Introduction
“The Secret Lion” is Alberto Alvaro Ríos’s short story that explores multiple complex themes through figurative language, metaphors, and other literary elements. One of the tools the author used to put readers in the textual environment and foster a deeper understanding of the characters and themes is a careful description of the setting. In summary, two young boys discover a hidden, forbidden, and seemingly magical place where they can escape, find solitude, and avoid societal pressures and expectations.
However, soon, the adolescents are disturbed by golfers. As a result, the place loses its fairytale atmosphere, and the boys come to terms with living in the real world. The current paper highlights that the description of the place enhances immersion in the story by portraying a child’s perspective on the outside world and the fear of growing up, an emotion every audience member can relate to.
Immersion Approaches
Contrast
The story starts with a description of the strange, confusing, and ever-changing outside world from the perspective of the two boys. For example, the feelings are reflected in the following statement that compares adolescence with a “tablecloth those magicians pull where the stuff on the table stays the same” (Rios, 1984, p. 1). The two children find it challenging to navigate the loss of childhood. However, the place they discover is strikingly different from their day-to-day life. It is described as “green, like nothing else in Arizona” (Rios, 1984, p. 3).
The reader is drawn into the narrative, as it is easy to imagine the relief one feels upon escaping pressures in a quiet, picturesque, and tranquil environment. On the one hand, difficulties include communicating with others, navigating personal feelings as life stages change, and being pressured by others to be submissive and considerate. On the other hand, there is a whole new world in which one is free, challenges do not exist, and solitude allows for individuality to unravel.
Connection with Characters
Needless to say, the illustration of the setting is also a measure the author takes to help the reader identify with the characters and understand the main symbols and themes. One theme touched on in the text is the transition to adulthood and the end of childhood. In the story, the boys are avoiding becoming adults, and despite seeing changes in others, they do not accept them in themselves. Hence, they would escape as highlighted in the following sequence: “We would come home from school on the bus, put our books away, change shoes, and go across the street to the arroyo.” (Rios, 1984, p. 1). Each reader can identify with a child’s fear of becoming more responsible, independent, and autonomous.
In addition, societal constraints are a similarly common experience for each individual. As the boys age, they become more aware of the world and its nature as they realize “Things get taken away.” (Rios, 1984, p. 4). Via setting reflections, the audience relates to boys and understands that the text is about transition, escapism, and the subsequent need to accept reality and adulthood with all its imperfections.
Conclusion
The environment portrayed by the author goes beyond mere description and serves as a binding force between the reader, the characters, and the themes. It is not challenging to empathize with children who have a fear of the unknown, that is, adulthood. The settings, namely the outside world in contrast with the beautiful place the boys discover, symbolize the difference between the calm, worry-free atmosphere of childhood and the complex, ruthless, and challenging environment in which grown-ups live.
Reference
Rios, A. A. (1984). The secret lion. WLWV.