The Book of Sand: Regrets and Effects
Posted: 08 Jun 2010, 16:47
Have you ever given up something that you regret? What ends up happening when something like that occurs? In “The Book of Sand” the protagonist has an experience like that. “The Book of Sand” is about a man who buys an infinite book, for a high price, and he gives up his time, friends, and other things because of the book. It consumes him in its captivating pages and once he realizes what it has done to him, he gets rid of it. Through irony, conflict, character, and magic realism this story shows us that if we give up something we need to make sure it’s worth it.
First is irony, the protagonist in the story gave up something really valuable for something that turned out to destroy him. The magic book that he thought was so amazing and intriguing at the beginning of the story actually made him lose his friends, and virtually all the precious things he had in his life. The type of irony I believe this demonstrates is situational: Something happens that he thinks would be good but it turns out the opposite. The first example is from page 46, “I’ll offer you the amount of my pension check, which I’ve just collected, and my black-letter Wycliffe Bible.” This is a huge offer from the protagonist, he is giving up something extremely valuable. And the moment he realizes the mistake he made is on page 47, “And I realized that the book was monstrous.” As you can see this part of the story represents that you shouldn’t give up valuable things for those with less value through situational irony.
Next is the conflict of the story, this relates to the theme through what he wants, then his curiosity and need to figure it out. Also he goes through the story coping with the regret he took upon himself unknowingly. The first conflict is when he simply wants the book and the second is after he gets it he must figure it out. First he says on page 46, “I propose a swap.” He knew the Scandinavian man wanted to sell it, and he very much wanted it. While trying to figure it out it says, “Page by page, in vain, I looked for the illustration.” This is found on page 45. This quote shows how much he wanted this book, and how captivated he was by even a single illustration. This connects to the theme of the story, if you give something up; make sure it’s worth it, because through these conflicts he found out what a terrible mistake he made by proposing the swap for the infinite book.
After conflict is character; in this story there are two: the protagonist, whose name is not mentioned, as well as the salesman who sells the protagonist the book of sand. The character determines the theme because he is the one who gives up all of what is valuable to him for this book. First of the two characters will be the protagonist; through his thoughts you can see that after acquiring the book he was fearful of it being taken away. On page 47 it states, “it was added to the fear of having it stolen.” He had become so consumed by the book that he was afraid of being separated from it. Also through his actions he shows how inquisitive he is, “Page by page in vain, I looked for the illustration of the anchor.” This quote is found on page 45. The protagonist wants to figure it out, and he looked “in vain” for symbols throughout the infinite book. He was obsessed with the book and is starting to regret paying such a high price for something he is now understanding to consume him. Next, the salesman is described by the protagonist as tall, blonde, dressed in gray and by his speech he declares that he is not an ordinary salesman, but he sells bibles. Page 44, “I sell Bibles” although this may be quite unusual it does not seem in the story that the protagonist cares or is very interested. This affects the conflict as well as giving part of the idea for the theme since the characters were the ones giving up the items of value. If the salesman wasn’t there to convince the protagonist to take the book, there would clearly be no conflict. Also, the characters are the ones who are there making things happen, giving up the Bible, being consumed by the Book of Sand, and all of the other events throughout the story. Therefore you can see that characters contribute to the conflict and theme.
Finally, this story includes a bit of magic realism which provides the conflict in the story. The book of sand of course is the little thing that is out of the ordinary, different, magic, it is infinite. If the book wasn’t magic there would have been no captivation or intrigue on the protagonists part that would influence him to give up such value for this book that he didn’t understand. On page 45 the salesman is trying to explain it a little to the protagonist of the story. He says, “It can’t be, but it is. The number of pages in this book is no more of less than infinite.” Of course this is unbelievable, but as the bible seller says, it just is. The magic realism in the story is necessary for the conflict of the story. It may not exactly make sense, a magic book, but it makes the story what it is. The book provides the need for the man to buy the book which then causes him to feel the repercussions.
