In his short story “Lying in Bed Together,” writer Richard Van Camp warns readers that the environmental disaster has already begun and can lead to terrible consequences. This theme is especially revealed in the characters’ conversation discussing that current events are set up for a future destined tragedy (Van Camp 236-237). The severity of the future disaster is conveyed in the expression, “Hell is coming and you’re a part of it” (Van Camp 236). To emphasize the threat, the author uses the metaphor of hell to describe it. Moreover, calling the narrator part of the disaster, Valentina appeals to all people, holding them responsible for the future. Van Camp also applies allusion, calling the real places “Muskrat Falls, Site C Dam, Standing Rock,” which the reader may know and thereby pay attention and tie events to the present (236). This part of the text is troubling and alarming, as it links the story’s disaster with reality.
The lines following the conversation emphasize that people already know that an environmental disaster is coming. The impending crisis itself was transmitted using allegory – the event is embodied in Wheetago characters, monsters devouring people and becoming increasingly hungry. However, the narrator’s reflection lines are more critical: “Why did this feel real? Why did I already know this?” (Van Camp 237). In this way, the author says that people already know about future problems but prefer not to believe or ignore them since they do not want to be responsible or connect their destiny with the planet. Thus, the story’s central message is that although the disaster is foregone and has already begun, people are not doing enough to stop it.
Works Cited
Van Camp, Richard. “Lying in Bed Together.” Cli-Fi: Canadian Tales of Climate Change, edited by Bruce Meyer, Exile Editions, 2017, pp. 231-242.