The Imagery of Eva’s Life in the Camp
Eva explains, “I look out of the window. The morning is overcast. The relative bleakness of the day causes my anxieties to resurface. I worry that there may be some return to the situation that existed before these men arrived. Camp life...Forever hungry, no longer amazed at how quickly the body deteriorates, intrigued by the temporary peace with the skeletal, the unbearable pain of hunger, promising the shrinking body warm food, all night thinking of food. Killing only the lice, but not the eggs.” Loneliness and discomfort are predominant in the camp life. Moreover, the omnipresent hunger surmises that surviving in the camp is arduous. The lice are emblematic of the degrading experiences which the refugees endure as a result of limited sanitization in the camp.
The Imagery of Birds Flying
Eva expounds, “I like the way birds fly. At first you see the effort, how they flap their wings frantically as they build up speed and direction. And then they stop and glide confidently. And then comes my favourite part, when they suddenly start to flap their wings again and build up speed. That’s what I do these days. I just sit here on my timber and watch the birds beyond the fence. I watch their communal flight. Every day they beat a thin black ribbon across the sky.” Watching the birds is tantamount to Sublimation which distracts Eva from her thoughts of lonesomeness. The bird’s flying is emblematic of the liberty which Eva yearns to attain. She aspires to fly ware from her desperation at the camp, and watching the birds is contributory to gratifying her unconscious wish.
