Week Ten Narratives from the Multiverse

Week Ten Narratives from the Multiverse

This week I read The Drowned Giant by J.G. Ballard. This story seems to be about decay and loss of identity and explore what it is that makes us human. The narrative style is somewhat unsettling, and there is also a profound sense of bleakness. When I started reading I immediately got hooked in but I wanted to know the giant’s origin and backstory. However, the narrator never focuses on the origin of the giant or makes an effort to speculate upon any details of his life.

Instead the decay of the giant is the central focus of the narrator.  The descriptions of the decomposition of the body and the town’s amputation of limbs and dismantling of the remains are depicted in grotesque detail. The remains of this colossal giant transition from an awe inspiring young man of epic proportions to a disgusting rooting carcass that is decapitated, mutilated and broken down into pieces to be moved around the town.

Rather then being about the drowned giants origin the story is about the giant’s impact on the town. This story feels almost like an anti fairytale. It’s as if the joy of discovery and wonder at such a magnificent discovery give way to the banal reality of decay. I think that this story speaks to spectacle, and how even the most wondrous discoveries quickly join the realm of the mundane.