In reading “The
Reencounter” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, I was able to put together one scene
from a television show instead of a movie and connect it with that of the
novel. The TV show called “Pretty Little Liars” is about four young girls who
are trying to uncover the mystery as to who killed their friend Allison or
better yet, where is the mysterious A who is blackmailing them. During the
Halloween episode a few weeks ago, one of the scenes showed one of the girl’s boyfriends,
Caleb and his friend he had just met, walking through the woods and into a
cemetery. As they entered the cemetery, both noticed two particular tombstones
that had their names and their pictures on it. Both at this point look at each
other in disbelief, giving the look as if asking each other, “isn’t that you?”
The viewer only sees this part and it flips to the other main characters from
the TV show, leaving the viewer wondering if they are deceased or not. In
seeing this clip, I was able to connect it to that of “The Reencounter” in
which Max finds out that he has passed away when he went to see his friend Liza
in that room. Although we don’t know entirely whether Caleb and the friend are
deceased, there are similarities that both possess.
When looking at which
motif is present within both the clip and that of the book, I came to the
conclusion that mystery and dread were present. Going back to the “Pretty
Little Liars” clip, both are astonish at what they see and the background music
only intensifies those feelings. A sense of mystery is present when both show
confusion and fear as to why there are tombstones for them. Additionally,
mystery and dread are seen when their tombstones are shown with their pictures
because it makes this questionable: are they actually dead or is someone
planning on killing them? I think this motif is also present within the story
as well. When Max finds out he is dead the author writes, “Max Greitzer tried
to smile. “Probably another Max Greitzer.” That moment he uttered these words,
he gasped the truth; he and Liza were both dead-the woman who spoke to him was
not Bella but Liza herself” (Singer 238). This scene particular not only shows
this motif as Max discovers that he really is dead, trying to piece the mystery
together but also has the reader wanting to read further ahead, wanting to
figure out what is next.
Attached is the clip from the "Pretty Little Liars" Halloween Special:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfpAJKnx9l0
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