As you can see, the theme of “The Book of Sand” is if you give up something of value make sure what you get in return is worth it. Irony shows that what he thought was good turned out to be the opposite. The conflict helps discover the theme with how badly he thinks he needs the book and how he must figure it out. The main character is inquisitive and too curious for his own good, it causes some things that he most definitely regrets. Then the magic realism in the story gives the conflict and causes all the main things in the story to happen; like the protagonist going insane. With that, what can you take from the story to ensure that you won’t make more decisions in the future you may regret?
First is irony, the protagonist in the story gave up something really valuable for something that turned out to destroy him. The magic book that he thought was so amazing and intriguing at the beginning of the story actually made him lose his friends, and virtually all the precious things he had in his life. The type of irony I believe this demonstrates is situational: Something happens that he thinks would be good but it turns out the opposite. The first example is from page 46, “I’ll offer you the amount of my pension check, which I’ve just collected, and my black-letter Wycliffe Bible.” This is a huge offer from the protagonist, he is giving up something extremely valuable. And the moment he realizes the mistake he made is on page 47, “And I realized that the book was monstrous.” As you can see this part of the story represents that you shouldn’t give up valuable things for those with less value through situational irony.
Next is the conflict of the story, this relates to the theme through what he wants, then his curiosity and need to figure it out. Also he goes through the story coping with the regret he took upon himself unknowingly. The first conflict is when he simply wants the book and the second is after he gets it he must figure it out. First he says on page 46, “I propose a swap.” He knew the Scandinavian man wanted to sell it, and he very much wanted it. While trying to figure it out it says, “Page by page, in vain, I looked for the illustration.” This is found on page 45. This quote shows how much he wanted this book, and how captivated he was by even a single illustration. This connects to the theme of the story, if you give something up; make sure it’s worth it, because through these conflicts he found out what a terrible mistake he made by proposing the swap for the infinite book.
After conflict is character; in this story there are two: the protagonist, whose name is not mentioned, as well as the salesman who sells the protagonist the book of sand. The character determines the theme because he is the one who gives up all of what is valuable to him for this book. First of the two characters will be the protagonist; through his thoughts you can see that after acquiring the book he was fearful of it being taken away. On page 47 it states, “it was added to the fear of having it stolen.” He had become so consumed by the book that he was afraid of being separated from it. Also through his actions he shows how inquisitive he is, “Page by page in vain, I looked for the illustration of the anchor.” This quote is found on page 45. The protagonist wants to figure it out, and he looked “in vain” for symbols throughout the infinite book. He was obsessed with the book and is starting to regret paying such a high price for something he is now understanding to consume him. Next, the salesman is described by the protagonist as tall, blonde, dressed in gray and by his speech he declares that he is not an ordinary salesman, but he sells bibles. Page 44, “I sell Bibles” although this may be quite unusual it does not seem in the story that the protagonist cares or is very interested. This affects the conflict as well as giving part of the idea for the theme since the characters were the ones giving up the items of value. If the salesman wasn’t there to convince the protagonist to take the book, there would clearly be no conflict. Also, the characters are the ones who are there making things happen, giving up the Bible, being consumed by the Book of Sand, and all of the other events throughout the story. Therefore you can see that characters contribute to the conflict and theme.
Finally, this story includes a bit of magic realism which provides the conflict in the story. The book of sand of course is the little thing that is out of the ordinary, different, magic, it is infinite. If the book wasn’t magic there would have been no captivation or intrigue on the protagonists part that would influence him to give up such value for this book that he didn’t understand. On page 45 the salesman is trying to explain it a little to the protagonist of the story. He says, “It can’t be, but it is. The number of pages in this book is no more of less than infinite.” Of course this is unbelievable, but as the bible seller says, it just is. The magic realism in the story is necessary for the conflict of the story. It may not exactly make sense, a magic book, but it makes the story what it is. The book provides the need for the man to buy the book which then causes him to feel the repercussions.
As you can see, the theme of “The Book of Sand” is if you give up something of value make sure what you get in return is worth it. Irony shows that what he thought was good turned out to be the opposite. The conflict helps discover the theme with how badly he thinks he needs the book and how he must figure it out. The main character is inquisitive and too curious for his own good, it causes some things that he most definitely regrets. Then the magic realism in the story gives the conflict and causes all the main things in the story to happen; like the protagonist going insane. With that, what can you take from the story to ensure that you won’t make more decisions in the future you may regret?