Laterna Magica: a whimsical road to no where.

In “Laterna Magica”, William Heinesen drops the reader into a whimsical world. To compare it to contemporary film, my mind kept returning to Pan’s Labyrinth. Nothing is completely described; the reader always lacks some context or some part of the story. An imaginative mind is welcome to fill out the details based on the tone that the author uses.

Heinesen sets the tone within the Prologue section. There are many almost contrasting elements that define the tone. For example, the universal contrast between childhood and adulthood is presented. But the rhythmic chanting of the children presents a contingency – they’re not like children at all. When children’s behaviors are like the “solemn ritual of some savage tribe”, then the comparison between children and adults becomes warped. Therefore, the contrast forms a misshaped, creepy context for the rest of the story to unfold.

Also, the second person point of view allows the stories to read like ghost stories told around a fire. “You” captures the audience’s attention, and questions within the text (with answers immediately following) create a dialogue between the reader and the narrator – without the reader’s consent.

Taking the tone and applying it to a theme, the creepiness continues. Aging, the elderly, and death (latently) are themes carried through out most of the stories. So many characters were first introduced by their age, and then their elderly status was qualified either by youth of spirit or physical appearance. Master Jakob is of an “active age”, great euphemism for old but not useless. Miss Urd is 50 years old, but “agile and girlish”. Nothing is as it seems.

As the adults get older, closer to death, they develop a split personality. They are both elderly and wise, but contrarily, childish and weak. Old Tonnes was old, but apparently charming enough to draw attention from young maidens. He was also wise enough to fend them off. He was weak, but strong enough to pry open a window to his death. The duality of the elderly persona is emphasized in many instances. Although the duality in the elderly plays true to reality, the tone and theme make it twist it into a fictitious trait. As if the contrary pieces of personality are just another part of the whimsical tale.

Overall, the stories are intriguing, but too ambiguous. The ghost-story tone and dark themes are not brought to a climax. The reader is left with one overarching question: what’s the point? So much suspense and tension for nothing.