, line 151) and he “..gladly half-runs, proud to keep up.” (page 4, line 142).

In this short story Baines has used a lot of symbolic values which are very important for the understanding of the story. Already in the tittle there used two symbols: 'Compass' and 'Torch'. These two things are both metaphors for helping each other on finding the way to a good relationship. 'The compass' in this text symbolize a guide to find a better relationship. ‘The torch’ symbolize hope, because without their compasses they will be totally lost in ''the moor's' wildness. 'The torch' is also used as an aid to how the father and son want their relationship to be in the future: “A torch is for lighting when the time comes, for lighting up the expedition of father and son.' (page 2, line 51-52). But when they both forget to take the compass with them, their wishes aren’t fulfilled.The father also “...takes away the torch” (page 5, line 166) and he therefore takes away the hope on forming a relationship to his son. 'The gate' to the moor, is also a symbol. It is a barrier that they can open to find a path or road. In this case the path to a good and strong relationship, and it offers a chance to leave civilisation and discover the moor's wildness, including your own human nature.

The horse in the story is also used as symbols. It signifies a lack of love, and is perhaps looking for a person, who could give it some attention, but both father and son ignores it. The horse seems to be interested in the humans, but the humans hardly seem to react to her. This is e.g. shown in the description of the horse's peeing: "...could easily fascinate an eight-year-old boy" (page 4, line 128-129), but apparently it doesn't. The way they both treat the horse also show their involvement and engagement on having a better relationship with each other. The father doesn't take any notice of the horse, and is actually batting her away when she comes too close. This is the same way he treats the son. He doesn't participate much on building a relationship to the boy. The son also ignores the horse much of the time but in the end of the story he thinks on its needs. He wants the best for the horse, just as he wants the best for his relationship to his father and he is trying to make an effort on making it better. Although the father and son have ignored the horse throughout the story, the horse have had a deep effect upon the boy and have penetrated his subconscious "for years to come” (page 5, line 169).

So, Baines has in this short story shown us how hard it can be to form a relationship if you don't make an effort. The story also shows us that the father and the son still have the relationship as a boy and and a man in the end of the story. They doesn't form a relationship, but the expedition and the recognition that the father doesn't strain to have a better relationship to his son have had a deep effect upon the boy.