Suspended Realities

The repeated theme of displacement shown through the mental and physical imageries of Carl Linnaeus, the main character in Andrea Barrett’s “The English Pupil”, implies a slow progression and thus later, acceptance towards death. Starting with the introduction of old age and outliving ones predecessors, leaving the boundaries of home, and certain health complications, we see that Linnaeus is very much physically out of place and uncomfortable in his surroundings. Moving on to Linnaeus’ mental state, the idea of displacement becomes even more apparent due to the loss of memory, depression, and the rapid movement from past to present in the characters mind. In the end everything all adds up to the ultimate displacement, death.
In the beginning we are introduced to a character that is physically incapable of any type of action or movement. Due to a series of strokes, Carl Linnaeus is left paralyzed and mute, leaving him totally dependent on those around him. As for so...