When you’re writing, one of the most effective things you can do is evoke something familiar, and then, compel people to question it; to confront it anew.
Light and darkness are common themes, dualities, in fiction.
Fiat lux! Let there be light!
But light as a metaphor loses its impact when it’s always accessible, available at the flick of the switch. Even if electricity goes out suddenly, most of us have our phones near us and they provide sufficient light for us to grope around and find a flashlight.
When I look at a candle I remember how, for most of human existence, darkness was implacable. Flickering flames were all we could summon to push back the darkness.
A well-crafted story uses what we take for granted and shakes it up.
Now, it is not darkness, but light, that threatens and intrudes. Satellites watch us from on high, security lights illuminate us, cameras track us. We are always visible, always on the record.
Fiat tenebris! Let there be darkness.
Frightened animals hide in the darkness, they sleep in their burrows. If all our lives are visible, where can we hide from ourselves?
Comments
5 responses to “Fiat Lux”
Yes! It’s so fascinating that in the modern world, we have to seek out true darkness – I’ve done it a couple times in the last year, either heading out to the desert to see a meteor shower, or up to the mountains to see the northern lights.
It’s so strange that we live in a world where a truly dark night is a gift, a luxury. Our ancestors could probably never imagine such a thing.
But I don’t hide from myself in the darkness. It’s in that quiet dark, with no other distractions, that I can truly see myself. Sometimes I think that all the light and noise we surround ourselves with in the modern world is all to avoid truly looking at ourselves, truly knowing ourselves. We’ve forgotten the tremendous peace that can be found in the dark night.
Thank you! the wisdom in your last paragraph felt like such a gift when I read it. I wish more of us could find that peace. I wish our society would value it!
Thank you for sparking such a lovely discussion!
I do too. I feel like we’d all be less frazzled if we found some time to spend in the peaceful dark.
Yes Virginia, there is a 1984. Watchful eyes on everything we do, algorithmatized to perfection, making off with what we believed was a private life and monetizing it. Darkness save us!
LOL Love the Virginia comment and just sighed at the “algorithmatized to perfection” irony. Oh yeah, algo’d to mediocrity and submission.