Similar to The Rorschach Test – a famed psychological inkblot test that means different things to different people – Steven Hall's The Raw Shark Texts can be interpreted in a number of unique ways. It tells a purposely ambiguous, experimental, and daring story that forces readers to question their preconceived notions between knowledge, love, identity, and insanity. The Raw Shark Texts is a flawless example of how emotional trauma triggers psychosis, as well as how losing a loved one disturbs a broken heart.
In The Raw Shark Texts, the reader encounters "Eric Sanderson One" and "Eric Sanderson Two" whose ideas live on post-metaphorical death, and eventual literal death. The Raw Shark Texts conventionally embarks with a man who awakes in a …show more content…
This is the conceptual sea in which the Ludovician lives, and it is the idea of ideas that Hall will manipulate throughout the rest of the novel. As Eric's psychosis takes over, he becomes increasingly paranoid that the Ludovician will find him. This provokes him to discover the pseudo-power that rudimentary devices and information hold, such as Dictaphones and other people's mail. He is under the illusion that these weapons create a "non-divergent conceptual loop" (Hall, 63) that will ultimately throw off his scent from imaginary creatures. Similar to fallen leaves, he is convinced that these fragments will serve as perfect camouflage for a man hiding from a conceptual shark. As if these drastic measures are not enough, Eric takes his defense systems to a higher echelon by attempting to suppress his own identity beneath the façade of someone else. Much like host manipulation, he is a parasite that tries desperately to seek refuge behind the mask of a stranger. He is hiding from himself. Eric quite literally builds a figurative cage, ostracizing himself from society. When his attempts deem fruitless, he decides to seek the guidance of those who haunt the vacant lots, forgotten subway tunnels, and abandoned buildings in the realm of Unspace, where he finds Dr. Trey Fidorous - a notorious conman who takes advantage of Eric's mental state and tricks him into believing that his amnesia is curable. Many literature philosophers suggest that Unspace …show more content…
He is suffering from a dissociative disorder caused by extreme trauma, which is directly correlated to losing his Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Because of this, Eric Sanderson creates a world to distract himself from his current one, but even that cannot protect him from his intrusive, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) flashbacks from the night Clio died. Simply reflecting upon the island Clio drowned on triggers massive bouts of panic. Eric describes a sense of fear for the ocean, admitting that "what freaks me out, the few times I've tried snorkeling, is the huge bank of blue on it, the scale of it – I don't know. Mainly, I'm expecting something massive to come rushing out the second I look away and bite my legs off, but partly, maybe it's also the scale of blue itself." (Hall, 113). This quote proves that Eric has an intense aversion to oceans and sharks, and this fear has managed to manifest itself as a conceptual Ludovician. He continues: "knowing how swimming towards that wall of blue can only make it bigger and bigger until its face is impossibly massive and all around and behind you too." (Hall, 113). This expresses his feelings on being overtaken by a "wall of blue," representing his mental clarity, self-awareness, and ultimately, his fear of being taken over by a "sea of insanity." Clearly, his attempts fail. As Eric Sanderson inevitably succumbs to his insanity, his last move is a desperate and heartbroken attempt to revive Clio. He becomes increasingly
In The Raw Shark Texts, the reader encounters "Eric Sanderson One" and "Eric Sanderson Two" whose ideas live on post-metaphorical death, and eventual literal death. The Raw Shark Texts conventionally embarks with a man who awakes in a …show more content…
This is the conceptual sea in which the Ludovician lives, and it is the idea of ideas that Hall will manipulate throughout the rest of the novel. As Eric's psychosis takes over, he becomes increasingly paranoid that the Ludovician will find him. This provokes him to discover the pseudo-power that rudimentary devices and information hold, such as Dictaphones and other people's mail. He is under the illusion that these weapons create a "non-divergent conceptual loop" (Hall, 63) that will ultimately throw off his scent from imaginary creatures. Similar to fallen leaves, he is convinced that these fragments will serve as perfect camouflage for a man hiding from a conceptual shark. As if these drastic measures are not enough, Eric takes his defense systems to a higher echelon by attempting to suppress his own identity beneath the façade of someone else. Much like host manipulation, he is a parasite that tries desperately to seek refuge behind the mask of a stranger. He is hiding from himself. Eric quite literally builds a figurative cage, ostracizing himself from society. When his attempts deem fruitless, he decides to seek the guidance of those who haunt the vacant lots, forgotten subway tunnels, and abandoned buildings in the realm of Unspace, where he finds Dr. Trey Fidorous - a notorious conman who takes advantage of Eric's mental state and tricks him into believing that his amnesia is curable. Many literature philosophers suggest that Unspace …show more content…
He is suffering from a dissociative disorder caused by extreme trauma, which is directly correlated to losing his Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Because of this, Eric Sanderson creates a world to distract himself from his current one, but even that cannot protect him from his intrusive, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) flashbacks from the night Clio died. Simply reflecting upon the island Clio drowned on triggers massive bouts of panic. Eric describes a sense of fear for the ocean, admitting that "what freaks me out, the few times I've tried snorkeling, is the huge bank of blue on it, the scale of it – I don't know. Mainly, I'm expecting something massive to come rushing out the second I look away and bite my legs off, but partly, maybe it's also the scale of blue itself." (Hall, 113). This quote proves that Eric has an intense aversion to oceans and sharks, and this fear has managed to manifest itself as a conceptual Ludovician. He continues: "knowing how swimming towards that wall of blue can only make it bigger and bigger until its face is impossibly massive and all around and behind you too." (Hall, 113). This expresses his feelings on being overtaken by a "wall of blue," representing his mental clarity, self-awareness, and ultimately, his fear of being taken over by a "sea of insanity." Clearly, his attempts fail. As Eric Sanderson inevitably succumbs to his insanity, his last move is a desperate and heartbroken attempt to revive Clio. He becomes increasingly